IF WE ONLY KNEW

Working for a magazine is like making predictions on a daily basis – only they are not really predictions but rather very fine calibration of what people will hopefully be talking about in the very near future. Most of us were taught that the thought cycle is about three months long: A thought cycle approximates the time it takes for an idea to be fully formed before it is articulated and becomes a ‘thing’. So, ideally, we should be thinking about what will be the topics of our collective conversations three months from now, and be prepared to write about it as if it’s already happening. With that being the case, a number of us working in magazines rely on official calendars to guide us along. We imagine and prepare issues based,firstofall,onwhatweknowwillhappenwithinthethoughtcycle, including calendared holidays, political events, release of economic reports, and so on. We also consider ongoing conversations with long tails – those that will not see an end within the thought cycle. In this issue, we attempt something ambitious. We asked fifty-five personalities, entrepreneurs, business professionals, including some of our favorite pundits – Anna Gong, Nirvik Singh, Kelvin Lee, Jan Weiser – to predict what will happen in their industry. And they came back with some very interesting answers. I will not spoil this surprise by quoting snippets. I will just direct you to our Special Report – IF 2MOROWERE2DAY. Please take time to read the entire report. It might just make your 2018 way much better. A la salud!