What will society look like in the future? Future Business Creation Lab members envision 2040 using 'Dentsu Inc. Future Finder 100' (Part 2)

Dentsu Group's cross-organizational unit, the Future Business Creation Lab, released " Dentsu Inc. Future Finder 100 " in December 2023.This article features a two-part discussion with Future Business Creation Lab membersinvolved in its development: Akane Yamada (Dentsu Inc.), Akemi Takahashi ( Dentsu Digital Inc.), Eri Kamiyama (DENTSU SOKEN INC.), and Yoko Kudo (Dentsu Macromill Insight, Inc.).In Part 2, they discuss the themes each finds most compelling among the tool's 8 categories and 100 themes, and how "Dentsu Inc. Future Finder 100" positively impacts idea generation.

In the future, will we deliberately choose inefficient things?

Yamada: Continuing from Part 1, I'd like us to discuss the themes each of us selected. What theme did you choose, Ms. Kamiyama?

Kamiyama: I chose "Automatic Optimization." While keywords like "automation," "efficiency," and "optimization" are everywhere today, I feel human senses and thought processes are much deeper. As optimization advances, people may paradoxically desire the opposite, potentially creating value in inefficient things and actions.

Takahashi: That reminds me of something I read recently: "The more we streamline and optimize, the more humans create new tasks." It connects to the question, "Do we really become more efficient through optimization?" That perspective is crucial for creating new businesses too.

Yamada: It's interesting because what one person wants to optimize might be something another person wants to keep as-is. In the future, we might have tools that can optimize everything, but each person might choose to deliberately not use them.

Even with the same theme, the focus varies from person to person

Takahashi: I chose the theme "Art." The "Dentsu Inc. Future Finder 100" includes future predictions about art's position, such as "Art, as a 'currency of empathy,' will create new economic spheres" and "Art value will be determined by individual support and empathy, not authority, allowing people to enjoy art that resonates with their sensibilities regardless of income level." I found this fascinating.It gave me a sense of artworks becoming investment trust products. Perhaps we'll see more artists emerging who think like financiers—considering what society seeks, carefully calculating asset value, and then bringing their works to market.

Kamiyama: Actually, art and business have always been closely intertwined, yet there was this unspoken atmosphere that you shouldn't really talk about it. I think it's perfectly fine to view art more as a business. Especially since Japanese people are often said not to buy art. It would be wonderful if by 2040, a diversity in how we perceive art emerges, leading to an era where everyone engages more with art and buys it casually.

Kudo: Art also plays a role in shifting perspectives and broadening creative horizons, right? Even without formal art literacy, I hope art becomes more accessible as a means to change how we view the world.

Yamada: Combining this with the previous part, we've discussed three themes so far. It's fascinating how each person focuses on different aspects of the same theme. Even in workshops for client companies, diverse opinions always fly around, and I feel hints for new products and services are scattered everywhere.

The theme I chose is "Early Childhood Education." This is also the theme I'm responsible for in "Dentsu Inc. Future Finder 100." On my card, I wrote a future prediction: "Various learning histories from early childhood are accumulated on blockchain and evaluated as a resume." I think the traditional resume, which defines people solely by their academic and work history, is becoming outdated.I thought it would be wonderful if we lived in a world where aspects beyond academics—the unique life trajectories that can't be captured solely by education and work history—were valued.

Kudo: I feel like education today is polarizing into two directions: one focused on skills, test scores, and exams, and another focused on creating original characters. I think the best approach is helping individuals discover what they love and nurturing that. This might be a way to support that.

Yamada: What if we reached a future where everything we've been exposed to since early childhood, all the inputs we've absorbed, and all the thoughts we've had were accumulated on blockchain and became our resume? That question could spark business creation ideas, even beyond the education industry.

Using diverse tools to leap into the future

Takahashi: I think "Dentsu Inc. Future Finder 100" is a highly refined ideation tool for workshops.The cards have front and back sides. The back side presents "Future Opportunities" – concrete signs occurring now pointing toward 2040, potential events in that future, and the opportunities they present. What's brilliant is how it stops at providing hints, encouraging the viewer's interpretation and the emergence of new ideas.

Kamiyama: The multi-faceted perspective is also great. It presents examples like "Here's what's happening now" as signs, while also listing parallel predictions like "Conversely, there might be this kind of need" – insights one person alone might not conceive. This structure really facilitates broader thinking.

Kudo: While themes like "food shortages" and "Japan's declining birthrate" carry inherent gravity, the members were careful to avoid creating a pessimistic future forecast. I believe it serves as a starting point for envisioning a positive future, thinking "This is the kind of future we want to create" or "This is the kind of future we should aim for."

Yamada: In actual workshops, it's fascinating when participants present ideas saying, "I guess this is obvious..." only for it to be anything but obvious. The tool's appeal lies in how it encourages unconstrained, uniquely personal ideas to emerge.

At the Future Business Research Institute, we develop various tools beyond the 'Dentsu Inc. Future Finder 100.' For example, we have tools that prompt thinking like, "Human desires are universal, but how they're fulfilled changes with the times. So, how will desires be fulfilled in the future?" These tools aren't just about discussing current challenges; they're designed to help you jump your perspective straight into the future. We encourage you to combine them with other tools and make full use of them.

In this discussion, four members of the Future Business Creation Lab each brought their own themes, painting a picture of the "desired future" from various angles. Workshops using the "Dentsu Inc. Future Finder 100" can help expand your imagination toward such a "desired future."