Welcome to this 73rd issue of our newsletter “Weak Signals and other Trends”. Each week, I sift through hundreds of sources of inspiration to track where we’re heading. If you are a new subscriber to this newsletter, take the time to send me a note and introduce yourself, I love to understand who is reading.
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I am sending this newsletter this week from Zurich, Switzerland, on my way to Doha. This is what I noticed these past couple of weeks, thank you for sharing this newsletter with those who look into the future.
Estelle.
Strategic blindspots
Looking at the familiar with “alien eyes” allows you to unlock new business model opportunities while avoiding risks stemming from strategic blindspots.
Europe’s Energy Catastrophe. Netflix’s DVD business.students have to drop out as they find no accomodation. Move over Siri, there is a wildly ambitious new AI assistant. Airports are awful again. The customer acquisition chaos. Publication bias. The reservation culture is out of,control. Hilton will design suites and sleeping quarters for Voyager. Ford drivers could get alerts from nearby pedestrians’ phones.
We have scheduled the dates for 2022 for our “Strategic Blindspot course”. Our next course will be offered in Montreal on October 26-27, 2022. Registrations are now open.
Our future
The past, present, and future of robotic surgery. The Fantastic Unspecified Future of Epigenetic Clocks. Replace Your Used Body Parts With a Bionic Upgrade. Emojis and algospeak. Zimbabwe’s climate migration is a sign of what’s to come. How we’ll consume news. Backlash over board appointments. Eighty-two percent of Gen Zers say the idea of doing the minimum required to keep their jobs is pretty or extremely appealing. Revivalism. Air Canada Electrifies Its Lineup With Hybrid Plane.
Our collections of “Future of” is pinned here.
Weak signals
Weak signals are indicators of a change, a trend or an emerging risk that might become significant for the future. They allow us to run hypothesis, expand our thinking, and challenge assumptions. How will you interpret those in your industry or field of expertise?
Leveraging wikipedia stats to track emerging signals. Proof of stake. ‘Date Me’ Google Docs and the Hyper-Optimized Quest for Love. The older TikTok stars. TikTok Parent Buy a Chain of Birthing Centers. Inside the World of Leg Lengthening. Future minerals. Lululemon Criticized for Using Coal-Powered Factories to Make Clothes. FedEx CEO Raj Subramaniam said the company is seeing declining shipment volume in every segment around the globe. You can buy paint made from real blood.
Numbers
59—Child poverty in the U.S. declined by 59% between 1993 and 2019, per a new study from Child Trends.
10 billion - Amazon fights off 10 billion fake listings ( and employs 10,000 to do so)
2.5m- Credit Suisse reported ~2.5m new US millionaires in 2021, the largest recorded increase in any country this century.
Down the rabbit hole
This section highlights a subject that lead me to many useful threads, or a single site, that opened many doors.
This week, I went down the rabbit hole into and into Obsolete occupations.
Hodgepodge discovery
Articles for curious minds and the polymaths
100 pandemic technologies. Explaining synchronized flashing in fireflies. We're Underestimating Kindness. The hunt for hidden signs of consciousness. Chief Metaverse Officers do what exactly? Local neon. Zemblanity: the inexorability of unfortunate discoveries. Chemical cocktail in skin summons disease-spreading mosquitoes. Poor societies with some very rich people. Ants.
I like new words, this week, I discovered ”
Feeling good
Dark energy camera captures incredible Lobster Nebula in space. Ambient ScotRail Beats. The new wind turbines.
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And do not miss the next issue:
Revisit: around this time last year, I published issue 29.
Thanks for reading Weak signals and other trends!
Contact me at Competia with your feedback or ideas. Thank you for reading.