At a recent keynote Q&A, I was asked about my top trends. The question actually went like this “a year ago, I attended a presentation by a futurist named Faith Popcorn (yes of course I’ve heard of her) and she presented her top 10 trends that should be on everyone’s mind.  What are your top trends?”
I have a confession to make.
I don’t have top trends. I have favorite trends. Now, to be clear, this doesn’t mean I ignore trends I don’t like in my work. At this point in my futurist career, top STEEP trends are pretty well engrained in my psyche and are integrated in every forecast I do.
Here’s what I mean by the top trends (IMO) in STEEP:
Social: I understand generational and geographical characteristics, the movement from Modern to Integral value and am a true crash-test dollbaby when it comes to understanding technological impacts on society
Technology: Automation, AI, machine learning, VR/AR. All forecasts include these
Economic: Distribution of wealth, cryptocurrencies / blockchain, Access Economy
Environmental: Climate change, sustainability, zero waste, play / recreation IRL
Political: Nationalism vs. globalization
These are really the list of Top Trends I would present if I was forced to do so. They are megatrends and deserve constant investigation and consideration.
Now, my FAVORITE trends are:

  • #metoo and Female Empowerment: unlocking the feminine gifts by raising the status of women through raising awareness, education and training. Okay so shocker…I am a little biased here. I am a woman and am especially excited for the opportunities for women. We are doing it, ladies! And we are creating quite the beautiful ruckus in the meantime.
  • Human Augmentation & Performance: Dramatic increase in human capabilities using biological and physical means such as advanced pharmaceuticals, CRISPR for genetic manipulation, smart prosthetics, implants, and wearables. CRISPR in particular is one of the coolest technologies I have ever seen. It is a gene slicing technology that is able alter DNA sequences. So you want hawk vision? CRISPR can give that to you.
  • White Collar AI: Technology is quickly catching up to, if not surpassing, human capabilities. Technological advancements, such as artificial Intelligence systems, continue to become smarter as they learn new information and retain past skills. My favorite scan hit that dropped right in to this one was an ad agency “hiring” an AI to be their creative director. Watch out Don Draper, there’s a new kid in town. 
  • Circular Economy: The Circular Economy promises to keep resources in use for as long as possible, extract the maximum value from them whilst in use, then recover and regenerate products and materials at the end of each service life. The CE is one of those daunting topics that all futurists would be lucky to be paid to research. Fortunately, the UH Foresight Research Program just finished a project on this topic. And folks, it is THRILLING out there. The ground is already producing beautiful CE vegetation…we just see if companies can make money off it and the people will want it. Simple, right
  • Value Capitalism: The definition of success is changing. Whereas it was once all about cost, many consumers are more concerned with products’ societal and environmental benefits over finding an economic bargain. From crowd funding, to waste reduction, to inclusion of all cultural backgrounds in product offerings, social responsibility is an expectation. Anyone that knows Futurist Laura knows this is one of my favorites. It was my first topic I studied in school and still jazzes me to this day. What if governments / companies considered their impact on the Planet and People as just important as their Profit. Triple Bottom Line accounting, I’m rooting for you!

What are your favorite trends?