On the Couch with Rohit Bhargava and Henry Coutinho-Mason

By Deborah Hamilton-Lynne

In 2022 I attended a session featuring Rohit Bhargava and was completely captivated by his research and predictions for the future. 

So he immediately rose to the top of my list when I saw that he was returning in 2023 and was launching his new book, The Future Normal in his session. Bhargava and his co-writer, Henry Couinho Mason are two of the most successful trend watcher consultants in the world and I was anxious (as is the rest of the world) to see what they would predict as the “New Normal.”

I was thrilled when they started their talk with this question – “What if instead of believing that the future is going to be worse than the present or past things actually went right and things would be better?  Can we create an optimistic futuristic mindset?”

Here are my top 5 Takeaways from their interview:

1. Metabolic Monitoring.  Many things that will be common in the future are available today.  Over 100 million Americans have pre-diabetes and most of them don’t know it.  So what if monitoring your glucose level was as common as monitoring your number of steps with a fitbit? Think of how that would change the long-term health outlook if those people could take preventative action early by changes in diet or habits and avoid the major health problems associated with diabetes.  Two start-ups are addressing ways to monitor your glucose level and helping people understand the relationship of diet/foods to blood sugar levels – Supersapiens and January AI’s Season of Me program which monitors glucose levels and uses AI to give recommendations on food choices.  Both Bhargava and Mason believe that health related devices and apps will proliferate, become more affordable and commonplace and change the way we approach our health and the foods we eat. 
2. We can THRIVE. There seems to be a global feeling of dread about the future coming out of the pandemic but both Bhargava and Mason believe that good things are coming, and the future can be bright. There are easy changes to make that can make a difference and slow things like climate change. There are amazing products coming that are helpful to the environment. Things exist now for example buying and using biodegradable products, but many people are not familiar with them.  These futurists believe that the shift will be quick and buying biodegradable products will become the norm rather than the exception. Another trend is moving toward making secondhand consumerism a source of savviness and pride – the ultimate new hunter gatherer game has become a thing and is actually good for the planet. We are in a time of expansion and learning and the future normal is already happening and will move quickly. Examples – biodegradable clothes and shoes they were wearing on stage. 
3. AI Concerns: “People who are creating it and putting it out into the world don’t have the ethics to do something good with it.” – Bhargava.  It is not the technology that is dangerous.  It is the people who are in charge of it that is a concern. Positives: Jobs will be created for people who have knowledge of how to use AI. The interesting question that arose was, “What if AI could make Humans more creative?” 
4. Future of work as they see it.  Working remotely is definitely here to stay and will become the new normal.  Working remotely has been shown to be more productive in many areas than working on site. Working remotely is no longer considered out of the box thinking and other flexible job solutions such as job sharing and shorter work weeks become much more common. And in a very optimistic leap these futurists believe that more of the world’s largest companies and brands will begin to understand that prioritizing doing good over profits will actually increase profitability and loyalty among consumers. This new normal will also be better for the workers who are employed by these forward-looking companies. 
5. Ending loneliness through intergenerational connections. Coming out of the pandemic there is a global sense of loneliness and isolation. As more and more people are retiring and living longer in a healthy way people are realizing that each generation has something valuable to share and we will actually return to a time when multiple generations live together, possibly in co-living spaces that are beneficial to all where there is more exchange and interaction between people of those generations. Technology will also be used to help people find companionship, learning and a greater sense of community and belonging.  

Their new book, The Future Normal, has much more on the macro and micro trends that are coming.  Organized in three sections: How We will Connect, Get Healthy and Thrive; How We Will Live, Work and Consume; How Humanity Will Survive each chapter includes sections on “Instigators” who are creating products and companies of the future and questions for debate and discussions.  

One of my favorite thoughts and quotes actually comes from the end of the talk.  “We can’t just think about technology in relation to the future.  We have to think about the human elements. It will be about the integrity and ingenuity of people and what we accomplish when we work together for the good of all.”

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