Coolhunting The Future

I read an interesting book, Coolhunting: Chasing Down The Next Big Thing, by Peter Gloor and Scott Cooper. While parts of the book were a bit too academic (statisticians and PhD's will love those parts!!!), the message of the books was very compelling.

Trends are spread through people who are networked. To study the phenomena of what becomes "cool" they find that when people are connected, and how they interact, plays a valuable role in driving popularity of trends.

Groups of people working together for the common good through Collaborative Innovate Networks can accomplish more than those same people would in isolation. One example is bee hives. Researchers have found that bees do not break off from the hive to start their own hive the way that humans might leave a company to start a competitive firm (although there are situations when a hive becomes too large that a new queen comes in and the old queen takes half the workers, but this is for the collective good). Bees always perform with the good of the entire group as their central motivation.

Our human culture is changing faster than ever, and the those who are out in front are not just starting trends, but are cultivation their popularity. When focused on extreme communication with those in your network (both give and take), you can influence the future. This means that you have to be paying attention to what is happening around you and engage others in conversation about how these trends effect you today and in the future. To do anything less is to just sit and wait for the tide of change to engulf you and sweep you along to destinations determined by others.

Become proactive within your network. Educate yourself about what is changing. Evangelize for the common good. Strike the passion in the hearts of others. Change the world for the better. The opportunities are available each of us to make a difference. Let's do just that.

Have A Great Day.

thom
www.thomsinger.com