Not many people can claim the title of Futurist. Thanks mainly to his first book “Megatrends” that sold more than nine million copies, AdCon Plenary speaker John Naisbitt’s sharp details on strategic power shifts, have acknowledged him the world’s leading Futurist.
And he is spot on. Years before cyberspace, Naisbitt lectured that economists rooted in traditional industrial order missed the opportunities presented by the emerging, revolutionary information economy. Evidenced by the decline of labor unions, the rise of women executives, and a general burst in business, the new economy would challenge order.
“As the information economy unfolds, expect greater success for those who can select, condense and manage information. Simply put, the task of the age is to convert information and data into intelligence and knowledge,” Naisbitt said.
Ivy league-educated, a former IBM and Kodak executive, and civil servant to two US Presidents Kennedy and Johnson, John Naisbitt is expected to present global insights and developments for the next decades and bring to light geo-political trends.
While the world’s eyes are trained on China, Naisbitt may also offer a different perspective. His China is an emerging superpower still looking for stable foothold.
He portrays China as assertive in foreign policy, sending troops out, obtaining infrastructure contracts with Africa and natural resources partnerships with South America.
As the former Assistant Department Secretary of Education under JFK, Naisbitt stresses that China needs to lead the world in education reform, the kind that would groom its youth as future leaders.
Naisbitt nonetheless states, “Change is a great hype. It’s the currency of the media. Children and kin, religion, even business tenets, are all grounded.” Calling the mantra “The only constancy is change” as absurd, Naisbitt is treading new ground.
But he has a good track record of contrarian thinking. Naisbitt’s readings of the next half-century—about China, change and communication—should prove worthy of scrutiny.
