You Must Unlearn What You Have LearnedIn 2022, don't be a passenger of change rather be a driver of it.

India has seen some exceptional changes in the last two years that have laid the foundation for 'The Making of New India' during times of pandemic more so than in the normal years. There is an age of humankind defined in Hindu cosmology as "Yuga cycles" which means some things are destroyed and some things are re-created as one Yuga changes to another. If it is a real matrix, we are possibly witnessing it in this lifetime.

Two far-reaching changes in the design of work would probably change the Future of Business forever. We are in a time where what we have learned in B-schools is coming undone. New age businesses are designed for return on valuation instead of ROI, backed by the scale theory instead of growth conundrum. This valuation essentially comes from the sum total of all the resources, intellectual capital, technology, brand value, and financial assets that the startup brings to the table instead of the balance sheet. If as a business owner you are perplexed about raising capital when you see it abundantly floating around like a commodity - it is because you are going the wrong way about raising it. Whether your business is a startup or generational business, it is time to look beyond your balance sheet to what are the powerful assets, important people, and IPs of your business to arrive at this valuation.

On the other hand, the post-pandemic work environment looks to be lending towards flexible employment, remote work, and hybrid culture particularly amongst the mid-age employees between 30 and 45 years old. The drive to get people back into offices is conflicting with workers who have embraced remote work as the new normal. The reason is not just the convenience and comfort that WFH offers rather people in the employment market are now thinking of a return on hours or minutes rather than a monthly paycheque. In 2022, it will be normal for skilled people to be doing two or three jobs at the same time.

Just these two changes alone have made business as usual a thing of pre-pandemic times. If as a business owner you have been feeling the pinch of not being able to onboard the right people, you are not the only one. It calls for a fundamental change in the business modus operandi.

It also implies that future businesses would be lean on the permanent workforce and working on projects with a gig workforce would become the new normal. Indeed businesses would need to be re-designed to break down annual goals into short-term projects and people would be deployed accordingly.

In the January 2022 issue, we have captured business trends from automation and AI to the great resignation that will abreast businesses to makeover their work design for the new era.

Our central theme for the New Year Issue is "Influncers Inc". The meteoric rise of Influencer Media and its increased popularity among businesses is becausetraditional media does not promise engagement and neither does it build conversations. What made influencers an important part of the new age media is that they brought two-way conversations to the table. Our Top 20 influencers come from diverse backgrounds like technology, comedy, fashion, business, food, travel, fitness and beauty.

I wish all our readers A Very Happy New Year. Indeed the year 2021 has not been one for the books, though some lessons learned are what we would like to remember. I thank you for reading and liking our stories and from the entire editorial desk; we wish you all the best in your endeavors for this brand new year.