success is... - DENTSPLY Friadent
success is... - DENTSPLY Friadent
success is... - DENTSPLY Friadent
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54 | IDENTITY<br />
<strong>success</strong> <strong>is</strong> …<br />
being prepared for the future<br />
| Matthias Horx<br />
“The best way to predict the future <strong>is</strong> to make it.” A nice quotation, but what<br />
exactly do we mean by “making the future”? iDENTity wanted to find out more<br />
and talked to Matthias Horx, one of the best-known trend researchers and<br />
futurolog<strong>is</strong>ts in Germany, to d<strong>is</strong>cuss trends and megatrends of the future.<br />
MR. HORX, YOU ARE A TREND RESEARCHER AND FUTUROLOGIST.<br />
WHAT EXACTLY DO YOU DO?<br />
MR. HORX In essence trend research and futurology <strong>is</strong> a continuously developing<br />
universal field in which we try to link sociological, economic, cultural strands and<br />
theories. The idea <strong>is</strong> to understand and map change systems. Exciting developments<br />
in many fields give us new impulses, such as in cultural sociology, evolutionary<br />
sociology or semiotics, the study of cultural symbols.<br />
Trend research and futurology as we do it has two aspects. In public we attempt to<br />
be something like “advocates for the future”. We believe that we can initiate and<br />
manage changes, we do not believe in the apocalypse that <strong>is</strong> predicted every<br />
second day in the media and the gurus of decline. At the business level trend<br />
research and futurology for companies <strong>is</strong> intended to be something like a look in<br />
the mirror. The examination of the possible tomorrow allows us to understand better<br />
what <strong>is</strong> happening today. If we do our job right, the company becomes better able<br />
to act and make dec<strong>is</strong>ions and it learns to place itself in a better position to meet<br />
future challenges. The goal of future research <strong>is</strong> to increase the future fitness of<br />
companies, individuals and societies.<br />
WHAT TRENDS SHOULD BE EXPECT IN THE FUTURE?<br />
MR. HORX The first thing to do <strong>is</strong> to clarify the levels at which trends ex<strong>is</strong>t. Trends<br />
can be found in the most varied areas of life – from the economy through politics<br />
to the world of consumers. The term “trend” <strong>is</strong> an extremely general one, as can<br />
be seen in its variety of uses in the media, advert<strong>is</strong>ing and product design. We<br />
classify trends into product trends, fashion trends, sociological trends, sociocultural<br />
trends, complex technology trends, metatrends and so on. Our work <strong>is</strong> basically
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