“Every business leader, entrepreneur, innovator and marketer wants to know where customers are headed. The problem? The received wisdom on how to find out is wrong.”
So states the back cover of “Trend-Driven Innovation,” a book teeming with attitude and actionable ideas on how to spot, understand, act on and stay ahead of trends. The book lists four authors — Henry Mason, David Mattin, Maxwell Luthy and Delia Dumitrescu — all of whom are executives at TrendWatching, a global consultancy that, as the name suggests, helps companies spot trends and act upon them.
“The words ‘creative destruction’ send a chill up the spine of countless business executives. After all, it’s the force that threatens to sweep you out of the market and into irrelevance, right?” the authors state. “Customers, however, see the current wave of creative destruction as something
to be celebrated. That’s because it brings an endless stream of new products and services, each better than the last.”
More innovation doesn’t necessarily equate to better innovation, they point out early in the book. But the pace of innovation, new entrants and more efficient matching of needs with innovations “inevitably becomes a more hostile environment to old, tired and lower-quality offerings.”
From there, the authors offer insights, ideas and inspiration to reassure you that you can be among the innovators and not with the listless has-beens. “Trend-Driven Innovation” is a book that’s tilted toward the consumer goods market, but has plenty of wisdom for B2B companies.
The book is divided into six chapters, ranging from an introduction of today’s expectation economy and what that means to businesses, to developing a trend-watching approach that permeates your company.
And speaking of trends — specifically today’s bite-sized reading attention span — every idea in the book is contained to a single page, making it easy to pick up and put down while leaving the reader with a valuable, actionable takeaway every time. The book’s press materials note that Mason, TrendWatching’s global head of research, is a sought-after keynote speaker who has shared the stage with Seth Godin and others. It makes sense: the nuggets of business intelligence that fill “Trend-Driven Innovation” are right in Godin’s wheelhouse.
Participation encouraged
The authors emphasize that trendspotting is a group activity. They devote an entire chapter to insights for running your own trend-driven “ideation sessions.” “Successful trend sessions are inspiring, engaging, relevant and productive,” they state. Some of their tips for delivering one:
Start with why: Why is it important that your audience gives everything during the session? Develop a sense of urgency, but one that’s focused on opportunity. If possible, have someone senior reinforce the importance of a productive session, and remind people that their input matters.
Personal drivers: While the bigger picture (for the organization, or even bigger, for society) is important, it’s also vital to motivate people on a personal level, too. Take five minutes at the start of the session to ask people to write down why they want to innovate. Their answers don’t have to be shared, but you can remind people to think back to their personal drivers throughout the session.
Trend presentation: Start your ideation sessions with an inspiring trend presentation to bring your audience instantly up to speed on the most relevant [customer] trends and give them tangible examples of how others are already applying those trends. Present a mix of examples, not only from within your audience’s industry and market, but also from outside in order to broaden their horizons and inspire new thinking.
“Spotting trends, figuring out which ones offer the most compelling opportunities, designing and launching brilliant new concepts — these are not easy tasks,” the authors state. “However, standing still is not an option.”
