Asia is the Future

McKinsey’s have shared a very good 2-part video that helps understanding of why Asia’s future is so strong and will lead the world.

Dr Parag Khanna of FutureMap highlights many of the factors that made me so convinced 20 years ago that I had made the right move coming East. I still love my home country, but struggle to see myself ever living there again, exactly because of the issues highlighted here.

McKinsey Insights – Why the Future is Asian

One key takeaway for me from these two videos is that the education offered by schools (and especially International Schools) in Asia shouldn’t simply mimic or replicate western school models (especially as so many of them are broken models). We need schools that tap in to the best of modern knowledge in areas like neurology, learning and understanding of what young people need to excel in the future. It’s vital that the schools reflect and project ‘Asian-ness’, are modern and open minded in their educational approaches and pay attention to the issues of scale and equity in order to ensure that the strong, powerful future has a workforce that is flexible, creative, innovative and bold.

If there are two elements that Khanna doesn’t highlight in these videos (maybe more so in his book which i’m yet to read) that I would consider mark out Asianness today it’s high personal aspiration and work ethic. Ironically, a strong work ethic combined with aspiration was a key constituent in the rise of the West. As Asians have come to see the fruits of affluence enjoyed in the West, these attributes have become the hallmark of Asians. The Western pessimism highlighted by Khanna is reflected in the shifting attitudes to personal aspiration and effort.

I feel honoured all the time I get the right to be a part of this exciting future.

Some deeper insights from Parag Khanna: