What's Next?
Readers ask us that question all the time. And we ask the people we write about the same thing. This first incarnation of the Fast Forward list is an attempt to capture what comes out of those conversations, to look around the corner and offer some insight into the ideas, people, and trends that will affect the way we work and live in 2005.
Perhaps the most thrilling part of putting together a list of 101 emerging ideas is seeing the innovation and optimism bubbling up in so many arenas, from packaged goods to biotech to security. In a stagnant business climate, it's easy to get dejected about whether there are, in fact, any big ideas left to pursue. An Internet may not come along every year to transform our lives, but not every mountain has to be Everest. We can still get pretty excited about an advance in shopping-cart technology (see No. 74).
At the heart of each of the 101 items on the list lies an idea. It may be convenience or transparency or a new way to think about strategy. We think you'll see ideas that will help you change the way you work or how your company does business. In some cases, you may just be able to adopt the concept itself. In others, you may be inspired by the soul of it.
Predicting the future, even the near future, is a perilous endeavor in our lightning-round business culture. Some of these items are sure things and others are long-shot gambles. That's by design. For as you consider what you want to accomplish next year, the key to success may be a healthy mix of both.
- Acting on Intuition [1]
- MBA Lite [2]
- Over There -- and Staying [3]
- Ready to Play Hardball? [4]
- Beyond the Talking Toaster [5]
- Green Giant [6]
- Tiered work spaces [7]
- Max Barry's Company [8]
- Conference room cafe [9]
- Desk-friendly food [10]
- Granny chic [11]
- Local Is the New Organic [12]
- Going Off the Grid Goes Upscale [13]
- Nike Puts out Its Recycling [14]
- Working My Way Back to You, Babe [15]
- Insurgents Top Incumbents [16]
- The Vogue of the 500-Year Plan [17]
- Wall Street Gets a Serious Googling [18]
- Ningbo Bird Gets the Wireless Worm [19]
- If Our Clothes Are Smart . . . [20]
- . . . Why Should Our Shoes Be Stupid? [21]
- I See . . . a Rat Taking a Dirt Nap [22]
- Heavyweight Hybrids [23]
- Every Move You Make [24]
- Customized health plans [25]
- Corporate chaplains [26]
- Vacation accrual transfer [27]
- Invasive, Invisible Security [28]
- Old Vodka in New Bottles [29]
- Pop-up Retail [30]
- Jargon Alert! Time Sovereignty [31]
- Brandenburg's Digital Concerto [32]
- Jargon Alert! Jargon Is Dead. [33]
- Smells Like Brand Spirit [34]
- It's French for Productivity [35]
- We Have a Class for You, Corinne [36]
- Do-It-Themselves Computers [37]
- Economic Hot Spots: Look Away [38]
- Yo Quiero Pollo Campero [39]
- A Niftier Mitt [40]
- Yair Landau vice chairman, Sony Pictures Entertainment; president, Sony Pictures Digital [41]
- DVD's replacement [42]
- Scott Newnam founder and CEO, GoldPocket Interactive [43]
- Live call-in quiz shows storm American TV [44]
- A Blameless Existence [45]
- Robocopter [46]
- Bye, Bye, Forecasting Template [47]
- Get Small [48]
- Your Next Business Strategy [49]
- The Rise of Global Talent Webs [50]
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- Luxe Experiences [51]
- Mini-Soaps [52]
- Megapastors [53]
- Marketing Research's Next Frontier [54]
- Most Endangered Profession [55]
- Combo Drugs [56]
- 21st Century Etch A Sketch [57]
- Where the Boys Are [58]
- The last email refuge disappears [59]
- Trip Hawkins founder, Digital Chocolate [60]
- Ringtones die [61]
- MoSoSo [62]
- Where the Women Are [63]
- Tap the Collective Intelligence [64]
- Alzheimer's Drugs [65]
- The Return of the Balanced Diet [66]
- The New GI Bill [67]
- Trailer Chic (Now With Plyboo!) [68]
- Forever 21 [69]
- Institutionalizing Imagination [70]
- The Apostle of Offshoring . . . [71]
- . . . And Why He'll Stay Busy [72]
- Wireless Cities [73]
- The Shopping Cart of the Future [74]
- Software Becomes a Utility [75]
- Liquid crystal on silicon TVs (LCOS) [76]
- Dyson's space-age vacuum [77]
- Oakley's Thump sunglasses with built-in MP3 [78]
- Sony's PlayStation 3 [79]
- Hershey's Take Five bar [80]
- The Ad Agency's Metamorphosis [81]
- Hierarchies: Not Going Anywhere [82]
- Soda for Pop (and Mom, Too) [83]
- Two-Pizza Teams Rule the Day [84]
- Oh, Behave! [85]
- TV Commercials Get Smart Online [86]
- A Revealing Machine [87]
- Script injection infects the Web [88]
- Brand-name adjectives [89]
- Betty Crocker Pour and Frost [90]
- Bill McComb president of McNeil Consumer & Specialty Pharmaceuticals, Johnson & Johnson [91]
- Deborah Henretta president of global baby care, Procter & Gamble [92]
- Dara Khosrowshahi EVP and CFO, InterActiveCorp [93]
- Kathy Marinello president and CEO, GE Fleet Services [94]
- Maynard G. Webb Jr. COO, eBay [95]
- Running Hot and Cold [96]
- The Concept of the Concept [97]
- The Rise of the Machines [98]
- The Master of the Master Idea [99]
- Special Effects Meets Product Placement [100]
 You Tell Us! [101]
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