If you are tired of feeling like an idle train passenger in life rolling down a one-way track, here are the reasons you fail to notice change in the world (no matter how much news you watch) and what you can do about it. Swedish trendspotter Magnus Lindkvist wrote his book Everything We Know is Wrong: The Trendspotter’s Handbook (published 2010, so far only in the UK) partly to plead with us to:
a) Take more time to think and
b) Personally experience what is going on in our world (outside of what we do now) because then:
c) We take more control of our life, feel happier and we have more clarity, which opens the door for better decisions, creating solutions and for:
d) More inspiration
The BIGGEST PROBLEM with how we see the world is that we want to keep it simple all the time (read Reason #3 for a great solution to this) and simplistic thinking will not get us far in anything. As with most areas of our life, we overrate our abilities. This includes our ability to detect change.
Why you should read this and become a better trendspotter:
i) Creativity author Daniel Pink argues that the future belongs to the creators, empathizers, pattern recognizers and meaning makers.
ii) The late Anita Roddick, founder of the Body Shop, described successful entrepreneurs as “opportunistic collectors” – people whose antennae are out at all time.
iii) To enjoy the benefits of c) and d) above.
Reason #1: Some changes are far too slow to notice
Because they are not sudden and sensational, they don’t get media attention. One trend to be aware of is mass entrepreneurship. It is redefining capitalism. Small has become an advantage and is no reason for not going global. (Please forgive me for tooting my own horn here, but it is week 8 of the new year and my small business has speaking events that I am totally pumped up about scheduled in three countries already. I can immediately think of four people within a short drive of my office who have similar accolades and run small companies and this is not a ‘hip’ part of the world to live!)
Tip #1: Meet more entrepreneurs! Wealth nowadays is mostly SELF-MADE. The old millionaire was an overweight white guy in a grey suit. Now they come in all shapes and colors. Bono of U2 calls it “punk capitalism” meaning two things: business that changes the status quo and where anyone can play.
In the USA in 1985 there were 250 college entrepreneur programs. Now there are over 5,000!
“Nowadays, original thinkers capable of creating original products and services are the people driving the economy.”
Tip #2: Get new perspectives by:
a) Reading about the past – how has the world changed?
b) Changing your media habits by reading new sources (except this one of course!)
Reason #2: We tend to see the world in a fixed and rigid way
We generally think that the small world we grew up in was ‘normal’ and base all our judgments off that.
Tip#3: Share a story with your clients about one person’s example rather than using large numbers and saying “millions of Americans are making this bad decision.” They will relate to it better.
We understand things that we see before us (a friend being downsized) but struggle to care about “billions of people living on $2/day.”
Tip #4: Stop using the word ‘normal’. “These days, the world is a global place full of unique, quirky people and places.”
What’s normal? The world is always changing but “the human mind has trouble keeping up.” For example, the nations that exist today were not created by higher powers. All their borders are man-made. Lindkvist believes these boundaries are becoming ever less relevant in a world of global business, cheap flights, internet and thousands of micro-markets.
Tip #5: Change your daily routine; visit a new country every year and/or meet with someone from an emerging market every month. New perspectives lead to new insights.
Reason #3: Information abundance has left us clueless: sometimes we blink and we miss the change
Combine Reason #2 (we have learned to see the world in a certain way) with being overwhelmed by how much information is available. It is now easier to understand that 9/11 could happen and surprise 99% of the world even though Al-Qaeda had carried out several other prior attacks and Osama Bin Laden was already being mentioned in the World News sections quite frequently.
Lindkvist’s point here is that some things appear to happen ‘suddenly’ and we fail to see any writing on the wall because our brain is already suffering from information overload. Information used to be hard and often costly to find but now it is free and in abundance.
THE PROBLEM: we don’t know how to use what’s out there! We can seek out wisdom but very few do. Most people seek out the ‘feel good,’ easy-to-read content such as sports, porn and gaming sites. Based on internet searches, people opt most for finding sensational rumors about celebrities rather than seeking out knowledge that leads to wisdom and growth.
They seek out a sugar and fat information diet.
Tip #6: Avoid just filling your brain with pleasure-seeking trivia but also look for information that is inconvenient, complex, boring and uncomfortable to digest (fiber, fruit and vegetables!) Of course, you wouldn’t be reading this if you just wanted opioids (pleasure-enhancing neurotransmitters!)
Tip #7: Think twice about who you refer business to. In life we prefer people to be pleasure-enhancing rather like the information we seek out: people who are nice, outgoing and pleasant. BUT sometimes such people are very mediocre in their field! Make sure they have the competence and resources to get the job done well. I have made this mistake myself more than once and the consequences have been very costly!
Tip #8: Pause for daily reflection. Give your brain a chance!
In Jonathan Haidt’s The Happiness Hypothesis, he comments: “We might have already encountered the Greatest Idea, the insight that would have transformed us had we savored it, taken it to heart, and worked it into our lives.”
Consider how seldom we ask ourselves this question from Lindkvist: “What can you do with what you’ve seen, heard or read today? How can it help you solve the issues, problems and challenges you or somebody else (a client or COI?) is currently facing?”
Really, we race onto the next idea without contemplating the dozens we have already been exposed to. It is quantity undermining the quality.
Tip #9: Risk NOT pretending to know everything! Embrace changes. Mediocre people resist change because all they want to do is look good. Declare: ‘I don’t know’ from time to time!
PART TWO – next week!
PAUSE PLEASE and ask yourself: “What can I do with what I’ve just read? How can it help me solve the issues, problems and challenges I or somebody else (a client or COI?) is currently facing?”
Then forward it onto someone else that would appreciate some great brain fodder!