The futureis your friendTexT: SaTu Rämö

The futureis your friend

Look around and ask ‘why?’

“When we see something interesting, we always ask ‘where does this fit in?’” says Henry Mason, Head of Research & Analysis at trendwatching.com.

Trendwatching.com is a London-based independent trend firm that scans the world for the most promising consumer trends, insights and relevant hands-on business ideas. They rely on a global network of hundreds of spotters in more than 120 countries.

Trendwatching.com has a long list of all the trends they have spotted over the years. They are divided in main and sub-trends.

“Because we have been doing this for a while, the majority of our observations easily fit with one of our existing trends, which means that if a handful of them do not, we know we may be onto something genuinely new,” Mason says.

Mason encourages every executive and entrepreneur to spot trends. It is essentially about making questions and looking at things from new

perspectives, to think about how new developments can be applied and adapted. All in all, trend watching is all about asking why?

“The one piece of advice we would give is to look cross-

industry. The most successful innovations often emerge when businesses take existing practices and apply them to new products, markets or industries. Show us a visionary who has not taken at least one element of their ground-breaking ideas from somewhere else.”

One of the world’s leading trend firms, trendwatching.com, sends its free monthly Trend Briefings to more than 160,000 subscribers worldwide.

You are reading a PDF version of “RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS” (www.trendwatching.com/trends/rak/)

March 2011 | While it’s important to be aware of mega-trends like CITYSUMERS (see last month's

Trend Briefing), in business, execution beats everything. This is why an easy-to-apply consumer trend

such as RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS (R.A.K.) should be firmly on your radar in the coming months.

With R.A.K. featuring prominently in our recent 11 Crucial Consumer Trends for 2011, here’s a full, in-

depth briefing explaining why practicing R.A.K. will be a winning strategy in 2011. First, our definition:RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS | For consumers long used to (and annoyed by) distant, inflexible and

self-serving corporations, any acts of kindness by brands will be gratefully received. For brands, increas-

ingly open communications both with and between consumers (especially online), means that it's never

been easier to surprise and delight audiences with R.A.K.: whether sending gifts, responding to publicly

expressed moods or just showing that they care*.* Just to be absolutely clear: R.A.K. are not about rewarding customers for tweeting / liking your product,

and not about giving away lots of free samples (that would be FREE LOVE), but about selected, random

acts of kindness (hence the name ;-)

trendwatching.com, independent and opinionated, is one of the worldʼs leading consumer trends firm, relying on a global network of hundreds of spotters. Our trends, examples and insights are delivered to 160,000 business professionals in more than 180 countries.More information at www.trendwatching.com

THere is noTHing permanent except change. The best way to keep up with all the changes is to make friends with the future!

Spot and talk about weak signals with your colleagues. If one of the following reactions occurs among your colleagues, it can be considered a weak signal.

Hiltunen, elina. 2010. PhD thesis. Weak Signals in Organisational Futures Learning. Aalto University, School of Economics.

Makes your colleagues laugh.

Your colleagues oppose it: “no way, it will never happen.”

Makes people wonder.

no one has heard of it before.

it is commonly understood that no one talks of it (a taboo).

Do Hiltunen’s test on weak signalssee More aT

Elina Hiltunen’s blog: http://www.future.vuodatus.net/

3anticipate the future by exploring the everyday

iT is iMPossible To PreDicT THe fuTure. “But instead, everybody can conjecture it,” says futurist, PhD Elina Hiltunen, who runs her own consultancy

What’s Next Consulting and

works as a senior foresight specialist at Finpro, a supporter of Finnish companies’ internationalization.

World changes fast, markets fragment. It is stressful, often impossible, to try to follow others. Instead of chasing the wave, why not anticipate it.

Being aware of major trends such as globalization, urbanization and population growth is essential.

“If you want to be a step ahead, it is a good idea to know about weak signals and be able to anticipate future trends,” says Hiltunen, a specialist in weak signals.

Weak signals are strange, surpris-ing things that are indicative of big future trends.

“Let me clarify the matter a little. Weak signals are perceptions of something that you see or hear today. They are signals of something new, like a trend or a new emerging issue that might take place in the future.”

By following weak signals it is possible to try to anticipate future changes. This, in turn, makes

it possible to affect the changes or create response strategies for them.

Maybe you some years ago heard a surprising story about an advertising guru who suddenly resigned from his work to establish a yoga school. That story could have been considered a weak signal of downshifting, which nowadays is a recog-nized trend.

“A weak signal can be a blog article, a subordinate clause in a magazine article, or a sticker on a lamp post,” Hiltunen says.

Anyone can collect weak signals. It is fun and helps predicting changes that may occur. The key in using weak signals is to rely on the power of quantity; the more weak signals there are pointing to the same direction, the greater the possibility of the development.

In companies it is worth collecting weak signals continuously and preferably with the participation of the whole organization. All staff members could contribute to innovation work by sharing their collected weak signals in the company’s intranet. This is done for example at Finpro.

“I read a lot of blogs. But collecting weak signals is not only about social media. I do plenty of traveling, go looking around in cities. It is also a good idea to follow underground publications, alternative movements, and the youth. Talk with friends who work in different sectors,” Hiltunen says.

Personal

6Faith Popcorn’s

BrainReserve is a well-known strategic

trend-based marketing consultancy in

New York. Click on to www.faithpopcorn.com

and have a look at their trend bank. Futurist Faith

Popcorn summarizes today’s trends in short

video clips.

If you knew everything

about tomorrow...what would

you do differently

today?

4exPloiTing cHaos (Gotham Books, 2009) is a business survival guidebook for all those looking to change the world. It gives 150 ways to spark innovation during times of change.The book’s author Jeremy Gutsche is an innovation consultant and founder of TrendHunter.com, a site that tracks emerging trends.In 2010 Exploiting Chaos received the Axiom Business Book Award, one of the most respectful business book awards in the world.

ebook available at: exploitingchaos.com

Disney, CNN, MTV, Hyatt, Microsoft, Apple, Fortune, GE, and Hewlett-Packard were all created during periods of chaos.

Harness the chaos, change the world

a fRee monTHLy TRend bRiefing:

http://trendwatching.com/a fRee weekLy TRend RepoRT:

http://www.trendhunter.com/

Order trend news

to your inbox

Check out these blogs to pick up on changes in society and business:Tips provided by Henry Mason, Head of Research & Analysis at trendwatching.com.

American entrepreneur, author and public speaker, seth godin:sethgoding.typepad.com

Director of the Havas Media Lab, umair Haque:blogs.hbr.org/haque

Founding executive editor of Wired magazine, author Kevin Kelly:kk.org/thetechnium/index.php

Journalist, author, associate professor at City University of New York’s Graduate School of Journalism, Jeff Jarvis:buzzmachine.com

Author, Editor-in-chief of Wired, chris anderson:diydrones.com/profiles/ blog/list?user=zlitezlite

sleep more – and you will see the big picture

7

“a waY To a More ProDucTive, more inspiring and more joyful life is to get enough sleep,” states arianna Huffington, the co-founder and editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post.

Instead of bragging about sleep deficits, Huffington urges us to close our eyes and see the big picture. We should sleep our way to increased productivity and happiness – and smarter decision-making.

“Discover the great ideas that lie within us. Shut down the engine, and discover the power or sleep.”

Daniel Siegel. Focus on one thing at a time. Create five min-utes, at least, to reflect on the internal experience of your own mind. This could involve fo-cusing on the breath, or using a simple “wheel of awareness” –exercise (see DrDanSiegel.com for a free streaming of this audio practice) that enables you to review how your mind is structured. This “time-in” of reflection is a way of keeping your brain healthy and strong. Much like brushing your teeth on a daily basis, this is a way of “brushing your brain” and using “mental floss,” so that your brain and mind are optimally functioning.

DaviD Rock. I think the best, most time efficient and valuable resources for busy executives are spending time with peers. Sharing learning, whether in a coaching, mentoring or informal setting, is such an important and useful resource.

chRiS BRogan. In software

trends, Mashable is the best site going. In usage and business trends, read people like Jeremiah Owyang, Mitch Joel, Valeria Maltoni, and maybe that Chris Brogan guy (sure, I said it). But beyond that, DO. TRY. LAB. Make things, use them, and see what happens. Do not chase EVERY new social net, but try a few things every few weeks.

chRiStopheR caRfi. Spend a few minutes setting up a blog reader such as Google Reader and follow blogs from industry sources or mainstream outlets, get a Facebook account, or even check out a few of the conver-sations taking place on Quora. From an individual’s perspec-tive, following a few conversa-tions that are taking place and engaging in discussions via commenting or interacting on the existing social media outposts of others is a great first step. There are undoubtedly thought leaders in your industry who are already engaging in social business; seek them

out and learn from your peers.

aRto MiekkavaaRa. Get to know your brain and the way it functions. It is advan-tageous to have fundamental knowledge of your way of perceiving the world, solving problems and working under pressure. As we know what happens in our brain, we can control it to a greater degree than has been known to date. eeva-MaRia kytönen.Brain research brings new viewpoints on the leadership of change that brings fresh insights. Self-initiated realiza-tion and the subsequent zeal to act are imperative to successful change. Neuro-leadership is a new branch of science that gives new ingredients for the growth and blossoming of individuals and organizations.

ToP 5 blogs – wHaT To follow

Tips from the experts – How to keep up to date with the newest trends?

see More aT

www.ted.com/talks/arianna_huffington_how_to_succeed_get_more_sleep.html

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