KUUDES — SIX FORCES OF CHANGE
Focus this month: Post-materialism & meaningfulness
The first full month of What’s Next is coming to its end! This month we talked about the different shapes and manifestations that our search for meaningfulness takes on in our lives. As we are moving away from searching for materialistic satisfaction, we find ourselves longing for purpose through emotions, feelings, and experiences.
What is this force of change all about?
The story of what is meaningful and desirable is being re-written. The continuous demand for something better is being replaced by a yearning for purpose – something that prevails longer and defines us and our relationship to the world itself in a more profound way. This search goes beyond the material and shapes our thoughts about social life, too. Instead of multiple contacts, we seek for connection and belonging, a sense of shared values and actions.
How does this force of change manifest itself?
#1 Building communities with creativity
What we are seeing now is the shift of the consumer’s role from passive to active. With people seeking a sense of belonging from communities that share their values and interests, brands can find new ways of challenging people creatively. And when your brand and your customers are working towards making those shared values a reality, you can build strong communities with increased loyalty.
Read more#2 Skills for the future of work
Digital transformation is not exactly new concept, but it continuously takes on new forms. AI, robotics, automation.. The way the next generations to come work will look immensely different from our reality today. It is highly likely that the jobs available in 2030 don’t even exist yet. But what kind of skills are needed to succeed in the future? And what kind of a role do companies play in all of this?
Read more#3 Enjoying what really matters
Our perception of time has changed over the past couple of years. The search for meaningfulness is everywhere: it defines our relationships, our work, and our daily choices. We are finally able to hit the play button on our lives again and are far less willing to waste our time on matters that don’t offer us meaningful emotions, feelings, and experiences.
Read moreWhat’s Next?
Next week we turn our focus on the next force of change – HUMANITY AND BELONGING – which we will be discussing during the month of November. Belonging to an entity bigger than ourselves gives us meaning, be it a co-living unit, suburban community, or a global human rights movement. Socially responsible companies help us feel rooted even through our consumption choices. The unstoppable power of this trend is in its capacity to create wellbeing.
Tune in again next week to learn more about this future-defining megatrend.
“What’s Next” is our weekly series focusing on a relevant trend that manifests one of the six forces of change by Kuudes. Read more about our strategic foresight model Kuudes Next and the six forces of change here.
