It’s probably something that someone tries to claim every few years, but seriously – has the pace and scope of shifting sands ever seemed more complex than they do right now?
Andy Penfold
30 June 2018
Never say never
From today’s vantage point, they seem to me like almost blissfully simple times. The Foresight Factory have characterised our current experience as ‘never normal’, a world in which many things once considered immutable face serious disruption and uncertainty, fraught with difficulties for companies and their brands.
Let’s examine the big issues we’ve got to deal with (on top of the day job)…
– Automation and technology advances seem to promise empowerment but also threaten to upend traditional business models and destabilise labour markets
– Political and economic uncertainty is hitting consumer confidence, and real wages are stagnating or falling in many countries
– Sources of authority and trust are crumbling, and ‘facts’ seem to be increasingly subjective
– Divisions and polarisation in society seem more sharply-drawn than ever as old paradigms are broken down. Generations, genders, races can seem violently set against each other, with almost no limit to the outrage expressed online and then reported everywhere else.
Within this volatility we’re reaching key tipping points, from which new social norms emerge and there is no going back. But how can you know which of today’s headlines reflect one of those norms, and which are just yesterday’s trending topics?
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