What a year in flux and uncertainty 2022 has been.
COVID has receded, and life got back to some semblance of normal, but cases are up 50% over the past two weeks.
Americans are as divided as ever, and the major political parties still have a winner-take-all attitude. But there are some signs that tracks are forming at the extremes.
The tech sector is laying off workers by the thousands, but payrolls increased by 261,000 in October.
A recession has seemed to be just around the corner all year, yet the GDP increased by 2.6% in October.
How we choose to view the world we live in today depends on how we choose to look at things. What impacts us is how we experience the flux and external environment, combined with the personal successes and challenges that our loved ones and we are faced with.
Artificial Intelligence Use is Increasing
Our lives are continually changed by technological developments, whether it’s artificial intelligence, electric cars, or advances in medical technologies. Even how our most basic needs are being met is in flux. The county of San Diego gets 10% of its drinking water by desalinating ocean water.
Marketers have seen a rise in the use of artificial intelligence (AI). For many years, our digital experiences have been improved by machine learning, whether it’s the search results we see on Google or the often irritating auto-correct when we’re texting or typing on a keyboard. Companies like Intellimize and Finalytics.ai are providing technology that allows websites to provide us with individualized experiences when visiting websites, even if it’s the first time we’ve visited.
AI has been increasingly used for writing. AI use has expanded from autocorrect, to suggesting article titles and creating outlines. Today entire blog posts are being written using AI.
2022 has also seen the launch of numerous AI-generated artwork tools. While currently more experimental than practical, this will quickly change as software developers improve AI algorithms.
What To Do About Where We Are Headed
The changes and uncertainties we’ve experienced in 2022 will likely continue into the next year and beyond. It is difficult to extrapolate where the economy is headed in 2023 based on what has happened this year.
But as business leaders, you need to make forecasts and plan current activities and investments based on what you expect. The uncertainties may cause you to do nothing, make no changes, and wait and see. But you need to make changes and incur acceptable risk to move forward.
It is difficult to plan in uncertain times. But we consider times as uncertain because we are looking back on recent history. No matter how turbulent or smooth the last year has been, we can never project the trends forward and know what the next year will bring.
Make a forecast, make a plan, and make changes. But also make alternate forecasts and evaluate the impact they would have on your business if they come to fruition. Make alternative plans that respond to the different forecasts. The key to being adaptable is to reserve enough financial resources to be able to implement the contingent plans you’ve already created.
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Tod Cordill has worked in a variety of industries including software, manufacturing, printing, and eCommerce. He currently helps B2B companies integrate digital marketing channels into existing sales and marketing efforts by combining his P&L perspective with an engineering problem-solving structure. Get in touch and learn how Moderno Strategies can help you efficiently drive business growth. Connect with Tod: @todcordill on Twitter and on LinkedIn
