I’ve spent the last few days trying to comprehend what leaving the EU will mean for the UK. To be quite honest I don’t think the true enormity of the Brexit vote will be realised for many, many years and the effects will be felt by generations to come.
This blog isn’t about my feelings of injustice at the situation we are in. There are enough excellent blogs on why? how? what next ? and who was right and who was wrong. Since the vote there has been more content than we can process about campaigns built on myths and lies, Leave voters changing their minds, economic Armageddon, the political check-mate and stories of increased racial attacks.
I feel like I am living in a parallel universe or a documentary film. 23 June 2016 and the events leading up to it will be a case study that will be taught, recited and (I hope) learned from for years to come.
The most dangerous thing that I think Brexit has unleashed on the world is uncertainty. When we are uncertain we find it hard to make decisions. We slow down, put things off. We become cautious, anxious, risk averse. Innovation slows. Progress stops. Ideas die.
Yet this is the burning platform that we must now use to drive innovation and growth.
It is the most resilient and creative individuals and businesses that will flourish now through thinking differently and standing out.
We all have a choice about how we respond to the uncertain future that we are now facing. We can either hide in fear. Be angry about what has been done to us (or what we have done to ourselves), or choose to step up.
We can decide to create new opportunities. Ride the upside of the wave of uncertainty. Surround ourselves with networks of smart thinkers. Brave do-ers. Positive souls. Engage in the digital global world that we still have at our fingertips. Collaborate across borders. Work together to make a kinder and stronger world.
We all have the ability to choose. I know it’s not easy or simple right now, so soon. Perhaps when the grieving subsides.
But when you are ready. It’s your turn to make your choice.
One thing is certain. We must change.
Yes we have the ability to choose, and choosing is also a choice, also, being resilient and the ability to see and do things differently is crucial to our individual & collective success, however that is measured. Now is the time for disruption, innovation and agility what else is possible ?
Indeed -and I agree; the starting point is deciding to choose.