Welcome to this 23rd 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. We discuss those trends and signals every other Saturday at 9am EST on Clubhouse.
This is what I noticed this week, thank you for reading and sharing this newsletter to those who look into the future.
Strategic blindspots
Blindspots are biases that can lead companies to underestimate future risks or fail to take advantage of emerging opportunities. We highlight in this sections illustrations of such emerging opportunities for innovation when questioning the unquestioned:
How GenZ bank. The Map Is Not the Territory. Adaptive fashion is catching on. Greater fool theory. Pecan or almonds? Doulas’ Provide Aid at the End of Life. Startups Turn Your Loved Ones Into Stones, Diamonds and Jewelry. The used cars bubble. D2C medical apparel companies are growing.
Want to know more about analysis techniques? Seven Sure-fire Ways to Do Scenario Planning Badly. Curiosity depends on what you already know. A collection of 100+ strategy analysis techniques. Rare Events Need Different Methods.
Our future
How Africa’s super app landscape is evolving. How The YOLO Economy Is Shaking Up Luxury. You car’s sensors will now spy on your private life. The Pleasures and Challenges of Writing Fictional Food. How TikTok’s Algorithm Figures Out Your Deepest Desire. The dangerous appeal of technology-driven futures. Deepfakes Are Becoming the Hot New Corporate Training Tool. The fascinating community of those who are trying to save Internet content: the data-hoarders. ClubHouse for the boys. Dissecting the ESG model. Make it rain.
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?
Lab-Grown Foie Gras. A Universal Typeface by Kosuke Takahashi That Combines Braille and Visible Characters. The irresistible rise of the rose. The great equalizer: How Tinned Fish Became The Internet’s Newest Obsession. Would you climb a mountain for internet access? DTC beauty brands are replacing focus groups with private online club. These wild shoes are designed to weather floods and extreme heat. We Live in a Golden Age of Dinosaur Chicken Nuggets. Is anything cool anymore? GNT debuts green colorings made from spirulina and turmeric. Why China Is Cracking Down Now on After-School Tutors. It’s all about cold drinks, folks. Bouncier Buns and Nori Sleeves: How the Pandemic Changed Restaurant Food. Why is China smashing its tech industry?
For the in-crowd, taste is all about social bonding. It isn’t developed in isolation. It’s a direct result of engagement with a peer group of other avid consumers
On our radar
Summer’s here so I am taking time to catch up on topics I like.
Typefaces, font and forgotten languages have long been a keen interest of mine, so I went down the rabbit hole of typefaces and punctuation: Reserving typefaces. A book for punctuation lovers , Hyphens and Hashtags ( the author manages well the bridge between the monks in the middle-ages to social media). Typos, tricks and misprints. A Typeface History. Typeface decisions grow in importance as a political branding tool ( see also In the name of the fada: a much-politicised punctuation mark). Swiss font designer reveals the fashion of words. Punctuation in litigation make or break patents and their iterations. How Poets Use Punctuation as a Superpower and a Secret Weapon. If you have’nt read it yet, there is always Eats, Shoots & Leaves.
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Hodgepodge discovery
Articles for the curious mind as you like to cross over to new fields:
Empires, pandemics and the economic future of the West. How we gather. Rituals create community by translating our love into action. A fascinating tale of the US Post Office. How much has been paid in ransomware? New Shape Opens ‘Wormhole’ Between Numbers and Geometry. Is Your Nervous System a Democracy or a Dictatorship? The Catalog of Apollo Experiment Operations (pdf). Making tacit knowledge explicit.
I like to learn new words. This week, I discovered Thomassons.
Feeling Good
A single cell become a complete organism in six pulsing minutes of timelapse. A celebration of vintage motorcycle design. I can see music. 80s nostalgia: send a mixed tape. The long trail map. Tokachi Millennium Forest.