EXPLOITING CHAOS 7 X 9 SPINE: 18/32 Exploiting CHAOS
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TITLE: EXPLOITING CHAOS 7 X 9 SPINE: 18/32 Exploiting The hottest trend spotter in North America “A rousing battle cry for the kind of creative, risky thinking that is most needed in times of change and disorder.” reveals powerful strategies for thriving in —DANIEL H. PINK, any economic climate bestselling author of A Whole New Mind DID YOU KNOW THAT Hewlett-Packard, Disney, Hyatt, MTV, CNN, Microsoft, Burger King, and GE all started during periods of economic recession? Periods of uncertainty fuel tremen- dous opportunity, but they also reshuffle the deck and change the rules of the game. Exploiting Chaos is the ultimate business survival guide for all those looking to change the world. Topics include Sparking a Revolution, Trend Hunting, Adaptive Innovation, and Infectious Messaging. “Rebellious and seductive, Exploiting Chaos is a love potion for relentlessly creative souls looking to break boundaries, ignite customer passion, and start a revolution.” —Kevin Roberts, CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi, author of Lovemarks CHAOS “ The quintessential road map for all those who seek opportunity . ” —Guy Kawasaki, cofounder of Alltop, author of Reality Check “ The cutting edge as we contemplate what’s next for brands, commerce, and consumerism.” —Marian Salzman, futurist, CMO of Porter Novelli “Not surprisingly, it’s hot, hip and absolutely worth talking about.” —Dave Balter, CEO of BzzAgent, author of The Word of Mouth Manual “Jeremy is a walking, talking, breathing trend, a living example of what happens when you take your own advice. With his ideas, you might catch an ideavirus.” —Seth Godin, bestselling author of Tribes JEREMY GUTSCHE JEREMY GUTSCHE, MBA, CFA, is an innovation expert, host of Trend Hunter TV, one of North America’s most requested keynote speakers, and the founder of TrendHunter.com, the world’s largest network for trend spotting and innovation boasting an audience of roughly 10 million monthly views. Jeremy is routinely sourced by the media, from the Economist and the Financial Times to Entertainment Tonight and FOX News. He has been described as “a new breed of trend spotter” by the Guardian, and “on the forefront of cool” by MTV. GOTHAM BOOKS Foreword by GUY KAWASAKI, cofounder of Alltop, author of Reality Check A member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc. ISBN: 978-1-592-40507-7 375 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10014 52000 www.penguin.com BUSINESS / PRINTED IN U.S.A. $20.00 U.S. $25.00 CAN. 9 781592 405077 exploting chaos ean Chaos (kā,äs) is the uncertainty sparked by uncharted territory, economic recession, and bubbles of opportunity. Chaos causes organizations to retreat . but not always. Disney, CNN, MTV, Hyatt, Burger King, FedEx, Microsoft, Apple, Gillette, AT&T, Texas Instruments, 20th Century Fox, IBM, Merck, Hershey’s, IHOP, Eli Lilly, Coors, Bristol-Myers, Sun, Amgen, The Jim Henson Company, LexisNexis, Autodesk, Adobe, Symantec, Electronic Arts, Fortune, GE, and Hewlett-Packard. These iconic companies were all founded during periods of economic recession.¹ Dramatic change and simple evolution This book is about powerful ideas give birth to a new set of market needs. and vivid stories that will help you stimulate creativity, Identify those needs and enjoy identify opportunity, and ultimately, remarkable success. EXPLOIT CHAOS. How to read this book Contents OUR READING HABITS have entirely changed in the last decade. Foreward by Guy Kawasaki 14 Driven by media clutter and our shrinking attention spans, our world has become headline obsessed. Hence, this book is visual and action packed, PART 1: A BIT OF HISTORY 17 offering two ways to read: Crisis creates opportunity 18 You can thrive in times of loss 20 1. Consume the content front-to-back. Reinvent what people want 22 2. Just read the headlines on each page. They flow together and will Keep your finger on the pulse of pop culture 24 help spark your next big idea. Learn the game and start to play 26 “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but rather the one most adaptable to change.” 28 6 Even the clever must adapt 29 7 You cannot escape disruptive evolution 30 Don’t become a boiled frog 31 Stay focused on opportunity 32 Find a way to make sense of all the noise 34 Accept that the world never returns to normal 36 You don’t need to have everything figured out 37 There is comfort in chaos 37 The only things slowing you down are the rules you need to break 38 Small decisions can have a profound impact 40 Learn to adapt: The Exploiting Chaos Framework 42 PART 2: CULTURE OF REVOLUTION 45 Don’t let monkeys inhibit change 46 Spark a revolution 49 Perspective 51 Don’t ask, “Do you like it?” Ask, “ What’s wrong with it?” 95 Understand your perspective 53 Make failure a part of every day 96 Specifically what are you trying to do? 53 Win like you’re used to it, lose like you enjoy it 98 “Smith Corona—the best typewriter company in the world!” 54 Fire people for not failing 99 Don’t be seduced by complacency 56 Don’t celebrate the attainment of the summit, Look beyond the failure of others 57 celebrate the style of climb 100 Assume tremendous potential in rival ideas 58 Customer Obsession 103 Explore uncertainty 60 If you want to be remembered, invoke an emotional connection . 104 Avoid retreating to your comfort zone 62 If you want to engage, invoke a cultural connection 107 Question rational thought 64 Obsess about your customer 108 Understand the pattern of disruption 65 Don’t speak to your customers, speak with them 111 If you’re big, act small 66 Inspire customers to champion your brand 112 If you’re small, act big 67 Observe in the zone 116 8 Chase the right dream 68 Get uncomfortable 118 9 Exploit crisis to accelerate change 70 Do it yourself 120 Shift perspective, spark revolution 72 Fight the confidence that you know your customer 122 You cannot predict the future . 74 Spend time in the zone 124 . but you can predict scenarios and capitalize on disruption 76 Seek authenticity 126 Visualize disaster and opportunity 78 Intentional Destruction 129 “The right questions don’t change as often as the answers do” 80 Tear apart structure 130 Experimental Failure 85 Become leaderless 132 A decent proportion of your creations must fail 86 Stop telling people what to do 134 Be wary of your strengths; success leads to complacency 88 Build a creative work environment 136 Don’t let complacency be the architecture of your downfall 89 Act crazy* It’s easy to find the peak of a hill . 90 *especially if you’re a senior leader 138 . to find a larger hill, you have to walk through a valley 91 Hire freaks 140 Create a gambling fund 92 Piss people off 142 Break down managerial confidence 94 Let reason triumph over hierarchy 143 Diversify thought 144 Hotels: The cutting edge 184 Cross-pollinate your ideas 145 Hotel services: Ideas from the fringe 186 Remove the walls that separate people and ideas 146 Adjacent and unrelated 188 Destroy the perks of seniority 148 Example of Step 3: Identify clusters 190 Encourage informality 149 Example of Step 4: Re-cluster 192 Celebrate that nothing is precious 150 Let clusters lead you to breakthrough ideas 194 Destroy value 152 Throw away your best ideas 154 PART 4: ADAPTIVE INNOVATioN 197 Laugh 156 Be methodical* * and stay out of communist prisons 198 PART 3: TREND HUNTING 159 Use the Trend Hunter Adaptive Innovation Framework 200 There’s no point innovating if you think you already Step 1. Define a clear customer need 202 know the answer 160 Find the next Cherry Garcia 203 10 Actively seek inspiration 162 Step 2. Ideate like it matters 204 11 Develop a toolkit to filter ideas 164 Prevent ideation from sucking 205 Awaken your inner Trend Hunter 166 Step 3. Synthesize 206 Popular is not cool 168 Step 4. Create rapid prototypes 207 Cool is unique and cutting edge 169 Go faster 208 Most importantly, cool is viral . Step 5. Test and launch 210 . which is why marketers and product designers seek to attain it 170 Step 6. There is no Step 6. Repeat Step 1 instead 211 Constantly seek to be unique 171 Manage innovation like a stock portfolio 212 Don’t ignore the fringe 172 Do lots, explore, gamble, and be safe 214 Hunt trends in 20 ways 174 Innovate inside the box 216 Group ideas into meaningful clusters 178 Create artificial constraints 218 Force yourself to re-cluster 179 Stay strong after a snakebite 220 Case Study: Design a hip hotel 180 Don’t play with the house money 220 Example of Step 1: Resetting 182 You have to play to win 222 Example of Step 2: Hunting 182 Take advantage of uncertainty 223 Pursue disproportionate value 224 Don’t add when you can divide 225 Pull weeds, grow roses 226 PART 5: INFECTioUS MEssAGING 229 When you create something that connects, your message travels faster than ever before 230 To my dad: Package your product like it’s the best in the world 232 For teaching me how to create something from nothing, Convey style before substance 234 which is, in fact, the premise of this book. Screw logic, tell a story 236 Let words create image 238 Invent mythology 239 Contextualize your message 240 12 Articulate your mantra 242 Convey everything in 7 words or less 244 Know why I should choose you 245 Rule #1: Relentlessly obsess about your story 248 Use the Trend Hunter Title Framework: Simple, Direct, and Supercharged 250 Example 1: The $5,000 Hamburger 252 Example 2: The Heart Attack Grill 254 Conclusion: Chaos permits you to think differently 258 Let the exploitation begin .