Foreword

I HAVE SPENT A good part of four decades studying and relying upon demographics. For some, the use of population trends and statistics is the stuff (or perhaps the stuffy) of cocktail parties and testy holiday dinner conversation. But for those of us who make forecasts and guide our clients through the turbulent waters of disruptive change, demographics provide the tools, the content, the baseline, and the trend lines to buttress our peek into the future.

Our capacity to collect statistical data continues to grow by leaps and bounds, and with breathtaking speed. We are well into the world of Big Data—mind-blowingly large amounts of data that can be analyzed to reveal patterns, trends, etc., about all sorts of human behavior. We even wear it in the form of Fit Bits, heat and cool our rooms in the form of smart thermostats, swipe our credit cards when we make purchases or draw from our accounts, and track it in the form of Google Analytics.

Do we need this information? Yes, resoundingly, of course. And we need the people who know how to look at it, read it, ask the right questions of it, make some good sense of it, and finally point us in the direction of that which we as humans all seek answers to—what will our future look like? Where are the opportunities to improve our lives? What are the pitfalls and obstacles to avoid? Those who can help us answer these questions can give us the edge financially, open possible doors to growth, or offer our children a better chance.

Ken Gronbach is among the best at reading and finding meaning from demographics—and seeing into the future. We once spoke at a conference in a lovely spot in Minnesota and I was mesmerized by his aplomb in discussing potential opportunities in the numbers where others less talented might see only concerns. He also has the very rare ability to entertain—demographics can indeed be fun.

Upside is a very important contribution for anyone who could benefit from a peek into the future.

John Zogby is the founder of the Zogby Poll, senior partner at John Zogby Strategies, and author of three books on the future, most recently We Are Many, We are One: Neo-Tribes and Tribal Analytics in 21st Century America.