Many social media books are just re-hashing Alvin Toffler’s 1970 theme, and that’s good

Does this sound familiar?  “…a time phenomenon, a product of the greatly accelerated rate of change in society.  It arises from the superimposition of a new culture on an old one.   It is culture shock in one’s own society.  But its impact is far worse.”

This is the theme of many new social media books on the market now – the disruption of society, the inability to adapt, the loss of the industrial age as replaced by the information age as replaced by an even faster information age.   

Yet, Alvin Toffler wrote these words as long ago as 1970, when his groundbreaking work “Future Shock” was published.   He points out that “for most Peace Corps men (a bit dated gender reference there!), in fact most travelers, have the comforting knowledge that the culture they left behind will be there to return to.   The victim of future shock does not.”

The only solution to deal with it is to change your attitude, and that is why it is extremely difficult.  Raging against the machine is futile.   Only those who can force themselves to adapt will survive.    Here’s what I’ve learned:

• It is natural to wish for another scenario.   Spend a moment, honor the time that you treasured, and embrace the new.   
• Join organizations that are characterized by generations that are at least 15 years younger than you are.   If you spend too much time in church, book clubs, or other groupings that are either too small for innovation or too dominated by older, traditional mindsets, you will only absorb their inertia.
• Network (coffee, drinks) with younger people.  This will help you learn more about how they are coping, and what kinds of job skills they are applying. 
• Use social media tools such as twitter to stay informed about trends.   It could save your professional life.
• Beef up on your humor and wit.   Businesses equate negative, humorless people with those who can’t adapt.   Humor is perceived as flexibility and adaptability to any kind of situation.  
• Keep moving – cement trucks have constantly rolling barrels for a reason.

Even though the current roster of social media books is harping on a 40-year-old theme, they are crucial to getting a disbelieving society to change.   Repetition of message is key.