We’re continuing to study megatrends emerging right now.

A megatrend is something that has current or potential impact on a global scale. The most talked-about megatrends are usually the ones seen as global threats, but we are choosing to focus on huge solution-focused trends that show great promise of doing good, solving a key societal issue, advancing future generations. These aren’t ‘weak signals’ on the horizon but real, enormous, emergent shifts that show up in our everyday world of work and family.

We’re framing and naming these MEGA-waves of potential based on what we’re reading, experiencing with our clients and colleagues, and seeing show up in our media streams.

So far this year…

we’ve named two such megatrends that we experience as too important to NOT talk about—they’re game changers.

• 5GEN—the overlap of five generations at work.  We’re working sooner and longer and may live in very different ‘worlds’ from one another, either physically or culturally.  Some consider this to be damaging to organizational culture and productivity, but we see it as an enormous plus and possibility.
• LOVE IN THE WORKPLACE— compassion, appreciation, emphasis on mental health and family well-being and, yes, LOVE, are organizational responses to the global waves of disruption the entire planet is experiencing. More empathy, flexibility and caring are being built into organizational systems at a more profound level than at any time since the industrial revolution.
  

The Next Wave

The next megatrend, one we’ve been studying and promoting for years, seems to have now entered mainstream business and community conversations, policies and practices…and it’s not a minute too soon. In celebration of Earth Day this month, we’re focusing on:

• REGEN—the understanding from the boardroom to the supply chain of the necessity for moving into a regenerative circular economy, one that eliminates waste and recirculates resources, minimizing human impact on fragile natural systems that support our survival.

Hasn’t attention to climate change and issues such as plastic pollution been around for a long time?

Yes—lots of research and publishing, warnings, courses, UN resolutions, and new innovations have set the stage, but something becomes a megatrend when there’ s a major shift in policies and actions across a wide spectrum of organizations and cultures…enough to rewrite our shared story.

We think that’s what’s happening now with REGEN: a widespread tipping point, an ongoing set of waves rolling into shore. We’re seeing it throughout our diverse client base.

We have lots more to say about REGEN over the next months, but here’s a link to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation homepage where you can tune into Ellen’s short video on the circular economy.

Sallie Lee is a consultant with Continuum. She has served as a thinking partner, strategist, program designer and facilitator for a global client base.

Wendy B. White is co-founder and partner with Continuum Consulting Services. She recently launched “Let’s Choose Love,”, a forum for sharing ideas, resources, new philosophies and stories that inspire and expand our thinking and possibilities for the future.