Work in Progress with Anu Lingala
Three quick questions on creating better futures. Chatting work, change, hope and sharing what’s currently a work in progress this week is Anu Lingala. ANU is the Trend Strategist and brains behind WHAT'S ANU and REVISIONARY; two top-tier substacks applying strategic frameworks to make sense of trend overload, and centering BIPOC creators to decolonize what we deem aspirational, respectively. Based in New York, Anu works across fashion, beauty, lifestyle, and culture and has collaborated with brands including Nordstrom, Adidas, Estée Lauder, and Google.
What are you working on right now?
I recently published my 2026 Macrotrend Report, which was definitely a new type of challenge. I’ve never embarked on such a large project entirely by myself and without any real “brief” (no specific focus on a business problem, industry, or theme). I’m quite happy with how it turned out, and it’s sparked some ideas for how to further explore the ideas throughout the rest of the year.
A newer topic that I’ve been mulling over recently is around attitudes towards technology.
It feels like there’s a growing chasm between technoptimists and the analog backlash, and it seems like this is increasingly one of the most important consumer sentiments to track and understand.
Conventionally, positive attitudes towards technological advancement were aligned with progressive perspectives in social spheres: politics, gender, sexuality, etc. However, it now seems like this alignment is reorganizing to where, somewhat strangely, proponents of technological advancement are often simultaneously associated with social conservatism.
There’s a much bigger web to untangle here, but I’m hoping to write about this soon.
If you could change one thing about the world of work right now, what would it be?
It feels like every industry is currently in a frenzied spiral. It’s disheartening to see so many business leaders revert to short-sighted tactics, from ragebait advertising to mass cost-cutting layoffs.
Over a year ago, Zoe Scaman published a piece called Growth² that offered a refreshing alternative approach to growth, going beyond the linear model that is clearly unsustainable. I wish more business leaders were willing to understand and adopt new frameworks like this.
What’s giving you hope right now?
As much as it’s exhausting to see everything Tiktok-ified into a superficial micro trend, I’m somewhat hopeful about the surge in popularity of analog, offline, friction, etc.
It’s a signal that we may finally be reaching a real inflection point in our relationship with social media.
Work in progress is a celebration of the effort and mindset required to make real change exist.
The most important jobs are never done and great work happens somewhere in the messy middle, where its all too easy to give up. But optimism is a pragmatic choice we make daily, so if you’re navigating change and want a thinking partner along the way, explore how we work.