10 Non-Obvious Megatrends Shaping 2022 and Beyond

Insights from Rohit Bhargava, Founder of The Non-Obvious Company

Rohit Bhargava is a futurist on a mission to inspire more non-obvious thinking in the world. He is the #1 WSJ bestselling author of 8 books on marketing, trends and how to create a more inclusive world, including Non-Obvious Megatrends and Beyond Diversity. For more than a decade he has been researching “non-obvious” trends and making predictions.

He was also one of the most popular speakers at this year’s SXSW. In his session, he promised to highlight the best and the worst of his predictions and disclose the five essential habits for learning to be a non-obvious thinker.

It was also an opportunity to get an exclusive sneak peek at insights from Bhargava’s upcoming book The Future Normal, co-authored with Henry Coutinho-Mason (TrendWatching) and coming in late 2022. 

 

Here’s what we learned:

• A non-obvious trend is a unique, curated observation of an accelerated presence.
• When making a pitch for a startup or any business, the pitch isn’t that the world needs THIS (product or service). The question to be answered is why does the world need YOU to do this?  It’s an epic failure unless you have the answer for this question.
• The people who understand people always WIN.
• You don’t need to understand the technology.  You just need to know how trends change the way we think, what we feel, what we buy and who we trust.
• We are surrounded by so much B.S. that we become skeptical; that creates a credibility crisis. We don’t know what to trust because of so much misinformation. 
• There’s a serious problem with how we interact with each other and fail to share another’s perspective.
• It’s more and more difficult to get and keep someone’s attention. The solution is NOT to consume more. 
• “I am not a speed reader; I am a speed understander.” – Isaac Asimov. Don’t try to consume everything. Be present with where you are and what you are trying to understand. 

Tips for Non-obvious thinking:

• Look at a situation from different perspectives and solve problems that are specific to you.
• Use the haystack method: Bhargava set out to figure out trends and how the world is thinking. By gathering, aggregating, elevating, naming, and proving, the haystack method allows you to build the haystack then put the needle in yourself.
• Transform what you are reading. Flag the most interesting ideas as you read books. Read magazines that are not targeted at you to broaden your perspective and step into someone else’s world.  
• Listen to people who think in many different ways. Start a conversation and LISTEN to other ideas and perspectives. 
• Capture your ideas and save them. Start to spot the connection between the ideas and organize by themes. Eventually it turns into a trend.

10 Megatrends for 2022

1. Amplified identity. Think about who are we on what platform and in what place.  Prepare for our identity divide – what are the differences? How do businesses prepare for these multiple identities?
2. Ungendering. A more fluid understanding of gender identity and how we see one another. Changing stereotypes and removing long-standing gender biases.  How do you market to fluid genders? How does that expand your market?
3. Instant Knowledge. We expect it. You can teach yourself anything using the internet, but we’re losing an appreciation for the value of mastery. How do we all help people get smarter faster?
4. Revivalism. Everything old is new again. How do you go retro to inspire trust?
5. Human Mode. We are overloaded with technology, and we want a human experience.  Many people need human interaction. Think empathetically.
6. Attention Wealth. Your attention is valuable, and people are creating more and more ways to capture it. Media overload means many things are competing for your time and attention. Beware of using a spectacle to get attention.  
7. Purposeful Profit. Have a social mission. Adapt products and take stands on ethical practices. Take a stand with your brand to show your values.
8. Data Abundance. So much data around raises questions about how to use it, who owns it, and who profits from it. Ask better questions and seek more insight. What is the data truly telling you? Is it being manipulated? 
9. Protective Tech. We are expecting technology to help us and project us. As more AI comes online and is included in products, we will expect more interaction with tech. Prioritize being useful in order to stand out. 
10. Flux Commerce. The lines between industries are shifting and expanding in non-obvious ways. Example: Crayola crayons now has a make-up line. Rethink common thinking. Disrupt the assumptions in your industry.