LAWTON – Speaker Daniel Burrus told his audience to think about hard trends, which are guaranteed to happen, and consider ways that those trends could affect business owners.
Then he asked the group to ponder soft trends, which are subject to change, and the ways those trends could influence businesses over the next few years.
Finally, he asked the group to imagine the opportunities that they could create based on hard and soft trends, such as an aging workforce.
“Hard trend: Increasingly, baby boomers are going to retire,” Burrus said. “Soft trend: They’ll take their knowledge and wisdom with them. What do I want to do about that?”
A futurist speaker and business strategist, Burrus spoke during the second day of the Mayor’s Economic Summit, which took place Aug. 20 at the FISTA Innovation Park in Lawton. Business owners, their employees and city officials turned out for the event, which offered them strategies for turning problems into opportunities.
Burrus cited the rise of artificial intelligence and ChatGPT, an AI-powered tool that uses machine learning to generate human-like responses to users’ queries, as an example of a hard trend that is bound to affect businesses in the near future.
“I’ve given a lot of thought to AI and humans,” he said. “What do humans need to do, and how do humans beat the machine going forward?”
Burrus said people can improve their chances for success by honing their skills in 12 different areas, including:
• Anticipating problems and disruptions.
• Growing more comfortable with using new technology.
• Taking a creative approach to solving problems.
• Practicing strategic listening, defined as a combination of active and passive listening.
• Building relationships.
Burrus said people who brush up on those skills do not need to worry about AI.
“If we get better at those things, AI is not going to harm us or hurt us,” he said.