Welcome to this 69th 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.
As I did last summer, this newsletter will be published bi-monthly during the months of July and August, returning to the weekly schedule in September.
You can subscribe to this weekly newsletter here to get it directly by mail.
This newsletter was written this time from Montreal, Canada. This is what I noticed these past couple of weeks, thank you for sharing this newsletter to those who look into the future.
Strategic blindspots
Looking at the familiar with “alien eyes” allows you to unlock new business model opportunities while avoiding risks stemming from strategic blindspots.
Mad skills. A Human Library. Instagram’s new payments feature lets users buy products via DMs. TikTok and YouTube are Gen Z's trusted sources for financial advice. Peer to peer boat rentals. Farming as luxury. Stewards of the cloud. Amazon offers Same-Day Delivery from your favorite retail stores. A brand is selling empty cans. JPMorgan Is Building a Giant Travel Agency. Lyft creates media division to cash in on in-car ads. Tesla deploys cube lounges at Supercharger station with automated coffee, food, and more. Uber Eats teams up with Office Depot for on-demand school supplies.
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
Mega Trends and Technologies 2017-2050. Logomania Is Coming for Sustainability. Future food environments. Baidu's latest robotaxi has a removable steering wheel. Is artificial intelligence the architect of the future? In-house universities might be the future of creative learning. A 100-mile-long mirrored skyscraper megacity. Is Selling Shares in Yourself the Way of the Future? Engineers develop stickers that can see inside the body. The solar car. New AI tools let you chat with your dead relatives. Adaptive Reuse Is the Architectural Challenge of the Present—Not the Future. Quiet quitting.
Using AI to uncover meta-trends, and this quote: The top 40 ranked, overlooked micro-trends discovered by the AI:
Inclusive Insurance, Disruptive Winds, Food Inflation, DAO’s (Decentralized Autonomous Organizations), Rising Energy, Super Apps, Longevity Food, Unisex Fragrance, Dating Fatigue, Clothing Rental, AI-Music, Biodynamic Farming, Gender Affirmation, Rainwater Harvesting Systems, Wearable Robotics, Dopamine Dressing, Sleep Coaches, Financial Coaches, Gut Health, Caregiver Leave, Self-Hypnosis, Alcohol-Free Beer, Psychoactive Tea, Sperm Freezing, Touch-Free, Post traumatic, Carbon Pawprint, Sustainability Calculator, Land Stewards, Privacy Enhancing Tech, Anonymous Marketplace, Subscriptions, Fluid Fashion, Land Availability, Period Products, Paid Menstrual Leave, Mutual Aid, Workplace Conditions, Banned Advertising, and Media Anxiety
We keep you updated on those trends and more on Twitter.
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?
North Carolina Looks to Remove Public EV Chargers. Should commute time be counted as part of the workday? Pottery Barn introduces 150 accessible pieces for the home. Tik Tok starts it own bookclub. I’ll be latte to the office. Uber’s lost and found. This is the age of micro-subscriptions. Designing for the last earth. Sleepover kits. When our phones are at places at work. The Wikipedia page for "Recession" is now locked for editing. Amazon buys Roomba. Chinese tech giants share details of their prized algorithms with top regulator in unprecedented move.
On our radar
I am preparing a leadership training course for McGill on developing strong networks: network science uncovers the hidden structure of community dynamics. Our world is getting smaller. The social capital atlas.
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 The value of Common Design.
Hodgepodge discovery
Articles for curious minds and the polymaths
For creators, community is the new follower count. One of the greatest promotional items ever created. Micromorts. Forer statements. Dove’s Latest Stand in the Virtue Wars. A Visual Guide to the Aztec Pantheon. Friendships key to upward mobility. Geometric Analysis Reveals How Birds Mastered Flight. Technology sickness and this quote:
Our lives are being transformed by three grand bargains. The intellectual bargain: we have more knowledge but less capacity to concentrate and focus. The social bargain: we are much more available but much less attentive. And most importantly, the emotional bargain: we are much more connected, but much less empathetic
Feeling good
Urbex pirats. The top of the world. Plan your trips. Authors explain how they organize their bookshelves. Both sides now. Notable people.
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