The Year Ahead | Trends & Predictions for 2017

It’s that time of year when we reflect on some of the changes we saw in business, life, and the economy in the past year, while looking at what it all collectively means for the year ahead. A selection of our thought-leader speakers have their thoughts on how you and your organizations can achieve success in 2017 and beyond. We recently shared our new year trends blog with Darrell Bricker, CEO of IPSOS Public Affairs, who shared some of his insights on the trends to watch in 2017 from the eyes of a pollster.

Here are some of the top trends other key thought leaders have identified:

Uncertainty & Angst

Tony Chapman | Media Personality, Entrepreneur, Marketing & Brand Strategist

Tony believes the move away from the mass, one-size-fits-all way of thinking, will continue and we will see more instances of large groups of people coming together around shared ideologies. Communities – be they local or online – have the power to change like never before. Audiences are amplified and Tony predicts we’ll see an increasing amount of upheaval against various parts of society continue.

Check out his full breakdown on Global News:

Request more information on Tony’s availability

Wealth Redistribution

Vikram Mansharamani | Global Trend Watcher, Generalist & Bestselling Author

“As inequality increases, the global wealthy voluntarily adopt massive redistribution policies (socialism lite) in a quest to keep capitalism alive. Labor markets remain stubbornly stagnant in the face of continued technological progress, leading to discussion of when and how to implement basic income schemes. After years of retreating, globalization returns with a vengeance as citizens everywhere learn it’s hard to lift one’s boat when the tide is going out.” -Vikram Mansharamani

Each year, Vikram develops a list of predictions for the next five years. You can read his fill list of 17 Predictions to Watch for here.

Request more information on Vikram’s availability

Amazonification of Industries

Jim Carroll | Leading Global Futurist, Trends & Innovation Expert

“Amazon has everyone in its crosshairs as it moves beyond the sale of hard products. This includes the home repair/renovation business, to optometrists or hearing specialists, to automotive repair. Amazon isn’t just about selling goods — increasingly, it’s about selling the services that go with those goods. And if your industry is targeted by Amazon, you’re faced with the stark choice of a race to the bottom, forced to compete on price — or figuring out some other business model. I’m being retained by an increasing number of CEO’s or other senior executives in a wide variety of industries to come in for a talk on innovation strategies to deal with the reality of what to do when Amazon chooses to compete with you. Amazonification is real, and will pick up speed throughout 2017.” – Jim Carroll

Check out the full list of 17 trends to watch in 2017 here.

Request more information on Jim’s availability

The Rise of Vital-Action

Mike Lipkin | Leveraging Trends to Maximum Success

This is the state of being strong and active. It is the quality of personal energy. It comes from having a strong purpose and taking action to achieve it. Movement is the new movement. From Donald Trump to Justin Trudeau, leaders are encouraging their communities to rise above their circumstances to create new ones. Sitting still is not an option. You cannot afford to wait and see what happens. You need to act and cause things to happen. This is 2017 where anything is possible.

Check out the entire list of 10 powerful trends to win 2017:

Request more information on Mike’s availability

Bonus: How to Make Great 2017 Predictions

Andy Nulman | Business Builder: Just for Laughs & Play the Future

Andy took a unique approach to his start-of-year observations. At a time when most people attempt to tell the future, he asked himself why people make predictions and most often fail at doing so. Andy’s view is that great predictions come about by going out on a limb – one that’s far out than the other predictors. A ‘Swing-for-the-fences’ type of approach yields huge results. He calls out the fact that forecasting average opinions has had a lot of failure as of late. He encourages us to look at the unrealistic – that which may seem strange today, could be tomorrow’s reality.

“The lesson here is don’t listen to what is, or what the aggregate think; dream what can’t possibly be…even if that dream has a bit of nightmare in it. “ -Andy Nulman

Read his full opinion piece on LinkedIn here.

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