10 Forces Changing the World

Our friends at HOK have published a very interesting and thoughtful collection of articles that examine global trends and forces changing the world.  Looking out over the next 40 years the team collected some very interesting research and information that is worth the read.

We recently took some time to mentally escape from the day-to-day and explore the “Art of the Long View.” Inspired by Peter Schwartz’ book of the same name, we partnered with our friends at Magellan Consulting and researched what we felt were the top 10 forces shaping our world between now and 2050. As we re-imagine the role of the design community in our global economy, this material has served as fodder for some fascinating conversations across HOK.

What did we learn?  Though the dialogue is ongoing, the idea of resiliency has undeniably emerged as a major theme. Resiliency is the not-so-new idea taken from nature that we can withstand the inevitable shocks to the system, rebuild and continue to adapt and evolve into something better. The key is that resiliency doesn’t just happen – we have to plan for it.  

Why Not Ask Your Customer?

How should we improve our products? What new services should we offer? More often than not these questions are not asked to the customer. Companies spend hundreds of millions of dollars on market research, data analysis, customer focus groups and often forget to simply ask their customer – what else would you like?

Is Twitter a Netscape?

Twitter’s PR team must be working late each night because over the past several weeks dozens of articles have appeared in almost every media channel.  Many of these articles examine the twitter business model and try to hypothesize a path to prosperity or failure. 

Too Little Value

If you have ever attended a business plan seminar, an elevator pitch class or  a forum on how to pitch your company to investors you will realize a common theme exists – your ideas is providing a solution to what problem? Another way to describe this concept is what value do you provide to your target audience? Generally this concept is held in high regard – except in the world of the Internet business.

OK, TED it is.

Every so often there are really interesting ideas and concepts that need to be shared – and often have the potential to inspire others.  A few years ago (about 18 to be exact) the first TED (Technology, Entertainment and Design) conference was organized.  A little blurb from TED History.