Three Predictions for 2021
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I have a fear. I don’t like to say things when I know that I could be wrong. Logically, I know that it’s important for leaders to share their thinking. And logically too, I know that people say things that are wrong all the time and nothing bad happens 99% of the time.
Yet despite knowing these facts, I still don’t like to say things off the cuff. It’s that annoying perfectionist in me. So, one of my New Year’s Resolutions is to conquer the fear by saying at least one thing every week that I know could be wrong. In this spirit, I am publicly sharing three predictions for 2021.
In 2021…
1) The office will become a selling point once again
Because COVID forced remote work upon everyone, the common belief is that businesses will keep working remotely once this is all over. Many predict that offices will function differently. They will be a space for employees to drop into occasionally when they need to do work together, and hence will contain lots of options for collaboration spaces and some commuter desks. I predict that some companies will go full retro and embrace the traditional office where everyone has a dedicated space and comes in everyday. They will invest in snazzy focal points (remember when Box built a slide?!) and make their office culture a selling point in recruiting.
2) You will find a used RV for a great price
Driven by COVID restrictions, demand for RV’s surged in 2020. A whopping 80% of buyers were first-time RV purchasers. After vaccines get distributed and travel reopens, I think that many of these newbie RV owners will realize that 1) they prefer other modes of transportations to RVs, 2) they prefer other destinations to outdoors recreation, or 3) they actually don’t even like outdoor recreation that much. I predict that the market for used RV’s will be flooded with supply by the end of the year. So if you’ve been eying that Airstream, keep your eyes open for some great deals.
3) We will meet the spawn of Zoom
Zoom is a general purpose tool, a Swiss army knife. Today, it’s used for everything from product managers leading standup meetings, to personal trainers teaching virtual workout classes, to first grade teachers managing distance learning. All of these users are making Zoom work...for now… but their needs are quite different. Just as Craigslist spawned different marketplaces that targeted each of its categories, I predict that Zoom will spawn different tools that target each of its users.
Will these predictions come true? We’ll check back at the end of year to see. What do you predict for 2021?
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