Understanding the five major forces driving change—technology, economics, demographics, environment, and politics—helps us anticipate shifts before they become obvious to everyone else. Steve Fisher explains how to move from reactive to proactive thinking by examining what's beneath surface-level trends.

• Technology changes everything but its impact depends on how people use it, not just what it can do
• Economic drivers like cost reduction explain why innovations like renewable energy suddenly gain traction
• Demographic shifts including aging populations and generational values reshape societies over decades
• Environmental challenges are becoming economic and social disruptors across industries
• Political decisions and regulations can accelerate or impede changes in surprising ways
• "Trend layering" helps understand how multiple forces interact to shape complex developments
• "Backcasting" involves working backward from future scenarios to identify change paths
• Tracking early signals helps spot emerging forces before they become mainstream

Your challenge this week: Pick a current trend and analyze what's truly driving it—economics, demographics, technology, or something else entirely? Once you understand the underlying forces, the future becomes less unpredictable.

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🎧 Listen Now On:

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/think-forward-conversations-with-futurists-innovators-and-big-thinkers/id1736144515

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0IOn8PZCMMC04uixlATqoO

Web: https://thinkforward.buzzsprout.com/

Thank you for joining me on this ongoing journey into the future. Until next time, stay curious, and always think forward.

FIF Series EP 18 - What Drives Change?