Trend Watch 12/17

Entry 12/17/20 - discovered a couple things today. Contacted significant people. Weighed the odds.

Spirit, in organizations

Little reading today, but wrote commentary on another chapter of Owen’s The Spirit of Leadership.

Current markets

I try to stay in touch with what’s generally going on in the business world. Interesting things are happening and some trends dominate change: cryptocurrency, escalating debt, and reimagined space.

Cryptocurrency

Bitcoin is on the move, jumping to $19k last month and punching through $20k this week. Confidence has never been higher. This digital, permanent, and accurate method of value exchange is superior in many ways to fiat currencies. The value is deeper than money, it’s reliant on the technology’s capacity to transfer information in addition to value. Cryptocurrency is also affected by escalating debt.

Escalating Debt

The COVID-19 pandemic which began in early 2020 sent the world’s governments into a debt-financed spending craze as they struggled to fight the virus. As organizations sprung into action through assistance programs, national debt climbed. The social economy has begun to emerge as programs are subsidized by government agencies.

Reimagined Space

As COVID-19 shifted the workplace to “remote” work, intra-personnel interaction dwindled and evolved through video conferences. Though the bulk of my peers insist that “physical space” is unimportant in this post-pandemic world, I remain convinced otherwise. The ability of physical space to serve as a location to summon and channel spirit is since unmatched in digital/remote gatherings.