Henry Mason (1)

"And despite the global consumer arena being more diverse
and varied than it has ever been, it's inhabitants share a common
mind-set: astonishingly elevated expectations...."

Very true.

I mean these days I'm just a mom and on the cutting edge of nothing, but that doesn't keep me from being frustrated at what I perceive as the sluggish pace of progress. It simply is not moving as fast as I want. It's as if all the 'miracles' of modern society --cell phones, super fast internet, Uber, flash-dining, Twitter, texting, small laptops, et.al.-- has only made me appreciate how much easier and fun these things make my life, which in turn makes me want MORE.

This team calls this the Expectation Economy.

The book begins by talking about Creative Destruction. How tearing down the old can generate untold new ways of viewing the world and consequently reinventing how things are done.

The authors discuss the current stable of Movers and Shakers -- your pre-tailers, your Ubers. And while this discussion won't help spur your business to new heights I do think it will help you formulate a meta-framework to understand Trends and teach you something about recognizing the patterns yourself.

Another way to say this is it will help you to understand what consumers want. That said, it appeared to me that the authors were addressing only part of the market because they were focused on trends. My dad and his clique are probably going to be under-represented in some respects when it comes to this type of focus. I don't think they are looking for 'advancement' and 'meaning'. (Although never say never.)

In the same way the lower half of the income groups probably face similar inclusion problems.

SUMMARY
This is a smart, well written book that is visually appealing. It should rank on the should-read shelf for business majors.

As for business owners, large and small, I think there's a lot to gain here. And if you aren't a big reader consider that you can cherry pick or just leave this book in the little room and read a short chapter at a time. An example of what you can learn is this: That one clever way to be a trend watcher is to observe what products people are lavishing attention on.

This is probably the best book I've read on trends.

~review copy
~book #10 for 2016… (plus d'informations)

"Trend-Driven Innovation" provides an easy-to-follow process for identifying trends and capitalizing on that knowledge. The design of the book makes it simple to follow the steps of the process. Explanations are condensed to one or two pages making it easy to digest the information before moving to the next step. Though concise, the information provided is thorough and practical. The use of white space and graphics makes for a pleasing layout. The one criticism is that the background color on some pages makes reading the text difficult. This is an especially annoying problem with the page numbers. Otherwise, this book is a pleasing and practical read. The many cases included in the text inform and inspire. This book is applicable to businesses and nonprofit organizations. A must read for anyone responsible for navigating an organization through times of rapid change and seeking to keep ahead of customers’ and clients’ rising expectations.… (plus d'informations)