We’re in an age of revolutionary change, and creativity is essential for being able to adapt.

In less than a lifetime, there’s been a world of change. Today, when you take a look at your iPhone, you have more computing power in the palm of your hand than was available on the entire planet in 1940.

And the pace of development is only increasing. So much so, that the speed of today’s technological evolution is truly extraordinary.

If we look at the past 3,000 years as if it were the past 12 hours, every minute would equal 50 years. So it would only be three minutes ago that we moved beyond the antiquated transportation of sailboats and horse-driven carriages.

Two and a half minutes ago the first automobiles appeared and 30 seconds later the first powered airplane took flight. Fifty seconds ago was the 1969 moon landing, and just one second ago, in 2010, the first unmanned spacecraft that could make its own landings was launched.

If we turn our attention to communication, we see even faster progress.

While the first PC was invented 41 seconds ago, the internet began just 25 seconds ago and SMS messaging arrived just 3 seconds after that.

Clearly, today’s technology has come a long way in just a short matter of time, and even a common modern digital watch has more power and memory than NASA’s 1969 Apollo Moonlander.

Since today’s technology is so quick to advance, the competitive edge will really come down to who has the best creative ideas. This makes creativity an essential skill for any future business leader to learn.

Likewise, as businesses and trends continue to rapidly evolve, having one job over the course of an entire career will become a thing of the past. It will be those with flexible and adaptable talents who will flourish in tomorrow’s job market.