2020: The year of the maverick. I cannot believe it is the year 2020. Just saying this out loud feels strange. It sounds far too futuristic to be true. Unbelievably, this July, the 1985 film Back to the Future will be celebrating its 35th anniversary? The Back to the Future Trilogy, were a series of movies that predicted that by 2015 we would have access to flying cars, hoverboards, slimline digital cameras, fingerprint scanning, voice-controlled gadgets and video chat, while drones occupied the skies recording news footage.
It is unnerving to think how many of these predictive technologies are now readily available in guises we take for granted. In fact, finger-scanning, voice-controlled drones with built-in slimline digital cameras offering real-time video chat capabilities now exist. We have moved beyond the isolated problem-solving ideas of the past. We have moved into an era of multi-experience, multi-faceted solutions that solve multiple challenges in smaller, quieter, more ethically conscious and sustainable packages. There are no signs to suggest these innovations will slow down either.
The speed technology is developing is frankly, frightening. Instead of modified DeLorean cars, 2020 is likely to be remembered, for the year people started to change their attitudes and behaviours concerning technological trends. Electric vehicles, machine learning, artificial intelligence, quantum computing, voice-activated interfaces, virtual reality, hyper-automation and blockchain. These are just some of the buzzwords and technologies we need to grasp quickly and are going to hear much more of in 2020. Whether we like it or not, these are all technologies we will start to see increasingly incorporated into our daily lives – often without us even knowing it.
So why is 2020 going to be the year of the maverick? Well, I believe it is the individuals with a maverick mindset that will strike first by taking advantage of and adopting these accelerating technologies. Mavericks will be quick to introduce and implement technological solutions that advance their talents and businesses ahead of their competitors.
Maverick leaders like to win big in business, and that means taking a proactive approach to rethinking and reengineering how current processes get done. Maverick leaders tend to be early adopters of cutting-edge technologies. So, rather than fear them, they will discover them, embrace them and think laterally about how they can best engage them. Why? Because maverick leaders are continually striving to obtain flexible, innovative solutions that can keep up with the speed that their creative, problem-solving mindsets are working to drive businesses forward.
Procrastination is the enemy of success and therefore, the enemy of the maverick.
Mavericks do not wait until the final possible moment to tackle an important task because they know this decision-making time-lapse will likely result in decreased competitive potential and performance. To be proactive, to take risks and to embrace the future is a conscious daily decision made mavericks. Hence, we will see many of these buzzwords enter the vernacular of the maverick leader in 2020.
While many will be staring into the abyss, unprepared and frightened of what is to come, mavericks will be developing goals and implementing solutions enabling them to prosper efficiently, independently and aggressively above and beyond their competition.
Before we know it, we will have left the EU, we will have enjoyed watching 11,000 of the world’s best athletes compete in the 2020 Olympics, and millions of us will have streamed the 1986 Top Gun sequel on our new 5G networks. The title of the sequel? Top Gun 2: Maverick.
We are now in the year of the maverick. Do you want to join us?
