The Future Of Progress

When we think about the future, we hope for a future of progress. That progress can take one of two forms. One is “Horizontal or Extensive progress” means copying things that work. Horizontal progress is going from 1 to n and is easy to imagine because we already know how and what it looks like. Another is “Vertical or Intensive progress” means doing new things. Vertical progress is going from 0 to 1 and is harder to imagine because it requires doing something nobody else has ever done.

If you take one exist business plan and implement it as same, then you have made horizontal progress. If you take one business plan and do some changes in strategy and plan to extend business, then you have made vertical progress.

At the macro level, the single word for horizontal progress is “Globalization” means taking things that work somewhere and making them work everywhere. The single word for vertical progress is “Technology”. The rapid progress of information technology in recent decades has made silicon valley the capital of technology. But there is no reason why technology should be limited to computers. In my point of view, any new and better way of doing things is technology. Because globalization and technology are different modes of progress, it’s possible to have both, either, or neither at the same time.