I have been thinking around some of the areas where we will see a change in how we do things over the next few years. Things which, in the past, may have been beyond us but now appear to be closer.

Artificial intelligence.

When will we hit a situation when our coaching or other meetings are completed by artificial intelligence agents? Your recent psychometrics have linked into your smartwatch data and online purchasing habits to understand who you are. Take this one step further, and when will we encourage our persona artificial intelligence to have a pre-meeting with another persona artificial intelligence to set a schedule or even make decisions about a future person to person meeting? How does that make you feel? Excited, scared, encouraged, released.

Just as in the Ready Player One novel, the growth of virtual reality will play its part. As coaches, we work with ego, which will enhance the alter ego showing up with potential blurriness between reality and the virtual world.

Connectivity

Connectivity will be a benefit and also a challenge. What we say, what we do can be reported and multiplied exponentially across the interweb. Reputations can get tarnished in an instant but can also be enhanced in the same moment.

The future of work

The future of work is already altered. We have seen that working from home is now an option for many organisations leading to different debates on financial benefits and compensation. This hybrid space is here to stay. But with the benefits of working from home come the challenges – how can we encourage ideas to flourish, for the ad-hoc conversations to lead to breakthrough and increased harmony in our teams. It certainly is tricky to work out how someone feels on a Zoom call.

Cash and payments

We see a change in the way we handle cash or don’t. Our Google Pay or Apple Pay now seems to be taking a considerable step to paying most of the bills when we are out. Cryptocurrency has been tricky due to its volatility, but with Facebook entering this arena, will this add stability beyond borders? How does that work with us as practitioners? How can we make it easier for our customers to pay? Amazon (Amazon Go) is also experimenting with cashless and cashier less shops – something that is just a wild concept to many is now confirmed.

Productivity

It is getting bitty and I get see it getting even bittier in the future. By that, I mean there appear to be many little jobs that we now need to do. We have that ‘social media’, blogs to write, accounts, taxes, marketing, and this is in addition to saying hello to our clients and attending virtual or online meetings. The key to the future could be automation. When was the last time you looked at the repetitive tasks that you do and consider what you can do to eliminate this repitition?

Travel has become less, but we balance this with the need to physically meeting people.

Mindset

But the big takeout for me when looking at any advancements is not about what will happen – it is about my attitude to it. I would love to think that I am a trailblazer creating and forging a new route – but I am not. I am interested in what all this could do, in a positive way – and that is it.

We need to look after ourselves now and in the future. Being aware of our own self-care is going to be paramount. Being aware of others around us is going to be paramount and perhaps we should look at how we can position ourselves to understand more about mental health.

If we take an existential approach, our lives are made up of lots of temporalities. As one thing ends, another opportunity starts. We have endings and new beginnings.

We need to savour, celebrate and remember the past and then move on to what brave new world we create.