10 QUESTIONS ON STEEMIT
1 – How would you describe yourself in one sentence?
Leticia Roncero– I’m having a human experience.
2 – Why do you think individuals and businesses are often reluctant to embrace change?
Leticia Roncero– Because we believe in the illusion of permanence (although everything is in constant change).
3 – You’ve spoken about how, in recent years, humans have been experiencing a rapid increase of change in a short amount of time. How do you see life being different five years from now if this exponential change continues?
Leticia Roncero – It is often said that history can teach us about the future, but history only teaches us what doesn’t work. History teaches us death. To quote Stephen Hawking: “We spend a great deal of time studying history, which, let’s face it, is mostly the history of stupidity.”
Change is not the problem, stress is. Going back to question 2, more people will suffer from mental disorder as a result of stress. In five years a growing number of people will understand and embrace the necessary shift from everything in the outside world to focus on their inside world.
4 – What is the “Risk Of Ignorance” and why is it dangerous?
Leticia Roncero– Risk Of Ignorance is the gap between ”best practice” and new practice. If you believe in increased speed of change you must also believe that experience, knowledge and expertise can be the problem. The more you know about solving a problem, the less you will embrace new solutions.
5 – What would you say to those who suggest technological changes are ruining social interaction?
Leticia Roncero– I would say that they are right just the same way urbanization might be bad for social interaction.
No doubt, information technology and social media can be a huge distraction and FOMO (fear of missing out) is a growing problem. But in the long run I believe we will mature, the digital detox is on the rise. People will learn to disconnect to reconnect.
6 – Research shows the average human attention span is currently lower than the attention span of a goldfish. Do you see the human attention span continuing to shorten as technology advances?
Leticia Roncero– Yes, we have more choice than ever before, but with that distraction we have lost the ability to really pay attention to whatever we choose. But I have noticed a trend among friends who are taking Facebook breaks the same way we used to take a break from drinking alcohol. Again, the trend toward increased awareness is inevitable.
7 – How has your background in the newspaper industry shaped the way you view disruptive technology and dying industries?
Leticia Roncero– As a journalist I have a critical mindset. I focus on statistics rather than emotions and buzzwords to approach trends. This last decade 70 per cent of Fortune1000 companies dropped out from the list, and the number of “unicorn companies” (private companies valued at $1Billion or more) is currently 221. Industries are changing: old corporations are dying and new ones are born at a greater speed than ever before. Is it good or bad? Not the point. It is a fact not an opinion. That’s how the journalist views disruption.
8 – What company (or industry) do you currently see as being most at-risk of becoming the next Blockbuster or Kodak?
Leticia Roncero– Blockbuster and Kodak were–just like newspapers–in the media industry. Media was first to be disrupted because it is very easy to digitalize media and consumers loved it from day one. Online news, streaming movies and digital photography are instant and much cheaper so more people can afford it. Next up was retail. The e-commerce disruption started 15 years ago and now old leaders like Nordstrom, JC Penny, Sears, Dillard, Kohls are losing the game to Amazon. The coming 15 years the same thing will happen to energy, transportation, education, banking… Disruption comes from inefficiency and anyone who makes money as an intermediary will have to go.
9 – Why is it that you feel small organizations are the future?
Leticia Roncero– Not necessarily small, but fast. Big often means slow. Ask anyone who is in a big organization will tell you about constant re-organization.
10 – How do you see Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies affecting livelihood in the future?
Leticia Roncero– Decentralized trust networks will give us (globally) the freedom to trust and thereby trade without the need for a middleman or authority and without having to care about borders. Bitcoin is the internet of money and we are in the beginning of the beginning.