Pub. 19 2020-2021 Issue 2

of their salaries to cover the losses the service employees will feel while out of work, which in turn incentiv- izes them to continue to work for the stadiums and gives them a sense of belonging to the organization. That has already created a positive change throughout the rest of the NBA, as other teams follow suit and help their fellow man and woman when in need. This positive disruption is spreading to other sports faster than any virus! Anticipation Will Get You Through This Hard times will pass, but the Hard Trend in times of complete uncertainty is that a new day will dawn with new opportunities to make a significant difference unfolding with it. There will be a tomorrow, so what are you doing to anticipate, innovate, and seize the opportunity it brings with it? Are you using this pandemic to be a positive disruptor, or will COVID-19 close your business’ doors for good? It doesn’t have to. As a good friend of mine has said, “It’s not what happens to you. It’s what you do about it.” The way I see it, COVID-19 isn’t our biggest problem, it’s what we are doing, or not doing about it. One of my princi- ples is this: Take your biggest problem and skip it. The real problem for your business isn’t the virus, it’s how you are reacting to it. Don’t panic. Focus on defining the real problem both you and your customers are having and use the certainties found in Hard Trends to reveal a solution. There will be a future after the pandemic. If you are anticipatory, pre-solving predictable problems before you have them and becoming a positive disruptor creating the transfor- mations that need to happen, you will find the future is bright. Daniel Burrus is considered one of the world’s leading futurist speakers on global trends and disruptive innova- tion. The New York Times has referred to him as one of the top three business gurus in highest demand as a speaker. Identifying Hard Trends A well-worn cliché says there are only two things you can be certain about: death and taxes. With apologies to those who agree with that statement, there are many, many more examples of out-and- out certainties. Was Sunday followed by Monday last week? Absolutely. Will that be the case next week? You can count on it. A more timely and, in some ways, comforting example involves the ever-changing situation we find our- selves in today with COVID-19. This pandemic has seemingly pressed pause on time, stifling businesses in many ways and rattling humankind as we’re told that each day is fluid, and we’re not sure what the next day will bring. Monday will still follow Sunday, but will it be business as usual? Right now, the answer is no. But if Hard Trends or future certainties are as easy to identify as I maintain, what is the Hard Trend in all of this? It’s as obvious as my days-of-the-week anecdote above: This virus will end, and that is a fact that will happen. Because of this, you better believe that, aside from the length of the corona- virus’s impact, there are still Hard Trends in every industry, plus plenty of opportunity in the disruption that is this global pandemic. In order to be able to identify Hard Trends during these unprecedented times, we must diagnose the very concept of Hard Trends and how they can lead to significant game-changing opportunities for you and your organization. What’s a Hard Trend? A Hard Trend is a future certainty, in that it is something we know is going to occur whether we want it to or not. Op- posite of Hard Trends are Soft Trends, which are future possibilities that may or may not take place. In the case of Soft Trends, these can be changed to your, and your organization’s, benefit. To further explore my Hard Trend Methodology and how it can help you be more anticipatory during times like we currently face, I have grouped Hard Trends into three primary cate- gories for identification purposes. • Demographics . This can be age, race, gender, or any other defining characteristic of a group. During this pandemic, an exam- ple is an older generation like the Baby Boomers. The fact that they are more susceptible to COVID-19 is a definite Hard Trend. • Government Regulations and Oversight. For this category, a broad question immediately comes to mind: As a general rule, will there be more or less govern- ment regulation in the future? If we’ve learned anything from the coronavirus pandemic, it is that there will definitely be more. As new innovations emerge amid the lockdown, new governmental reg- ulations will evolve in response to them. This is true, regardless of the industry or organization, making this a Hard Trend. • Technology . From the ever-in- creasing accessibility of 3D print- ing to holographic telepresence, technology is inevitably going to become more functional, more sophisticated and more widespread. In addition to how we have learned to use already-existing technology during the pandemic, this makes technology in any capacity a Hard Trend; we will always be finding a newer, better way to accomplish a task or create something. Why Hard Trends Matter Knowing that something is a future certainty means so much more in times like these. It’s central to your orga- nization’s planning and subsequent execution of innovation, even during an economic shutdown. In terms of government regulation, coupled with the ever-changing spec- trum of this pandemic and subsequent lockdown, being aware of the Hard Trend of growing government regula- tion allows you to become more antici- patory with those additional guidelines foremost in your mind, allowing you as an organization to continue to progress and grow. Leveraging Hard Trends to your advantage is how you can also pre-solve problems before they exist. Case in point: When the United States govern- ment mandated a stay-at-home order, closing the physical operations of many nonessential businesses, many threw up their hands in frustration, while others decided to adapt and overcome, taking advantage of opportunities to continue to operate during a shutdown — and profited accordingly. What you can expect is that Hard Trends — identified and acted upon — can offer enormous opportunities for those organizations with the mindset of always keeping their eyes open to the future. Is your organization identifying and acting on the visible Hard Trend certainties in your industry during COVID-19? Better yet, are you learning how to be an anticipatory leader in all of this? UNCERTAIN TIMES  continued from page 13 N E W J E R S E Y C O A L I T I O N O F A U T O M O T I V E R E T A I L E R S I S S U E 2 | 2 0 2 0 14 new jersey auto retailer