Non-Obvious: How to Think Different, Curate Ideas & Predict The Future

(even if it doesn’t seem exotic or far away)

Elevating Questions - How To Think Bigger About Ideas What interests me most about these ideas? What elements could I have missed earlier? What is below the surface? What is the bigger picture? Where is the connection between ideas?

A non-obvious trend is a unique curated observation of the accelerating present.

REAL LIFE ADVICE (3 WAYS TO BE MORE FICKLE TODAY) Save Ideas Offline – Thanks to wonderful productivity apps like Evernote and plenty of browser plugins, there are many ways to save information online, but they can sometimes be lost in collections you never return to and the connections between them are hard to visualize. Instead, I routinely print

here: Being curious means asking questions about why things work the way they do, and embracing unfamiliar situations or topics with a sense of wonder. Being observant means training yourself to see the details that most others often miss. Being fickle means capturing ideas without feeling the need to fully understand or analyze them in that moment

Idea Sources - Where to Get Ideas Personal conversations at events or meetings (ask lots of questions) Listening to live speakers or TED Talks (write down memorable quotes) Entertainment (TV shows and movies that actually make you think) Books (Nonfiction and fiction) Museums (the more obscure the better!) Magazines and newspapers (as unexpected or

What broad group or demographic does this story describe? What is the underlying human need or behavior that this idea is an example of? What makes this story interesting as an example? How is this same phenomenon affecting multiple unrelated industries? What qualities or elements make me interested in this story?

“As soon as children become able to evaluate themselves, some of them become afraid of challenges. They become afraid of not being smart. I have studied thousands of people … and it’s breathtaking how many reject an opportunity to learn.” —Carol Dweck (from Mindset)

The Haystack Method describes a process where you first focus on gathering stories and ideas (the hay) and then using them to define a trend (the needle) that gives meaning to them all collectively.

Proving Questions - How To Quantify a Trend Is the trend idea unique enough to be described as new or fresh? Has anyone published research related to this trend idea? Is the media starting to uncover examples or focus on it? Are there enough examples across industries to show adoption? Is it likely to continue into the foreseeable future? As you go