As our world changes, cultural intelligence is the new oil.
In 2018, cultural trend analysis will become more important than ever to everyone precisely because we are in the midst of major value and sentiment paradigm shifts.
Connecting will become even more important. Understanding mindset, motivations, fears, and goals of society will be paramount.
Here are my picks for key areas and insights that I will be tracking this year:
Notables will use their high visibility to influence sentiment and cultural norms even further. Women’s issues, politics and social good will be key topics of discussion as we move into 2018.
Pay attention to the hip-hop community, which will become even more vocal and leverage influence with their millions of fans in 2017.
Your play: Engage across as much social media as possible to support or refute respectfully so that your voice is included. Read a variety of media — not only those which are of like mind — so you can get a 360-degree view.
Although Caucasian women have co-opted much of the discussion around gender issues, watch for a shift here in 2018 as Black women become even more empowered. Black women are realizing their power through everything from the seeds that were laid during 2017 U.S. Senate elections to princess positions in Buckingham Palace.
From concerns over artificial intelligence to social media inquisitions on Capitol Hill, look for race to heat up even further. Black women will play new and intriguing roles in 2018. This is the space to watch.
Your play: Make sure you have diverse connected players on your team so that you can stay up on sentiment and values in order to create strategies that truly resonate with the turbulent times and the changing face of neo-America.
Artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency will be some of the most controversial yet powerful areas of development during 2018. There will be massive disruption around the rise of cryptocurrency. From theft to black markets to social good, cryptocurrency will be jolted both within and outside the new industry. This will send massive ripple effects into most facets of public and private domains.
Your play: Read as much as you can about these areas in order to be well-informed of the pros and cons and make sure your voice is heard as standards begin to be created and implemented.
It’s all about millennials even further in 2018. From challenging capitalism as a social norm to demands for social responsibility, the millennial will take center stage even more.
Watch for more surprises and upsets here particularly given new players entering the arena such as Win the Future and Tech for Campaigns which represent very specific values.
Your play: Challenge all new groups — especially those coming out of Silicon Valley — on inclusiveness when it comes to shaping politics. Your voice is more important now than ever.
