Prospering from the baby boomers lifestyle

Today, globally, there is no bigger trend than the aging of baby boomers. The largest concentration of wealth on the planet is in the hands of the aging baby boomers, multi million strong-and getting older. They will wield significant economic power over the next decade. If you don’t have a strategy to capture the values of this generation you need to get cracking! Potentially great organizations will be crippled if leaders are refusing to be aware of this diverse stream of new possibilities and continue to manage their business as usual.

The whole landscape is changing and businesses will have to reshape their strategy around it in order to manage these new possibilities. Since the baby boomers demand higher quality, choices and value-added products, their enormous spending capabilities and desires will create a new economic environment where quality will become more affordable. It’s a lot of change and it will be a challenging transition. But businesses will gain a huge amount from a better recognition of the diversity of opportunities and new business possibilities.  Rather than closing your eyes to forewarning indicators and hoping that things don’t change too much, you must be willing to break with your own successful conventional practices and discover different ways of tapping into the curiosity of the boomer generation.  

You need to ask questions such as:  What can I do differently that would generate different possibilities? What processes are we using to deal with change? What could happen? How can we better understand and reach this powerful consumer segment? What will baby boomers need and  want in five years and ten years? How could the business of bankers, retailers, manufacturers and trainers change in the coming years to support the baby boomer market?

There are a great many baby boomers that are not choosing to retire. In actual fact many baby boomers are at the peak of their earning years and have comparatively large discretionary incomes to spend. So how can your businesses prosper from the baby boomers lifestyle? 

To understand what baby boomers are going to really choose to buy, businesses must recognize what is truly important to them. They must appreciate that ‘the desire to do what you want when and where you want’ is the common psychological denominator of baby boomers. Baby boomers don't think they are old, and they certainly don't want to be perceived or depicted that way, either. In this environment, companies that excel in making sure their clients are made to feel special and respected will out-perform their competitors.

Take a look at what you currently offer in your business and see if you can't make a few tweaks to capture this huge target audience. The key to unlocking the participation and purchasing power of baby boomers is knowing what inspires them.

Printing human body parts using 3D printing

The use of 3D printers outside the fields of product engineering and manufacturing and to print off a kidney or another human organ may sound like something out of a   science fiction story. But now this science fiction is a reality. 

Unlike normal printers, Bioprinters use a "bio-ink" made of living cell mixtures to form human tissue. Basically, the bio-ink is used to build a 3D structure of cells, layer by layer, to form tissue.  

According to researchers, 3D printing will make organ transplants easier because organs and tissues can be generated on demand. It can also lessen organ rejection among patients because the living cells used in engineering these organs can be harvested from the patient’s body itself. Organovo , a San Diego-based company that focuses on regenerative medicine, is one company using 3D bio-printers to print functional human tissue for medical research and regenerative therapies.

Australian scientists have found a way to grow human body parts using 3D printing technology. Instead of using traditional materials such as plastics or metals however, the team hopes that the printers will be able to create new body parts out of the patient’s own skin cells – a concept that Professor Mark Cook, director of neuroscience, has described as “quite incredible and limitless”. This will become invaluable for doctors because these machines help them do their jobs with a higher degree of precision. 

University of Wollongong researchers are leading the way in this area using a 3D bio-plotter, the first of its kind in Australia. This machine is able to use bio-materials to print material in a sterile environment that more accurately represents human tissue. It's possible to print devices and structures that can be implanted in human bodies, and these devices can have cells grown on them so that bodily functions can be replicated on these very tiny devices.

Whilst similar projects are being conducted globally to recreate body parts, the Australian partnership between St. Vincents and ARC Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science have sought government assistance to accelerate proceedings, in order to position Melbourne in the forefront of this area of research.

How will 3D printing change the world?

As a Pragmatic Futurist, we’re fascinated by the potential of 3D printing technology  to transform businesses. Like computers and the Internet, 3D printing will undoubtedly affect business and life around the world and across industries. This technology has potential to become the most important, most strategic, and most used manufacturing process ever.

The 3D printing and rapid prototyping industry is a wonderful advancement in engineering that opens up exciting opportunities for many industries  especially domestic manufacturing. It has potential to create efficiencies and opportunities for producers both large and small, from industrial fabricators to DIY makers. There will not be an industry that’s not impacted by this technology—if not in the production of final parts, then in prototyping and testing of new designs.

Are you aware of how the 3D printing technology could restructure your industries? Have you ever considered how the 3D printing technology may effect your business in the near future and what you and your business can do different?

Below are examples of how 3D printing technology are being used

Space Exploration - NASA is conducting tests to assess the potential of 3D printing to make space exploration cheaper and more efficient. Rocket parts built using this technology have passed NASA firing tests. NASA are currently in Phase One of a three-phase plan to develop a method for printing food on long space voyages.

Body Parts - Bioprinters use a "bio-ink" made of living cell mixtures to form human tissue. Basically, the bio-ink is used to build a 3D structure of cells, layer by layer, to form tissue. Organovo announced in April that they had successfully printed human liver tissue capable of performing all the functions required of a liver.

Product design and model making - You can create designs or print 3D models of just about anything under the sun. For example Scott Summi created the world’s first 3D printed acoustic guitar; the medical industry use 3D printing to create prototypes that mimic the look and feel of the finished medical device which allows doctors, researchers and medical device manufacturers to work fast, test thoroughly and customize like never before.  Fashion designer Iris van Herpen and shoe designer Rem D Koolhaas have collaborated to create 3D printing shoes that look like tree roots.

Art and Digital Sculpture -  photographers and sculptors have turned to 3D printing as a creative outlet. They use 3D printing as a way to get yet another layer of creativity to their works.

Rapid prototyping - 3D printers hav have been used extensively for rapid prototyping and research purposes. These are generally larger machines that use proprietary powdered metals, casting media (e.g. sand), plastics, paper or cartridges, and are used for creating prototype by universities and commercial companies.

Product customization - For companies that sell custom, one-of-a-kind applications, such as a personalized medical device, they can manufacture the finished product to exact custom specifications in a very short time. Nokia has released the 3D designs for its case so that owners can customize their own case and have it 3D printed.

Can you fathom that your organization’s existence could be threatened? The 3D printing technology has applications for almost any industry or field. For companies that make and sell products en masse, it gives them the ability to turn a design into a prototype in perhaps one-tenth the time of traditional manufacturing methods. Potentially great organizations will be crippled if leaders refuse to be aware of how the 3D printing technology can transform their businesses and continue to manage their business as usual.

Is your organization investing in 3D printing technology? If your business isn't already investing in 3D printing, you must ask yourself  "Why not?"

The 3D printing technology is not only limited to the industries of Product Design and Development but is also ideal for other industries such a metal casting, jewelery and dental. 3D printers are already in use among many businesses, from manufacturing to pharmaceuticals to consumers goods, and have generated a diverse set of use cases.

A recent Gartner report says "Early Adopters of 3D Printing Technology Could Gain an Innovation Advantage Over Rivals". The report predicting that enterprise-class 3D printers will be available for less than $2,000 by 2016. Check out the Gartner Report

According to the global research firm McKinsey - 3D printing will be used for making highly complex, low-volume and highly customizable parts. MGI estimates that 3D printing could generate $100 billion to $400 billion in economic impact per year by 2025 from direct manufacturing of parts. 30~50% of total complex, low-volume and highly customizable parts could be 3D printed. Read more

The world's first test-tube-grown beef burger

The world’s first test tube burger, has been unveiled in London in August 2013. The burger (meat patty) was created by scientists in the Netherlands at a cost of about $370,000 using 20,000 tiny strips of meat grown from muscle cells taken from a living cow over a three-month period. Scientists say that it is possible the meat will be sold to the public within ten years.

For the Dutch scientists, the main reason for exploring this method of meat production is to provide a different possibility to the mounting food crisis. This could revolutionise the way aid is delivered in a natural disaster and could dramatically lower the energy and production costs of feeding millions.

The billionaire co-founder of Google, Sergey Brin, stepped in to support the project after funding from the Dutch government ran out, saying he was doing it for “animal welfare reasons”. According to the World Health Organization, the demand for meat will double over the course of the next 40 years. This is a big problem because more than 70 percent of agricultural land is currently being used for livestock production, leaving little room for crops destined for human consumption. Oxford university scientists noted that cultured beef would lower the energy cost.  Cultured beef needs 45 per cent less energy that natural beef and requires 99 per cent less land than regular livestock and produce between 78 and 95 per cent less greenhouse gas.

The video below shows the animation of how cultured beef is being grown by scientists at Maastricht University using stem-cells from a dead cow.

Detecting Awareness in the vegetative state

In recent years, improvements in brain imaging technology have started to change the way we think about brain function and how it should be measured.

Scientists had been using brain scanning to show that a person who was thought to be in a vegetative state was, in fact, awake and responsive. Despite fulfilling the clinical criteria for a diagnosis of vegetative state, these patients retained the ability to understand spoken commands and to respond to them through their brain activity, rather than through speech or movement. This technique was also used to actually communicate with such a patient who could answer ‘yes’ and ‘no’ questions just by altering his brain activity.

Furthermore, the patient’s choice and determination to collaborate with the scientist by imagining particular tasks when asked to do so represents a clear act of intent and connect, which confirmed beyond any doubt that they were awake and aware of themselves and their surroundings.

So.. what if everything is opposite to what it appeared to be?

The Power of Thought- Your point of view creates your reality

In a simple perspective of human thought, our scientific understanding of its power to modify and re-arrange matter is now affirming what many ancient traditions have been communicating in various ways for millennia.

Below is a well-produced video by Kent Healy in quantum science- The Power of Thought. This video reveals what many already have discovered in different ways and offers others just beginning the process, an assurance this emerging Quantum science is not pseudo-psycho babble. It is real, and the infinite power to create resides equally in each one of us! 

Watch the clip below and start to apply this once hidden knowledge to help yourself and contribute in conscious ways, to generate different realities. Your point of view creates your reality. People entrain to a point of view. Everybody agrees with it, so they create a vibration that creates that point of view as a reality. To whatever degree you no longer entrain to a point of view as a reality, that point of view will cease to exist. Are you willing to be what changes everything? 

 

Power of Thought - A Quantum Perspective - By Kent Healy

Innovation in Technology

Innovations in technology continues to have massive effects on business and society. Technology will enable more productivity and opportunity then ever before, challenging business executives to become more future savvy. Regardless of what industry you are in it is essential to be looking outward and constantly monitor broad trends in the external environment.

In order to succeed you need to know what’s ahead to better plan and perceive different possibilities. You would do well to recognize that executing on your existing strategy might no longer be good enough. Technology will continue to be the key driver of business strategy. It is imperative to become aware of the different possibilities and risks presented by the evolving trends, and the driving forces behind them.  In fact, many notorious big-business failures have stemmed from feeble or faulty strategies. In their book Billion Dollar Lessons , Paul Carroll and Chunka Mui point out that many big business failures could have been avoided if companies had been more strategically aware of potential pitfalls. It takes generative energy, will power, fortitude, and strategy  to transform awareness into physical reality.

With a strategic awareness, you can re-imagine what is possible, discovering what you can do that is new, and how best to do it.

A forecast of trends for the near future

This snappy video presents a year-end forecast of trends for the near future. New technology continues to take center stage. 

10 Trends for 2013 report is the result of quantitative, qualitative and desk research conducted by JWTIntelligence throughout the year.

Unleash your futurist capabilities

People seem to have the misconception that only a select few are able to unleash the ability to have futurist capabilities or to think like a futurist.  That is not true at all. The truth is, thinking like a futurist is very much like a muscle that needs to be exercised in order to consistently give out great results. If you don't practice harnessing your ability to think like a futurist, this skill will very much atrophy into nonexistence. But keep working and this skill will soon come to you in a snap.

So, how do you unleash your futurist capabilities? Well, the first thing is to develop and expand your strategic awareness.  Strategic awareness is the process of fusing awareness to strategy and incorporating real-world knowledge of industry, global trends, and possible futures. It is the process of accessing non-analytic data and incorporating awareness or inner knowing into the strategic decision-making process. 

Strategic awareness places equal emphasis on both strategy  and awareness.  Strategy and awareness are each essential to superior performance, which is the prime target of any enterprise. However, strategy and awareness work in very different ways. Awareness  without strategy  often results in leaders becoming mesmerized by the realm of potential possibility. They bounce from one idea to the next without any plan or strategy for carrying ideas through into physical reality. Awareness of the possibilities is important, but it’s not enough. You have to be able to bring the ideas into the world—and a sound strategy allows you to do this.

"Change is the law of life. And those who only look to the past or present are certain to miss the future." ... John F. Kennedy