The 2021 World Events ‘Odd One Out’ Quiz
Q&A session
Question: In this selected list of world events 2020/21, which is the odd one out?
- The UK’s breakaway from the European Union (Brexit)
- Covid
- Afghanistan’s isolation resulting from the withdrawal of NATO forces and the imposition of economic sanctions
- record floods, fires and freezes around the world in the year of COP26
- the storming of the American Capitol not by foreign communists but by American capitalists
- the threat to democracy in Hong Kong as China took aim at ‘one country two systems’
Answer: Brexit was the only event that was entirely predictable (although the unplanned fall-out of such a seismic split between the world’s fifth-largest economy and half its trading base continues).
Yes in your back yard
Most organisations and most people will be affected by most events in the above list, even if only indirectly. An America weakened by its civil war of ideology weakens all its allies. An Afghanistan free to promote terrorism funded by its opium production that represents 90% of illicit global supply is a double threat to the world. An insatiable appetite to buy goods cheaper than the planet can afford has allowed China to join the US as a superpower whose actions affect us all in our day-to-day lives. And every organisation and individual has felt the effects of Covid and Climate Change, both of which have exposed the fragility of global supply chains that deliver prosperity by the container load.
Read the room
The writing of unpredictability isn’t just on the wall. It’s on the news, in our board room briefings and in our coffee shop catch-ups. So what will be on the list next year? Not even the best informed president – of country or organisation – can answer that. No-one knows enough to predict and prepare for every aspect of what will significantly affect them and those they lead into the increasingly dense fog of 2022.
If you are a leader, the sooner you consciously admit that cast–iron fact and its potential consequences, the sooner you will accept that your organisation needs to develop a more adaptable mindset. And more importantly, the sooner you’ll act. Put it this way, if you don’t carpe diem, your diems are numbered, because the only prediction I’m going to make – for this or any other year – is this:
If there is an organisation that isn’t affected by the Unpredictable Events Generator that is installed around every blind bend in the road ahead, that organisation will almost certainly be the odd one out.
Stay safe and stay well – just don’t stay still! Happy New Year everyone!
Rich Alderton of High performance Change specialises in adaptability intelligence to equip businesses and individuals with the skills to navigate whatever lies just around the corner – why not get in touch to arrange a consultation?