I had the pleasure of traveling to a series of conferences this fall -- IHRSA’s Europe Congress in Seville, the Wexer Technology Summit in London and at IHRSA’s ChinaFit event, to name three. Mostly I was talking about the potential for growth in the fitness industry over the next 5-10 (or more) years.

Kevin Kelly has a recently released book called The Inevitable. The subhead is “Understanding The 12 Technological Forces That Will Shape Our Future.” KK nails it on the 12, and in fact -- he argues that these forces are already in play. We’re already moving towards this future. Hence, it’s inevitable (i.e. the title of the book).

Here’s something most people probably don’t know: artificial intelligence actually debuted at a conference at Dartmouth University in 1956. Yep, 11 years after the end of WW2, artificial intelligence was on the scene. At the time, there was a lot of optimism. Some people at the conference believed robots and AI machines would be doing the work of humans by the mid-1970s. Of course, that didn’t happen -- what happened instead was that funding dried up and a period called “The AI Winter” began. That ostensibly lasted into the 2000s, when IBM’s Watson peaked a lot of interest in artificial intelligence again.

Been writing a lot recently about leadership and some of its current failings. My friend Brian Solis is a master at this game; he recently wrote about some of the inherent problems with our current approaches to digital transformation.

Here’s how I see it, in the fitness industry and beyond. Let’s walk through a couple of different steps.

We talk a lot about how the fitness industry is changing and how omnichannel -- a mix of brick and mortar and digital options -- is the path forward. In one of the last articles I posted online, I talked about how we’re thinking of “disruption” in the wrong way. Think of the music industry from 2000 to 2010. That was the prime disruption decade for music and yet, live attendance and record sales essentially tripled. So we think disruption brings down traditional means and revenue streams, but in reality -- nope it doesn’t. Digital works with traditional for a bigger, better path forward. A rising tide lifts all boats. Right

You’ve probably heard the expression that “a rising tide lifts all boats.” It’s a bit of a cliche or a trope, no doubt -- and sometimes when applied in business, it can make you groan.

But it’s actually really important as a concept to understand how and why so many people are thinking incorrectly about disruption.

Let’s start by admitting something obvious, just so people don’t get mad and go nuts in the comments: disruption is real. It’s happening. Let me give you two quick examples on that: