busines model innovation, Corporate Anthropology, Emerging Trends, new customers, Podcast, Trends From The Trenches, women entrepreneurs

057: Ask Andi series—What’s Hot and What’s Not

Posted on by Andrea Simon

Listen now to my podcast about today’s trends and how you need to adapt now!     

As I go around the country doing workshops and keynote speeches and working with clients, I’ve begun to observe overall cultural changes that are going on, both in American society and across the world. So I thought today I would talk about a question I received recently about what do I see that’s hot and what do I see that’s not, and how these trends can help business leaders see, feel and think about their companies in new ways. A lot to learn here and react to. Enjoy!

What I’d like to help you do is learn how to turn observations into innovations, like an anthropologist. Step out, look at your business with fresh eyes and begin to see what’s happening out there so you can make needed adjustments before the trends go roaring past you and you’re left behind. And as you’re looking at the world and watching how things are being done now, get out of your little boxes and begin to think about bigger trends.

Here’s a quick synopsis of what’s hot and what’s not out in the trenches but to get the full story about what they mean for you and your business, listen to the full podcast.             

 What’s hot

  1. Gen Zs
  2. The gig economy
  3. Women business owners
  4. The sharing economy
  5. Travel 
  6. Ride hailing platforms
  7. Autonomous vehicles
  8. E-commerce
  9. 3D printers
  10. Internet of Things
  11. Artificial intelligence and H&R Block with Watson
  12. Moving from a pipeline to a platform 

What’s not

  1. Owning a house 
  2. Millennials aren’t getting married
  3. Malls and large retailer foot traffic

What does this all mean for you? What’s hot and what’s not in your world?

If you’ve got your head in the ground and playing ostrich, it’s time to look around you because whatever you had yesterday isn’t going to be here tomorrow the same way. You may really learn what’s hot in your own world if you spend some time as an anthropologist, a corporate anthropologist, or consumer anthropologist. 

Go hang out. What do anthropologists do? We listen to people tell stories about how they solve problems or don’t. We watch them actually use a product or buy something you sell, and observe what parts of the product they really use that’s simple and easy and which parts they ignore altogether that you’ve overdesigned, or maybe not designed enough.

Spend the day in the life of a customer. Listen and look for the gaps between what people do and what they say, what they think they’re doing and what they’re actually doing. Ask them what the pictures actually mean to them, and assume nothing.

The old ways are going away and the new ways are not only on their way but in many cases, are here now.

Things are changing. Are you?

In this episode, I discuss:

  • How each generation is now moving into the next stage of their lives, creating drastic changes in how we work, live and play
  • The merging gig economy, creating new ways to integrate life and work
  • The rise of women in the workplace which is changing the structure of companies
  • The lack of marriage in millennials which is changing the traditional family structure
  • How the popularity of Uber and Citi Bike are changing transportation 
  • The emergence of robots, artificial intelligence and sensors
  • The way people shop today and how that is affecting brick-and-mortar retailers
  • The popularity of platforms rather than pipelines creating people-driven businesses

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Get the full transcript of this Ask Andi episode here.