Welcome to this 113rd 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 have prepared this newsletter this week from Istanbul, Turkiye. This is what I noticed this week, thank you for sharing with those who look into the future.
Estelle.
Competitive Intelligence
Wikipedia search-by-vibes through millions of pages offline. Using Open Street Map and R to geolocate an image. A Microsoft research project trying to put a lot of data in one place. Google DeepMind’s weather AI can forecast extreme weather faster and more accurately.
Strategic blindspots
Looking at the familiar with “alien eyes” allows you to unlock new business model opportunities while avoiding risks stemming from strategic blindspots. This section also is about the risks we miss.
Panama Canal to Slash Daily Transits Further Due to Drought. Image segmentation and lightness perception. Tesla is rapidly constructing a planned 1950s-style diner and drive-in movie theater in Hollywood that will also be a Supercharger station. Airbus Launches Device to Keep Dead Satellites from Tumbling in Space. Uber is testing a service that lets you hire drivers for chores. Image segmentation and lightness perception.
Our future
We keep you updated on those trends and more on Twitter (which I still find infinitely better than Threads).
Companies are trying a new family leave—for grandparents. Drones with ‘human brains’ able to tackle complex tasks through group chats. The future of shopping, reinvented by Mozilla. Travel predictions 2024. The BBC forecast report. Trends in China. Clocking out — How Gen Z is breaking free of the 9-to-5. The doctor will cyborg you now. BlueSea Frontier Compute Cluster: The Future of AI Innovation. German businesses are banking on robots to address the labor gap caused by retiring Baby Boomers.
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?
Dog Birthday Parties Are the Hot New Invite. Analysis of the romance covers. Find your baby. Rebranding newspapers. The hometown tax. The beige-fluencers. Tradwife (traditional wife) content is at the center of a new culture war, as experts debate whether it's a cultural reset or a step back for women's rights. Deciding the color of the year is no joke. Doritos Develops AI Tech to Cancel Its Crunch for Gamers. Restaurants are cutting portion sizes and offering special ‘Ozempic dishes’.
On our radar
I have been working on a number of keynote presentations in various industries ( and want to thank here my speakers’ agency for keeping me hopping around North America for this) about how work will shape up in the future. I picked three articles for you: Clocking out — How Gen Z is breaking free of the 9-to-5. Inside the strange, secretive life of the overemployed. High Performers for the Last Job You’ll Ever Have.
Down the rabbit hole
This section highlights a subject that led me to many useful threads, or a single site, that opened many doors: “A rabbit hole is not a distraction. A rabbit hole is your brain trying to tell you to pay attention to something you’re curious about. Ignore algorithmic rabbit holes” ( by are.na)
This week, I stumbled upon this collection of quotes on strategy.
Hodgepodge discovery
Articles for curious minds and the polymaths
The cost of space. Leap seconds could become leap minutes. Short corn. The wolf. The history of moquette. The State of Organizations 2023 report. The Global Rise of Chinese Shopping . Most common jobs by income group. What’s my creativity age again? Les lieux de la famille.
Numbers
44%- The world’s corporations produce so much climate change pollution, it could eat up about 44% of their profits if they had to pay damages for it, according to a study by economists of nearly 15,000 public companies.
77%- percentage of Americans who get the mail at the first opportunity down to 77 percent, a decrease of 9 percentage points over the past five years.
Feeling good
When your iphone creates twins. The interactive data globe. Find the dark hotels. The Tree Equity score.
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