10 Global Trends That Will Transform
Your Business
Futurist Erica Orange dishes on what's
coming next, and how entrepreneurs can prepare for it
It's
easy to get so absorbed in the details of your business that you completely
lose track of the big picture. The big picture, in this case, consists of the
global trends that will affect every entrepreneur--no matter how far removed
from them, or how 'safe,' your company seems to be.
Erica Orange, vice
president of Weiner, Edrich, Brown, gave a crash course in just those trends at
New York University's Women Entrepreneurs Festival last month. In a short
speech, Orange detailed the 10 big themes--which she and her firm refer to as
"spaces"--that she thinks will make the biggest impact on enterprise
and culture in the coming years. Below, those 10 big ideas, along with the
businesses that Orange thinks will be most affected.
1. Innerspace
Innerspace is all
about understanding what makes us tick. Innerspace encompasses wearables and
the quantified life, but it's so much more sophisticated: It includes brain
research and, as Orange put it, the neuro-fication of everything, giving rise
to fields such as neurofinance. One consequence of the rise of the innerspace
is that marketers will be reexamining what we are learning about how people
interact with products, right down to labeling strategy and where items are
placed on shelves.
2. Designspace
Design, Orange says,
is fast becoming one of the most important differentiators in the marketplace,
and one need only consider Apple's success to believe her. Further, design is
rapidly evolving from "good" or "bad" design to design that
is (or is not) considered age-friendly, female-friendly, cultural, or
sustainable, with countless more variations yet to be come. Orange said that
design thinking will soon be considered one of the most important managerial
competencies.
3. Playspace
There are two main
facets of the playspace. One is gamification, which Orange said is only going
to become more pervasive. Companies will be using it not just to attract
consumers, but also to keep employees engaged. She also said we're going to see
more respect for adult play, inspired by evolving research showing the effects
of play on the brain. The beginning: Tech companies are designing their offices
to inspire play.
4. Microspace
The microspace is
being driven by 3-D printing, which Orange admitted is not new, but is becoming
rapidly democratized as prices fall. The next exciting development will be 4-D
printing, or printed items that are able to replicate themselves. As an
early-stage example, Orange mentioned a necklace that has the ability to create
other necklaces. But she said the big implications are military in nature.
5. Green-to-Bluespace
The green-to-bluespace
is the evolution of corporate eco-consciousness. Eco-friendly good deeds, or
"doing green," are now expected, said Orange, and no longer
provide a competitive advantage. Being green is the next step, and where a
lot of companies are striving to move. That means authentically and
holistically leveraging the value proposition of being eco-conscious, taking
into account all aspects of a product, from where it is produced, how it is
sourced, who builds it, how it is shipped, and how it is disposed of, among
others. Philosophically, the bluespace is the logical evolution of this:
putting more into the environment than you take out. She cited vertical and
urban agriculture in Brooklyn as examples, as well as the reuse of dilapidated
buildings.
6. Interspace
The interspace
consists of all the different networks that use the architecture of the
internet as their inspirations. The best-known is probably the internet of
things, but there will be many other networks composed of smart devices talking
to one another without human intervention.
7. Storagespace
The storagespace is
exactly what it sounds like. We are running out of room to put everything, said
Orange. That's why personal storage is one of the fastest-growing industries in
the U.S., and why we're struggling with storing the ridiculous amount of data
we collect, from overflowing inboxes to the biggest of big data. The
storagespace also encompasses housing. About 54 percent of the world's
population currently lives in cities, Orange said. She and her firm see that
going to 85 percent, and she said we've got no clear idea of how to house
everyone.
8. Outerspace
Outerspace includes
space exploration but also quantum physics. The implications are completely
down-to-earth, such as the increasing accuracy and applications for GPS and
geographic information system technology.
9. Timespace
Orange opened her
discussion of timespace by asking the audience to define luxury: What is it you
want that is in short supply? The audience unanimously answered,
"time," and Orange nodded. (She said when she puts that question to a
group with more men in it, some guy at the back invariably pipes up,
"sex.") Orange points out that we used to order time in a linear,
sequential way. Now we see ourselves jumping forward and back, with creative
career trajectories, new definitions of retirement, and greatly compressed
strategic planning cycles. The new-ish sharing economy is also a part of
timespace, she says, as we shift from wanting ownership to wanting access:
"People want what they want immediately," she said.
10. Cyberspace
Soon, says Orange, we
will have completely blurred the lines between the real world and the virtual.
"We thought virtual reality was something gimmicky, but we're getting into
tricking the brain into believing it is somewhere else, doing something else,
in real time," she says. This will affect how we learn, how we work, and
how we meet our spouses. And she says success in the future will depend partly
on how well, and how seamlessly, an individual is able to move between the
virtual and the real.
BY KIMBERLY
WEISUL
http://www.inc.com/kimberly-weisul/10-huge-ideas-that-will-fuel-or-flatten-your-business.html?cid=em01020week06d
No comments:
Post a Comment