2009 Trends Map

From the Top Trends blog .... a fascinating visualisation of the world's possible futures.

"Here, at last, is my 2009 trend blend map. Here’s how it works. The main body of the map contains the mega-trends. These are, in no particular order:

• Global connectivity
• Anxiety
• Volatility
• Uncertainty
• Debt
• Power shift Eastwards
• Ageing
• GRIN technologies
• Digitalisation
• Climate change
• Sustainability

There are then eight arms, which represent the following sectors or areas:

• Society
• Technology
• Economy
• Environment
• Politics
• Business
• Family
• Media

The circles (or disc-like suckers in giant octopus speak) on each arm are the sector trends and the size of he circle is related to the likely impact of the trend over the next twelve months or so. Finally, there is a selection of global risks, some of which are deadly serious and some of which are not. Then again, everything is subjective. Some people might regard EMF radiation as a more serious global risk than Nicole Kidman winning another Oscar but I’m not so sure. Enjoy! ☺

PS - The map will appear at nowandnext.com under ‘trend maps’ shortly and will also have a hyperlink attached to it within 24-hrs.

Engaging Ideas

From the marktd blog, by Nico Margolis

A while back, we wrote a short post about the Engaging Ideas Card Pack and mentioned, “We haven’t gotten our hands on the full set, but it looks like a neat package for a broad range of ideas.” Well, now (thanks to Rob Fox) we’ve gotten our grubs on the entire pack and sifted through the stack of colorful cards.

The first impression is that they look like a deck of large novelty sized playing cards printed on thick stock cardboard. The front side of each card is an image meant to invoke the message or activity presented on the back. For the most part, the full card formatted images are stellar, ranging from iconic art and expressive photography down to some painfully low resolution and pixelated images. However, given the goals of the cards to engage employees through practical exercises, this is a rather minor point.

52-card deck (not including two jokers) is meant to stimulate positive discussion through identification of business goals and ideals. The cards are divided into three general categories: Discover, Design and Deliver. In this hierarchy of inspiration the cards build on each other by slowly introducing more complex activities, interspersed with straightforward tips.

The themes that appeared the most were honing the effectiveness of leadership, identifying core values and honing the business environment to suit the challenges ahead.

Here are two sample cards that we think embody the entire project:

21. Distributed Leadership

We tend to think that leadership is something that happens at the top. True, but what is perhaps more true is that acts of leadership happen across and throughout business, day in, day out. Identify these acts of leadership, encourage them and communicate them widely. Doing so helps to demonstrate that all people can offer leadership and will also help acts of leadership to flourish. This exercise also begs an answer to a fundamentally important question necessary to achieve higher levels of engagement: what does your business recognize as leadership?

48. Heartstorming

A success factor for any engagement effort is to discover, design and deliver better ways to connect emotionally with people to inspire their commitment and action. To help accomplish this make “heartstorming” rather than just brainstorming, a core aspect of your business’ problem solving and change practices. Demonstrating difference, “heartstorming” will help to uncover and build stronger emotional connections by focusing groups on questions like:

• I love it when…
• I get a kick out of it when…
• My heart beats faster when…
• I’m energized when…
• It frustrates me when…
• I feel undermined when…
• I’m intimidated when…
• I feel powerless when…

Read the rest of the review ....