The Disruptive 2020s
I appreciate all readers of this blog. Week in and week out -for now 16 years I often get thoughtful comments from many of you and even some emails saying simply that you enjoy the column. Many of you remember various forecasts and predictions I make in this space and call me out about them.
Well, this is a bit of an accountability column for my regular readers. A look back to some of the larger forecasts I have made here in the past two years. All are under the umbrella of the 2020s being the most disruptive decade in history
Just about two years ago I noted that this book was the first of a series of short, high-level books about the 2020s. In this first book I stated that the 2020s would have more change than any other 30-50 year period in history. Well, we are now 20% through the decade. What has happened in these short 27 months?
-a global pandemic rivaling the Spanish Flu epidemic of 100 years ago, millions dead globally
-a pandemic triggered global recession
-the “great resignation”
-global demonstrations in support of #BlackLivesMatter
-a storming of the Capitol, first time in 200 years, and by citizens
-first time defeat of an incumbent president this century
-unprecedented supply-chain disruption
-rise of crypto and digital currencies
-ongoing massive floods, storms and fires due to the climate crisis
-another huge failure to face the climate crisis at COP26 in Glasgow
-the beginning of private space travel
-explosive growth in the sales of EVs
-huge bull market in equities
-significant inflation
-a land war in Europe
-a huge move from the physical to the screen reality.
-massive amounts of personal transformation resulting from the pandemic and lockdowns
This list is just some of the changes that have occurred since the decade began.
I have written in this space since the pandemic first began that “going back” or “returning to normal” is simply impossible in this decade. There is no “new normal” – though the media absolutely loves that phrase- as the change is constant and will continue to accelerate. No pause, no time-out, no return to what was.
Accept this and you will have solved the single greatest issue of the 2020s: that of fully adapting to new realities across the board.
Stand in change as change is the only constant in the universe. Resistance is futile and is of high risk.
In the last two years, I have advised companies that it is of greater risk to not change than to change. Status Quo is a path to failure. Historically, times of great change have been the same times that great opportunities occur. Think of the Belle Epoque that occurred in the U.S. and Europe between the 1870s and WWI. This was the age of great wealth and fortunes, of robber barons and entirely new industries. The internal combustion engine, fossil fuels, railroads, electricity, air travel, telegraph, radio and rapid urbanization triggered massive changes and also massive new wealth as the Industrial Age matured.
We are now in another critical transition from the past of the 20th century to the realities of the 21st century. Entire new markets, industries and companies will be formed this decade that will set up humanity’s future for the next several decades.
Some of the greatest fortunes in history will be created in the next 10-15 years.
What will be some of the major changes between now and 2030? Here is a short list:
-massive breakthroughs in medical science and health care
-transformative change in K-12 and Higher Ed to update them for the 21st Century
-the end of media as it has been, into its’ next technological evolution of full emersion
-massive global move to EVs and to a lesser degree Autonomous Vehicles
-brainwave-computer interface
-full integration of Technological Intelligence into one’s daily life.
Enough for now. Understand that this time of passage, the 2020s into the 20320s is one of the most important transitions in history. In less than 20 years, we will have largely moved from the pre-2000 reality to the new reality of the late 2030s.
An evolutionary next step for humanity.
