Top 5 Trends in Business for 2022

While COVID sure did alter the way we work, it also accelerated change like we’ve never seen before. Governments and traditional industries switched on their digital and innovation capability across the globe overnight. With COVID logistics restrictions, nations became nationalised and self-sustaining; and society got angry about a lot of things, the politics, climate change and the anti-vax demonstrations. So, with some of this pent up frustration at lengthy lockdowns and social unrest, what will be critical for decision makers and employees in 2022? 

I have done some research exploring what major publications think will be the emerging trends in 2022 and here are their perspectives, The Economist states are the top ten trends in 2022, what AICD thinks are the emerging governance issues for boards, what Forbes believes are the key trends for small business in 2022. 

As someone who navigates industry and government as clients, and mentors small business owners and startup founders, I have consolidated my thinking into what I believe to be 

FIVE EMERGING TRENDS for 2022: 

1. Hybrid “Happy” Workplaces and employee activism towards impact
2. Climate action, clean meat and the rise of AgTech and Climate Tech. 
3. Web 3.0 and Crypto becoming mainstream with a rise in NFTs and digital currency.
4. Applied & Open Innovation, beyond design thinking, to business model redesign
5. Ransomware and the threat of cyber attacks and hackers. 

No doubt the Future of Work, the hybrid workplace with an empathy led leadership will continue into 2022, so too will the bolder and vulnerable discussions around mental health and well-being, the darkness party isn’t over yet folks. Mindfulness in the workplace will also continue to explode, while purpose will become a critical pillar of strategy to prevent the cultural risks of the Great Recession. And more flexible co-working spaces will continue to become more of a bi-weekly team huddle workspace. 

Future of Work expert and leading entrepreneur Jan Owen AM, says, “What will emerge in the future of work this year is more focus on "Learning in the Flow of Work" - rather than taking time out to upskill or re-skill, the focus will be how to provide the same opportunity through integrated and immersive in-place, on-the- job learning with high calibre coaching, mentoring and assessments utilising micro-credentials and badges to demonstrate individual, and maybe even team!, proficiency”.

As the next human pandemic, climate change, starts to impact the way we think and act,

climate action will continue to be a force for good business. Net Zero ambition will transform into action like a circular economy, and a broader stakeholder vision for the UN SDGs, sustainable cities, social innovation and impact led business models. 

Climate Salad Founder and climate tech investor Mick Liubinskas believes that,

"2022 will be the year that sustainability and circular economy become a top priority with consumer retail decisions. This will change online and in person shopping, packaging, delivery and recycling".

In the rise of clean meat and AgTech, global food futurist Tony Hunter expressed, “2022 will be the most exciting year yet for cultivated meat as more countries, including the US, grant regulatory approval for commercial sales. Many more pilot plants will open around the world and prices will keep dropping. Venture Capital will continue to flow into the sector to fund new startups and to scale up these pilot plant operations”.

Tony says,

“You'll be able to taste everything from fish to shrimp to chicken, beef and more in a restaurant somewhere in the world. Cultivated meat will truly go from sci-fi to sci-fact”!

While the price of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies continues to rise, Web 3.0 and the digital currency market continues to be taken seriously by governments and industry as too the rise of NFTs with companies like Nike even making big M&A deals in this space. Australia’s homegrown brand Penfolds wine recently had a NFT sell for about $200K and in a continued physical exhibition covid-constrained world, the art world is embracing Web.3 with oodles of excitement. Web 3.0 will be mainstream in 2022. 

Deputy Chair of Blockchain Australia Karen Cohen expressed that,

“2022 will see maturity in the NFT and Gaming world as NFT's become more accepted as a means of marketing by mainstream brands. I would love to see more women grow their financial independence through crypto investments and DeFi”.

With way too much design thinking and not enough applied innovation, business leaders will invest more in commercialisation of R&D, artificial intelligence & automation, and employee experience EX will become the new CX. So, there will be end-to-end innovation. While front-end design thinking will continue, we’ll enact more mid-zone business model / commercialisation and back-end project management execution complete end-to-end applied innovation capability uplift.  And open innovation to invest in the trust of our communities will become core to industry innovation ecosystems. The new economy business models will be co-designed in 2022. 

APAC Innovation Institute’s Finbar O’Hanlon expressed that,

2022 is the year that will be the launchpad for the businesses of the future, a year where mindsets shift to new value and leaders focus on staying ahead of markets.

"It’s easier now than ever to learn how to adapt to this change, and technologies coupled with applied and open innovation provide pathways to accelerate growth”, he said. 

With cyber attacks into the billions, this is now the norm, ransomware will become even more critical infrastructure to protect against the hackers. The boom of cryptocurrencies value and the sophistication of the hard to catch online criminals will continue to push cybersecurity risk as a growing concern for CEOs and boards. 

Co-Founder of Cyber a.i startup NIMIS Cybersecurity Priya George believes, “A lot of things are happening in de-centralisation, trust in digital systems, targeting of retail buyers in crypto which is often not talked about”. However, her pick for the continuing upward trend is that, “In 2022, AI systems with some human augmentation will continue to support businesses globally to overcome skills shortage and cybercrime”.

So, while the return to a hybrid workplace beckons for 2022, so too does a focus on well-being, purpose and impact, underpinned with a need to address the risks of cyber attacks, and disruption of emerging technology. Major companies have rewired their focus towards the opportunities of disruption and so too governments are embracing innovation. As the gates open in 2022, some will ‘design sprint’, others will follow fast, but blessed be to the laggards who will become disrupted. 

2022 will be a year where boldness is encouraged and leaders will commend the risk takers, so don’t hold off that idea anymore, build out the business model and pitch it because this is your year to unleash extraordinary! If you want to innovate in 2022, press play here.