Why Small Business People Are Unsung Heroes

In light of what can only be described as the truly extraordinary times we live in today, small business people must be counted among the unsung heroes of our day.

Though there may be reasons aplenty for arguing the underlying causes of the extremely challenging conditions we face today, there’s no denying that the combination of social, economic, environmental and political realities that demand our attention today are virtually unprecedented in history and truly daunting in their potential to radically alter our present way of life.

As I view the global field today I see four macro-level powerhouse trends at play that, working together, form the proverbial perfect storm, making present-day global challenges truly unprecedented in all of recorded history.  

1) A Planet Approaching the Limits of Growth

Throughout known history on planet earth there have always been virtually unlimited natural resources available to meet both present needs and fuel the demands of future growth - growth of population, growth of economic wealth, growth of food resources and growth of production. Plus, existing resources have, up to now, been buoyed by the underlying resilience of our planet, with its seemingly endless capacity to renew these resources on a continuous basis.

Without attempting a detailed analysis, by any commonsense measure of current reality the planet’s ability to fuel unlimited growth has reached an end. Now, for the first time in humankind’s recorded history, increasingly we must grapple with the limits of growth as measured by progressively limited resources and the sometimes-severe repercussions of attempting to operate beyond their natural range.

2) The Increasing Need to Respond to Unprecedented Global Events 

A related but to some degree tangential circumstance is that beyond just running out of key resources, now on a daily basis we must also allocate our precious existing resources to counteract unforeseen but substantial natural and social calamities causing major damage, heart wrenching suffering, and total disruption to our daily lives – often wrecking further serious harm to the natural environment in the process.

These major disasters and emergencies, ranging from radical climate change events, large scale environmental disasters, menacing social and health disorders, or large scale civic disruptions, seem to endlessly spawn from the growing dysfunction of major planetary systems which are now clearly operating beyond the limits of known control. 

3) Now Experiencing Accelerating and Increasingly Destabilizing Change

Up until relatively recent times, a person could reasonably expect to live in the same community and work in the same career (if not even the same company) and know a relatively consistent quality of life throughout the natural span of a lifetime. Granted events would occur periodically to interrupt the normal pattern of life, but these events were the exceptions, and life could sooner or later be expected to return to a predictable norm. 

At some point in recent history the experience of major change shifted from the exception to the norm, and then continued to escalate and accelerate from there. Fast forward to our present day rate of change where, unless you’re aggressively working to predict the next wave of global change, chances are it’s already crested and you’re now hoplelessly far behind the times!

4) World Governments Clearly Incapable Of Meeting The Demands Of Our Day   

By any reasonable analyses, the current forms of national and international government are clearly unable to keep pace with the rising demands of our times. When rapidly changing global events and conditions demand our best thinking and a rapid cohesive response, every known system of state government is proving painfully slow and appallingly short of even a basic standard of success. Unfortunately the consequences of these failures are progressive, and the results may eventually become nothing short of cataclysmic.

Given the above trends the news of the day grows progressively more shocking and extreme and seems to ingreasingly engender a collective sense of a global system brinking total failure – a looming large scale breakdown which may be capable of threatening life as we know it.

And into this truly perilous landscape, capable of testing even the greatest minds of our day, the unpretentious everyday leaders of small and often humble companies valiantly venture forth daily to attempt to navigate the (now mine-studded) road to prosperity and success. Or, at the very least, to somehow bolt their company’s doors open long enough just to begin solving the deeper issues increasingly challenging their economic survival. 

All of which is to explain why, at least in this man’s mind, those who are brave enough to willingly take on the role of running a small company in the present day global arena are nothing short of heroes, well deserving of hearty recognition and generous praise.