Statesman, scientist, and philosopher Sir Francis Bacon pioneered the scientific method in the early 17th century. Bacon emphasized the inductive method—humans hypothesizing, testing, and honing theories by scrutinizing, measuring, and experimenting. His emphasis on empirical observation and experimentation has been a driving force in the scientific revolution for the past 500 years.1 Recently, however, there have been a series of breakthroughs that are catapulting humanity beyond the scientific revolution.
A recent study tested an artificial intelligence (AI) approach called “deep learning” for its ability to identify glaucoma in aging patients by analyzing retinal images.2The AI approach not only outperformed trained ophthalmologists in detecting glaucoma but also surprised researchers. It used the images to accurately identify patients’ biological sex, a relationship that was previously unknown to the ophthalmologists.3 This discovery was significant because the AI approach didn’t require a human first to hypothesize it. While it may seem minor, this step-change has the potential to unleash significant disruption in health, science, and humanity. But this breakthrough isn’t limited to scientific discovery.
The scientific method is also a managerial method used by most organizations to make critical strategic and operational decisions. This innovation places all businesses on the precipice of a dramatic technology-fueled change. 3Buying into better | The future of the consumer industryChange is a staple of humanity, and nowhere is the velocity of change more evident than in the consumer industry, which has seen decades of dramatic transformation.
But what this chronicle of change may obscure is that along with the breakthrough described above, a broad set of forces have placed the industry on the verge of an even more momentous paradigm. Simply put, the industry faces a once-in-a-century economic, social, and technological transition.To add complexity, this is happening against a backdrop of significant challenges, such as accelerated climate change, growing economic inequality, declining trust, increasing polarization, and worsening global financial conditions. Not only do companies need to navigate this once-in-a-century transition, but they must do it to address critical issues for society and the planet more broadly.
The forces driving transition have implications for consumer companies across all three primary business dimensions: markets, models, and mechanics. Today’s empowered consumers are using their dollars to effect the change they want to see in the world. At the same time, facing monumental transitions, companies are choosing to extend their mission beyond shareholder value to encompass broader ecological and societal issues. Together, they’re buying into better.
At Deloitte, we believe that the future isn’t something to be predicted, but instead created. Forward-thinking organizations should act with agency and alter decisions concerning markets, models, and mechanicsto be a valued brand of tomorrow. Ultimately, we will all need to buy into better
