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Awhile back I was in Munich with a roomful of speakers and trainers, all of them top level subject matter experts from around the world, representing a wide range of business fields and topics.

Someone asked the group: ‘What are the hot subject requests you’re getting?’

I was fascinated to discover some common themes, despite the fact that we cover different fields of expertise.

• People are looking for simplicity.
• There’s a big move to build better relationships.
• And there’s also a hunger for work/life balance.

On the surface these topics seem to be running against the way life is today, for:

• We live in an increasingly complex world.
• Many now work in virtual environments, seldom or never face-to-face with the people for whom they provide services.
• Because of the technology advances of the last eleven years many people work longer hours, an increasing number of them in home offices or as a mobile service provider.

The thing is, nature cannot exist in a state of imbalance. The Law of Polarities always rules. So our complex world of today, crowded yet isolated, wired and fast-paced, demands equal and opposite equalisers.

Which brings us back to my colleague’s question. If we notice what’s happening and then look over our shoulder for the opposite side – there we’ll find the future trends.

1. Reduce complexity

Out of our overdose of complexity comes a craving for ‘the way things used to be’, when changes didn’t happen so fast. It’s not that we want to go back to the old ways (well, not many of us anyway) but rather to take the best of the old and adapt it to suit modern conditions. Check out the Slow Food Movement http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slow_Food and the Simple Living Network http://www.simpleliving.net/

And what about information? There’s more information in any large metropolitan Saturday or Sunday paper than almost everyone in the 17th century had to cope with in a lifetime.

You’re probably like me, with shelves of books, tapes (and not much equipment left to play them on!), cds, digital files on your computer and Ipod – so much ‘stuff’ that we’ll need several more lifetimes to process it all. We’re not seeking more information for its own sake. However, if we ask ourselves how it can be packaged so potential users can grab it, internalise and use just what they need, we’ll find alternative delivery methods. It also must be: a) very specific to our needs, and b) packaged into smaller chunks.

The big increase in demand for coaching is another manifestation of this: most people who use a coach want someone to help them track through the jungle of overload; they just want the ‘guts’ of the information; and they want help to keep focused.

Offer people simple solutions to anything they deal with and you’ll get their instant attention.

2. Build ‘real’ relationships

Ever noticed that the more people we have around us, the more we protect ourselves by carving a little island of privacy and space we can cope with? On the other hand, when we have lots of space almost all of us reach out to bring others into our sphere, to include them. Human contact with others enlarges our souls and feeds our spirit.