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?

Studies indicate that instead of making us self-centered liars, social media may be giving us the one thing we need to shape our identities in a digital world: power over our stories.

START A FOLDER. I keep a folder on my desk to store ideas written by hand, articles pulled out of magazines and newspapers, printouts from the Internet, brochures from conferences, and print ads with intrigue. The physical folder helps me to visualize the ideas and (as you’ll notice from the photographs) serves as a fundamental element of how I

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

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

Great trends reflect a moment in time, but that moment is never fleeting, and the basic idea is more elevated. Good trends always focus on the shift in an underlying human behavior or belief. They don’t describe a single interesting story or a hot new product or industry.

What interests me most about this group of ideas? What implications of the stories might I have missed earlier? What is the broader theme that these stories have in common? How can I link stories from multiple industries into a single idea?

START WITH HUMAN NEEDS. Sometimes focusing on the underlying human emotion in a story or idea can help you see why it matters and how it connects with others. For example, the basic human need for belonging fuels many activities that people engage in online, from sharing their images on social media to joining online communities. RECOGNIZE THE

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