Written By: Darren Bocksnick ©2009

Society often goes through cyclical transformations that forever alter their course and development. A short glance over our shoulders to a not-so-distant-past in America is a true picture of these cyclical transformations in turbo mode. As one of the youngest nations, America’s rise to the top in the global community is nothing short of anomalous in terms of pace, extent and in comparison to other nations.

When one considers America went from a rag-tag group of settlers trying to carve out an existence to one of the wealthiest, most powerful nations in the world in a matter of a couple of centuries; it is unheard of in terms of historical significance. This point is further established at the realization that many of America’s neighboring countries have their historical roots dating back thousands of years!

America itself is a microcosm of these cyclical transformations to reveal how this cycle impacts other nations on a global scale. In this regard, each nation is positioned at a different marker on this “social barometer” and the marker determines how far along it is on the course of progress.

To this end, some nations are known as “developed” nations while others are considered “under-developed”. From this we can surmise that where a nation or society is positioned at on the scale of development and how it handles these cyclical changes is a good indicator of that nation’s future, or more aptly, its successes or failures from a global standpoint.

I’m sure it was not easy for our “agricultural society” of the early 1900’s to adjust to the paradigm shift of becoming an industrialized nation. As manufacturing facilities and food processing plants dotted the countryside, it became unnecessary for every family to produce their own food since it now became more readily available in stores. Farmers either had to close down their farms, partition off their lands, work for someone else or become bigger and better at farming methods in order to remain competitive. Though America is still very agricultural in the growing of produce, we are far from being an agricultural nation.

Rather, as our development progress indicator led us in the pioneering and perfecting of the systematic manufacturing of goods, we evolved exponentially as a nation and became “Industrialized”, thus leading the world in the invention of new products, processes and patterns of thought. This Industrial revolution brought new wealth into America along with an increase in our military might since weapons and armament could be produced on a vast scale in a relatively short period of time.

America for a time led the world in manufacturing but as other nations learned some of our “trade secrets” along with implementing a few secrets of their own, another shift took place in our progress indicator status. Though much of our manufacturing is now done overseas due to cheaper labor costs and other factors, we are still very much involved in the manufacturing of goods within the homeland. However, even with much of our gross domestic income being derived from manufacturing and industrialization, we are no longer considered an industrialized nation.

As technology has increased, America has often been the forefront of pushing new boundaries in the scientific and engineering fields. These leaps in development have allowed America to explore the universe in an unprecedented manner through new and improved satellite systems as well as enabled us to build a space station and even re-usable spacecrafts.

We are still considered one of the most advanced militaries in the world with the use of unmanned aircraft, smart missile technology and faster, more powerful weapons in our arsenal. This technological shift has ushered us into a new era rightfully called the Information Age. We are therefore, no longer an Industrialized society though we still practice and engage in manufacturing and industrialization; we are, not surprising- an information or technological society. It could even be further argued that we are a micro-technology society since systems are becoming smaller, more efficient and more powerful.

Each shift and cyclical transformation that has occurred in our nation’s development has brought with it struggle, hardship, adjustment and setbacks. Yet, after the ushering in of each cycle has been accepted and people have adapted to the changes the new cycle brought along- progress has never been far behind the change.

This is because before any new paradigm shift or transformation cycle can be ushered in, the old has to die first. Old paradigms never go out easy but fight to hold on to the dying embers of their once, proud former existence. Yet, once they die and the initial struggle has passed; the new paradigm can be ushered in, establish a foothold and thrive! When the new paradigm takes hold, it brings with it a whole new realm of potential and a whole new world of possibilities!

As it is with a nation, so often it is with a business. Just as America is somewhat of a microcosm on a smaller scale nationally as to what is occurring on a larger scale internationally, so is business a microcosm of what’s occurring in America as a whole.

The business world is undergoing a cyclical transformation and the crunch is being felt on a global scale. Traditional means and conventional methods for doing business are the old paradigms that are fighting to stay alive. This seeming economic meltdown is really the struggle and hardship associated with the occurrence of a cyclical transformation.

As the power of the Internet takes precedence in individuals’ lives from networking with family and friends, e-commerce, online dating and entertainment, the old methods we’ve grown accustomed to are slowly fading into insignificance. While this occurs, the economy suffers and anxiety surfaces because small to midsize businesses don’t know how to cope with the changes they are being forced into dealing with.

When the small to midsize businesses suffer, the larger corporations begin to suffer accordingly. This is a perfect example of the struggle between two paradigms; the old paradigm is fighting in this epic battle just to stay alive, while the new paradigm coming in is fighting to gain the upper hand so that it can thrive is found in Print Media such as newspapers as compared to email, blogging and online news. The San Francisco Chronicle is on the verge of collapse while the New York Times is shutting down many of its divisions.

In the mean time, social media networks such as www.hubpages.com, www.twitter.com and www.facebook.com are growing at an exponential rate, even while former technology monsters such as www.myspace.com are slowly feeling this cyclical transformation as it impacts them negatively.

When we ponder the reasons for these cycles and transformations, we have to consider that business and commerce are within themselves a microcosm of the culture and lifestyle in which people live. Individuals want to stay in touch with their families and friends so they seek each other out on the Internet and are able to communicate freely though one of many social media networks available. Also, individuals want to have their name out there and have a profile of themselves for others to view or as a means for sharing their thoughts so they build websites and start a blog so their voice can be heard.

Businesses that are attuned to this cultural phenomenon within individual’s lives and who cater to these needs are smart and on the right side of the cyclical transformation. These are the kinds of businesses that survive and thrive because they have learned to adapt to the cycle and shift their focus at the right, opportune time.

On the opposite end of the equation, businesses that do not adapt to this cultural shift will undoubtedly miss the cyclical transformation and come out on the negative side of the scale because the cultural shift is what drives these changes in the first place. Therefore, in today’s uncertain economy, unconventional methods for doing business have to be implemented quickly in order to stay competitive and remain afloat!

Technology, the Internet and new paradigms of thought are not to be feared, loathed or ignored! Rather, they should be grasped and utilized to their full potential because with this new cycle we are under-going, the chance for unprecedented financial growth, development and innovativeness is available before us as never before!

In conclusion, in today’s uncertain economy it is going to take unconventional methods to stay in business and to be on the right side of the cyclical equation. Some businesses are even taking social networks to the next level by offering not only online interaction via chat, email and blogging but also face-to-face meetings at designated times and places.

Businesses such as www.successfulthinkers.com uses an unconventional method like the power of networking via the Internet coupled with the personable approach of group meetings to promote businesses. Where is your business at on the progress indicator? Is it on the right side of the cyclical transformation occurring in the business landscape? Rather than fear the new business battlefront, explore the potential that it brings, then embrace these unconventional methods of doing business and thrive!