Every year, I bury myself. Not literally. I burrow into consumer data and devour breaking research and corporate forecasts. I interview experts and focus group moderators. My desktop is a jumble of notes and Post-Its. But there’s a method to the madness. Tracking the tremors before they turn into trends...
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The Inner Life of Trends: Meaning, Motivation and What’s Morphing in 2019
Since moving to the woods last year, I’ve picked up a mild obsession: Looking up words I can re-purpose to describe 21st-century situations. This has become an important part of my work as a hunter of social phenomena. I want to associate new trends with an existing word — awesomize,...
2019 Resolution: Break Free from the Work/Life Paradox Part 2
To make the most of everyday life in 2019, I want to focus on the nexus of work and wellbeing. I’m talking about work/life integration, not work/life balance. Rather than seeking balance, which is nearly impossible for us mere mortals, I’d like to argue that it’s better to seek integration...
2019 Resolution: Break Free from the Work/Life Paradox Part 1
Wow, 2018 was a year of countless unforeseen changes. You too? Rising to each challenge proved to be wearing. I burnt out. What to do? Because the amount of complexity in our lives is not subsiding. The research reveals that failure to cope, if not adapt, will make us very...
What a Dominatrix Can Teach You about Love
While researching the #MeToo phenomenon, I discovered Kasia Urbaniak, a former Dominatrix. She was once paid $64,000 for a 10-minute session, a handsome fee that went toward her college tuition. Today, she teaches women-empowerment classes in New York. Her classes sell out. Soon she’ll be taking her training online including...
Trend Watch: The hidden story behind the wild popularity of the Handmaid’s Tale
Month after month, Amazon rated Margaret Atwood’s Handmaid’s Tale in its top 10 most-purchased novels during 2017. Hulu’s gripping adaptation was a runaway hit generating countless blog posts. What does it mean? The tsunami of social media surrounding the women of Gilead, the dark dystopian society where the Handmaid’s Tale...
New Research: How Robust Cultures Get That Way
These days, teams work in far-flung places and communicate electronically more than in person. What is the glue that holds teams together? For years, it seemed as though business leaders would strive to build great work cultures, but still fall short. At a corporate strategy session I recently facilitated, the...
How to Make a Better Future for Yourself
On a sultry afternoon in August, I scooped up an armful of daily newspapers and trudged up to my writing studio to make sense of things: Neo-Nazis brandishing Tiki torches, the circus that is the White House and bitter partisan finger pointing. I must tell you, I see a pattern...
Summer Reading: iGen, Smartphones, Digital Culture and the Disrupted Self
As many of you know, my current obsession is researching how digital culture is changing humans most deeply—especially from within. Our sense of identity is not only a compass that motivates us, it also a cultural touchstone. It won’t surprise you. My findings are disturbing. [tweetshareinline tweet=”Big picture: the rise...