The Future Is Now

A funny thing happened on the way to the future; it changed. I am hearing from a lot of well tenured Rotarians about the oncoming changes from the Rotary Foundation, changes that fall under the general category of something called Future Vision.

Some feel these changes will spell disaster and the end of the great things the Rotary Foundation has accomplished. They may be right, but their prediction of doom will only become reality if we all see the glass as half full. You know the old story about the optimist think the glass in half empty and full of opportunity while the pessimist sees the glass as half full and problematic. I think the process engineer had a better idea; we have the wrong sized glass.

In reality change is not always welcomed, even when it is necessary. In my tenure as a Rotarian and Rotary leader there were similar times when the Rotary Foundation took on a new project to eliminate polio from the face of the earth and another when the permanent fund broke the model of annual fundraising for projects three years hence. At each of those times there were some who were convinced that the sky would certainly fall and the end was near.

I suspect we will look back on the change to what we now call future vision and will realize it was not the end of what was, but the beginning of what can be. It is an opportunity to change and grow. It is time for us to all become process engineers and create a bigger glass that is full of future promise.