Non Obvious Megatrends: How to See What Others Miss and Predict the Future (Non-Obvious Trends Series)

Elevating involves identifying the underlying themes that align a group of ideas to describe a single, bigger concept.

MASHUP WORDS. Mashups take two words or concepts and combine them in a meaningful way. Likeonomics is a mashup of likeability and economics. This technique can make a trend name memorable and uniquely yours, but it can feel forced and artificial if not done artfully. There is a reason I didn’t call my book Trustonomics. The best mashups are easy to

FOCUS ON INSIGHTS. Taking notes by highlighting passages in a book doesn’t work if you highlight every sentence. Don’t try to summarize everything about the article or idea; instead focus on what made the idea memorable or any insights you had at the moment you saved it. ADD LABELS. Use “note boxes” to make your notes easily skimmable. Write a few

What broad group or demographic do these stories describe? What is the underlying human need or behavior revealed in these stories? What makes these stories interesting? What are they an example of? Haystack Method Step 2: Aggregating articles into possible themes or topics How is the phenomenon the stories describe affecting multiple industries? W

SEEK OUT COMMON WORDS. As you review your groups of ideas and stories, look for key words that can reveal the common themes among them. When I was collecting ideas related to entrepreneurship, for example, a word kept coming up that described the growing ecosystem of on-demand services for entrepreneurs: fast. This word helped me bring various piec

A trend is a curated observation of the accelerating present.

social media offers more accountability

Sorry, we’re unable to display this type of content.

FOCUS ON VARIETY. One of the biggest mistakes I have seen people make when curating trends is focusing on stories or examples in a single industry. If a trend is going to describe how business is done or how consumers behave, it should be supported by examples or cases in many industries. WATCH YOUR BIASES. Nothing will cloud your judgment more tha

Proving entails seeking out data, stories, and conversations to validate whether a collection of ideas can justifiably be described as a trend.