Pub. 2 2019-2020 Issue 3

11 a real-world dystopian society, where individuals buy in bulk unnecessarily, prepping for the end of the world. The pandemic will end and we will recover to another new version of normal. What if we made the new post- pandemic normal much better than what we had before? Is this possible? It sure is, if we get past the fear and reacting to the next disruptive problem and become anticipatory, using the power of disruptive change to create a better tomorrow for all. Keep in mind that while times are highly uncertain in an all-encompassing way, this global disruption on a massive scale is also creating new ways to have a positive, significant impact on the present and the future. Going Remote, No Matter Who A global pandemic, shutdown, and quarantine are very similar to digital disruption: They know no boundaries and will disrupt every industry there is. However, what this pandemic disruption is showing us is that many organizations are quickly shifting to reposition their workforce to new roles or remote roles by digitally banding together and working efficiently from a distance. It is easy to consider going remote when you have a desk job or a career that is already rooted in flex-time industries. However, what about those that don’t have it as easy? Virtual reality and augmented reality (VR and AR) are two technologies that have started gaining traction in recent years, given the exponential changes of the Three Digital Accelerators of bandwidth, computing power and processing power, which I have discussed since the early 1980s. Now more than ever, we can see industries — which ordinarily are unable to go remote because they were based on the need for a customer to be physically present — figure out ways to provide a remote customer experience. An incredibly outside-the-box example can be found by way of museums, zoos, and even theme parks going remote. Monterey Bay Aquarium and Walt Disney World have gone remote using livestreaming video and a form of virtual reality applications like Google Street View, so guests who had to cancel their vacation can still “walk through” Disney World with their families for something to do. If Walt Disney World, an in-person entertainment giant with visceral experiences, can find a way to go remote, imagine the remote possibilities in several other industries around the world. Innovation Is NeededMore Than Ever While our worlds may seem to be in a period of indefinite stasis, the world and peoples’ needs don’t stop. A Hard Trend most people take for granted is that there are more than 500 cycles that continue, such as the sun setting tonight and rising tomorrow, the stock market going down and going up, and the pandemic beginning and ending. If you have followed my writings, you know that I want us all to become positive disruptors, creating the disruptions that need to happen to make the world a better place for all. continued on page 12