Whether we ask Amazon’s Alexa to play our favorite song or shout “Hey, Google” before asking the device a question to help our child with their homework, artificial intelligence (A.I.) has been in the spotlight more frequently in the past few years in consumer applications.

In past articles, I have identified the implementation of A.I. as being “helpfully cool”; however, its application in industries of all sorts is exponentially revolutionizing how we both think and work. Coupled with the disruptive nature of the coronavirus pandemic of 2020, A.I. is now far beyond the novelty it was originally considered to be.

…

Whether we swipe our finger or ask Siri using our voice, smartphones have become a window to the world of information and knowledge sitting in our front pockets and purses.

Nearly all of us have access to this miraculous device that allows for constant connection to and communication with the rest of the world, and in the rare case that we are not with these smartphones or other digital devices, we are probably asking the person next to us to use theirs to check something for us.

A Paradigm Shift

We are in an interesting time in history, when transformative digital disruptions have their foot on the gas and are accelerating at exponential rates. Every industry is facing disruption in a multitude of ways, and it is now up to business leaders and their organizations to implement my Anticipatory Organization® Model and understand and identify the future certainties of Hard Trends and how to leverage them to become the disruptor before someone else does.

Part of that process has largely to do with understanding the difference between transformation and change, both from a disruption standpoint and from the angle at…

The coronavirus pandemic of 2020 affected how both individuals and organizations had to operate professionally like never before. Many workers went remote, while others were unfortunately laid off for the time being. Brick-and-mortar organizations had to close their doors with no real certainty as to when “business as usual” would return.

The reality is that nobody accurately predicted the novel coronavirus would disrupt us as it did, shutting down the global economy and leaving a sea of uncertainty in its wake. All were left with no other option than agility, whether we realized it or not.

In my Anticipatory Leader…

Whether we swipe our finger or ask Siri using our voice, smartphones have become a window to the world of information and knowledge sitting in our front pockets and purses.

Nearly all of us have access to this miraculous device that allows for constant connection to and communication with the rest of the world, and in the rare case that we are not with these smartphones or other digital devices, we are probably asking the person next to us to use theirs to check something for you, as commonplace as we used to ask someone to check their wristwatch for…

While many have solely thought of Bitcoin when the term “cryptocurrency” is referenced, today it is the system they are built on that is disrupting many entities in the financial industry and beyond.

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency are programmed on a system called blockchain. This system facilitates a peer-to-peer transaction network that operates directly between users without an intermediary. And even though Bitcoin and other types of cryptocurrency are a Soft Trend — one whose future is open to influence — the existence of the blockchain and the concept of cryptocurrency is definitely a Hard Trend. …

During this unique period of technology-driven transformation, the education sector has so far been slow to embrace the power of digital tools that can be used to accelerate learning. Institutions spend time, energy, and money protecting and defending conventional teaching methods while casting aside new, transformative ways in which we can adequately prepare young children and even adults for the ever-evolving world in front of us.

While the stimulations of digital connectivity have certainly shortened the attention spans of the young and old alike, generating quite a challenge for educators in both K-12 and university-level teaching, there is actually something…

Global lockdowns, a dangerous virus, a tumultuous election, social distancing and masks versus no masks; 2020 was an uncertain year to say the least. With the diverse set of issues we faced having lost our sense of normalcy, one that affected everyone was an unfamiliar breach of trust.

The world struggled with understanding who or what to trust when COVID-19 brought our status quo to a screeching halt. After all, how do you navigate a world where every morning feels like the first day of history?

As new rules, regulations and restrictions came to fruition via government mandates, businesses’ operating…