Lucie Greene, worldwide director of Innovation Group, talked of the trends and countertrends that will shape our future world in both the short and the long term.
“There are all these variables,” she said, “but what we’re seeing emerging will have lasting impacts. Working from home was once seen as a luxury, but will become accepted. Things are accelerating: think the wealth divide, anxiety, investing in our wellbeing and fear about the world around us.”
She urged the panel of Carla Johnson, storyteller and business influencer; Cindy Gallop, founder of MakeLoveNotPorn; Heather Mills, owner of VBites Group and philanthropist; Dr Alfred Koblinger, CEO of IQONIC Consulting to consider three areas – the consumer, culture and innovation – through the lens of what companies are doing to adapt to these new behaviours.
Entrepreneur Mills said consumer behaviour had changed immediately, with her company seeing online growth of 97% in a week. She hoped that some good would come from COVID-19 but was doubtful that significant lasting “lessons” would be learnt as a result.
Said Mills: “We’ve become such a greedy superficial nation and world that a lot of good will come from this. Will we go back to normal behaviour, concerts, sporting events? We will. We have short memories.”
