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Grand Rapids Chamber Peers into the Future A futurist will address trends and issues coming in the next millennium that will affect GR at the chamber’s annual meeting. By Paul Dileski, SBM Associate Editor Shoreline Business Monthly, February 1999, pg. 6A GRAND RAPIDS – The Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce is going to offer a peek into the future for everyone who attends its 111th Annual Meeting at the Welsh Auditorium, Feb. 23 at noon. Futurist Edward D. Barlow, Jr. is scheduled to speak on coming business trends and issues that will affect Grand Rapids commerce. He is expected to address such topics as the continuing economic globalization, emerging technologies and their applications, e-commerce, the workforce crisis that’s emerging in this country, and diversity. According to David Pace, owner of the Business Speakers Bureau, who secured Barlow as a speaker, Barlow studies future trends in order to enlighten audiences and clients as to what is going to happen and how they should prepare. "(Barlow) has been uncanny about being able to tell people what’s going to be here five years down the road and the things they need to be doing, or this is what’s going to happen," Pace told SBM. Pace added that, because Barlow is a resident of St. Joseph, Michigan, he has a vested interest in West Michigan and the trends that will be affecting this area. Barlow did not want to give away the content of his speech, but he did tell SBM that the above topics are the ones he will be addressing. They represent, he said, "systematic changes – major changes in the rules." As a business forecaster, Barlow said he looks at trends and issues from a long-term perspective. "The role of a futurist is to look at how the convergence of trends in the future will significantly change the external environment in which people operate," he said. "(This) provides a context within which people can start to think about these things (and) then start doing what they need to do to engage the future." If business and community leaders do not think ahead, which Barlow calls "anticipatory thinking," he said they will be the big losers in the 21st century. Barlow, who has a masters degree in management from Notre Dame and is a faculty member at the University of San Francisco, says his predictions are a result of the structured research he is continually pursuing. This includes original research, reviewing research that was done by someone else and picking up references in newspapers, magazines, and even in conversation. Structured research is something he strongly advises his clients to practice in their daily business pursuits. By this, he means they should scan magazines, newspapers, the Internet and any other sources of information to spot emerging trends. "For a lot of folks, even CEOs, the only type of scanning (research) they do is accidental," he joked. "You can’t just stumble over a stack of magazines that have been piling up and see a cover (that reveals a trend)." Not only are sources that are directly related to a person’s profession or industry important, but so too is material from outside that milieu. "That is where a lot of people come up with ideas that have crossover applications," he pointed out. Importantly, Barlow said, instinct is another dimension that plays an important role in his predictions. "I am sensitive to my own intuition about what may happen. To get a sense of what’s coming is an intuitive ability that even though the research says this, or the data say something else, (I) get a gut-level sense that this is what might happen," he said. Some of the issues Barlow said he anticipated long before they became topics of conversation include: Significant changes in the auto industry that would reduce blue-collar workers; public interest in alternative education such as charter schools and schools of choice; growing ethnic diversity; emerging technology and how it will change the way business is done. Recently he was interviewed by U.S. News & World Report as to what would be one of the big issues in 50 years. He told the magazine’s writers that he believes that significant steps will be taken to extend life. Living beyond 100 years old will become more common. This will be due to a much thorough understanding of genetics. Scientists will be able to intervene with, and remove potentially destructive genes. Barlow also speaks on specialized topics such as the journey into the next millennium, the art of looking backwards from tomorrow, the changing nature of leading and managing, and creating the future. Some of his clients include: AT&T, U.S. Department of Defense, Michigan Department of Education, American Bar Association, and Mobil Oil Corp. to name a few. He has delivered over 1,700 presentations. For more information, call Cheryl Edwards at (616) 771-0337.
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