How are you feeling about 2024?

At the end of each year, I would try to find the time to reflect and look forward into next year to understand what adjustments I should make to myself or my team with what I saw on the horizon. I lost this ritual over the past few years between COVID’s time-distorting abilities and a career change at the end of 2022. Transition, tenacity and transformation are words I would use to describe my 2023 and Reconciliation, Revolutionary, Recovery are how I see 2024 playing out.

Three pervasive themes will influence our 2024:

1.Reconciliation: Settling on new norms

While large impacts from COVID-era are largely behind us, our boats are still rocking from some of the ripple effects.

• In 2019 we largely worked in the office, then WFH and now the pendulum is swinging in the direction of a hybrid model.
• Because of supply chain issues, corporations are reconsidering their sourcing and manufacturing strategies
• Because of the strain on workers, we focused more on mental health and well-being and made career changes.
• Traditional commerce approaches are being challenged by direct-to-consumer models. According to KPMG, The D2C market in the US is expected to grow at a CAGR of approximately 23% from 2019 to 2023

There are many more we could list and while change is constant, I think we will reconcile into new norms and patterns in 2024. One of the larger trends will be fractional or contract work. McKinsey projects that by 2025 60% of the workforce in developed countries will be independent. This trend is driven by various factors, including technological advancements, changing work preferences, and evolving business needs. The pandemic has acted as a catalyst in this shift, with both workers and employers recognizing the advantages of more flexible, autonomous working arrangements.

2. Recovery: Global Economic Outlook

2024 is anticipated to outperform expectations with a forecasted 2.6% expansion in worldwide GDP. This positive outlook suggests a surge in project opportunities, particularly in sectors contributing to this growth. Sectors like consumer services, digital technology, and manufacturing are expected to be most robust.

3. Revolutionary: AI Everywhere and Data-Driven Decision Making

I truly believe we will look back on 2024 as the year of AI. We’ve never witnessed this level and pace of innovation. With the billions being poured into developing various and more capable models, this change will keep coming at us.

You can’t have AI without robust data and as a result, more attention is being given to acquiring more data and building more proprietary datasets.

The speed and scale of change is difficult for humans to absorb. If a process or experience changes too rapidly, people tune out due to change fatigue. Why learn this new one when the next one is coming in a week? I believe practicing solid change management and having data to measure performance and speed of adoption will be critical to success for companies in 2024 and beyond.

Conclusion

As we transition from 2023 to 2024, we are presented with the challenge and opportunity to navigate a landscape shaped by economic shifts, technological advancements, and some new norms in trends in the way and how we work. By staying informed and adaptable, leveraging technology we can position ourselves for success in the dynamic year ahead.

I’d love to hear what you think about 2024! Please share your thoughts in the comments!