(March 2018) A trend is a unique curated observation of the accelerating present.
The future belongs to those who can learn to use their powers of observation to see the connections between industries, ideas, and behaviors and curate them into a deeper understanding of the world around us.
Preparing for the future starts with filtering out the noise and getting better at understanding today . . . as it alway has.
Rohit Bhargava – Trend Curator, Storyteller, Innovater – has been writing about Non Obvious Trends for a decade. They were first published on his blog, then as a visual presentation on Slideshare, followed by an e-book through Amazon, and eventually as a published book starting in 2011.
I have no idea how this was not on my radar before now. I picked up this book at the popup bookstore operated by Book People at the SXSWEdu in Austin, TX, earlier this month. This is precisely why it’s important to have a well curated selection of books to browse. Books are put before us through excellent curation that we would otherwise miss.
Bhargava sets about collecting ideas throughout the year, marking the hardcopy pages with the salient idea that caught his attention, then he sets them aside in a folder. These are articles from magazines, websites and other resources. He makes it a point to pick up magazines that are wildly disparate in their themes and target audiences – like model train enthusiasts.
Curiosity is key here. And having a wide range of interests is also important. We tend to gravitate to the things we enjoy, or impact our business and career, or validate our existing beliefs. Being open to a broad mix of topics helps to elevate trends away from the the specific subject to the behaviors that might be associated across that broad spectrum.
I like the way this book is put together. Having never read any of his previous Non Obvious books, it was all quite fresh to me in how he explained his process. He talked about his team and how they went about sorting, grouping and naming emerging trends. And his final trends all have well crafted names – another factor that he sees as very important to helping people understand the trend and what it means. At the back of the book, there is a section where he goes back and lists all of his Non Obvious Trends going back to 2011 and rates how well he predicted their impact. That is very interesting.
Some of Non Obvious Trends have been brought forward from earlier years as the concept have evolved, taken shape and grown in their impact. Some of the more interesting ones out of the 15 he identifies for this year are:
Ungendered
Brand Stand
Manipulated Outrage
Data Pollution
Approachable Luxury
Each of the 15 trends have their own section where he talks about how he came to identify the trend and wonderful examples of where they can be seen – using varied examples across multiple industries. I was fascinated by Approachable Luxury and some of the examples he used there. I had no idea they are producing quality diamonds in labs now.
I highly recommend this book. It’s a very interesting and engaging read. I am of a most curious mindset and I enjoy reading the works of writers who are as well.
a Morrocan woman who immigrated to the United States in 2010 with her children, and spoke no English. She is a talented artist and thought about selling her artwork, but had no idea how to market or sell her products. She met a woman connected with 
owner of 
Derwin Overton has been with OAR for fourteen years, with 10 of those years as Executive Director. 
John Chapman joins Catherine in the second segment to talk about his experience with OAR prior to his release from jail and how he was inspired by his own difficulty in finding a job to create a jobs training program. John founded the non-profit 
(Feb. 2017) I will never hear the phrase “jobs and the economy” again without thinking of this book. The steady advancement of technology into every aspect of our lives is slowly replacing much of our current labor force. There is no politician, no public policy, no regulatory voodoo or tax magic that is going “bring back jobs.” We need to stop believing that just because someone stands up and speaks those words that somehow they will be true.
“Originals embrace the uphill battle, striving to make the world what it could be. Becoming original is not the easiest path in the pursuit of happiness, but leaves us perfectly poised for the happiness of pursuit.” Amen to THAT!
I’m a Marshall Goldmsith fan. I loved his book “What Got You Here, Won’t Get You There” and have recommended it to many people. This book is useful only if you are focused on wanting to get more out of your life. It’s one of those instances where the student needs to be ready in order for the teacher to appear. Those who read it with no intention of actually changing anything about how they think or structure their days will quite likely miss the point of this book. While Goldsmith is indeed a very successful “Executive Coach” we are all the executives of our own lives. So move past the title to the material.
“Organizations gravitate toward the questions they ask.” And that applies to countries, communities, families and individuals. We all live in the world our questions create. This is according to David Cooperrider, PhD, a professor of Social Entrepreneurship at Case Western Reserve University.
An excellent book that reinforces much of what I believe about the value of giving. The pivotal idea in this particular book is that there is more than one way of being a “Giver.” Author Adam Grant, the youngest tenured professor at the Wharton School, presents compelling research on the nature of human interactions relative to professional success. He identifies three main personality types: Givers, Takers and Matchers. He opens the book by sharing research that shows some of the least successful people in businesses are Givers. He follows that up with the secondary revelation that so are some of the mostsuccessful people.
“He may be an asshole, but when he’s your asshole, that’s a very good thing.” Garet Bosiger. A wonderful book that is about the past, the present and the possibilities of the future. It’s a reality check for the global economic theories of the 21st century that look good on paper, and even make sense intellectually, but don’t really factor in the consequences on real people living in communities built on a single manufacturing industry.
(June 17, 2014) “The future is not a destination, it’s a direction.” I loved this book for so many reasons. I heard Ed Catmull at Fast Company’s “Innovation Uncensored” Conference in NYC in April. He has an amazing story to tell about his lifelong interest in animation, his determination to use computers to make animated movies, and how Pixar made that dream possible.