The newsletters of Adam Hartung

Keynote Speaker, Managing Partner, Author on Trends

Jurassic Extreme www.houstondinosaurs.com

No, this isn’t an SAT question, but what do they have in common?  (You may not have thought of dinosaurs and electric cars in the same sentence!)

Ripples

Ripples as in wavelets.  Stock market theory for years has taught about ripples, waves and tides as an analogy for patterns in financial markets.  The same idea can be extended to using trends as a way to anticipate business opportunities.

In February of this year, astrophysicists discovered evidence of gravitational waves through nearly imperceptible disturbances, smaller than an atom.  Billions of years later, we learned of a stellar event whose magnitude staggers the imagination.  Something very small happens, and it leads to something very, very big.

Like when Steven Spielberg clues in the viewer that something very big is about to happen by the actor seeing a trembling cup.  At first, it’s an odd tremor.  Next, a giant dinosaur is out to eat you.  Recognizing activities early has enormous importance.

My last newsletter, and the Status Quo Risk Management Playbook, talked about watching for trends.  Trends are the ripples in the market from innovations that individually look very small.  But these trends can build, just as ripples interact, and can grow in size very quickly to become waves.  (Thomas Young, 1803)

Trends build on Trends

Like ripples on a pond’s surface from raindrops, trends spread across the market colliding with other trends.  By observing where trends intersect we can identify opportunities and threats.  Tesla, Netflix and wind turbine market leaders Siemens and GE are successfully riding the combined trends of technology, changing consumer demand and government involvement.

Understanding the potential peaks and troughs of market trends allows businesses to “pressure test” growth plans against scenarios – up or down.  Your business can react faster because you know where to look, you will be better prepared for the most likely “what if” scenarios, and you can avoid the trap of Status Quo complacency.

Send us an email to set up a call, or call us now, to discuss how we can apply to you what we’ve done for dozens of clients that overcame Status Quo Risk and grow.

For more on how to include trends in your planning, I’ve created a “how-to” that you can adapt for your team.  See my Status Quo Risk Management Playbook.

Where trends intersect can be great opportunity or great risk

Upcoming Conference Workshops on Status Quo Risk Management

NACD Director Professionalism Course   June      Chicago
NACD Director Professionalism Course   August   California

Recent Forbes Columns:

Tesla Model 3 – What a Game Changer Looks Like
Can Netflix Double-Pivot To Be A Media Game Changer?

Explaining the value jump at Facebook, and value rout at Apple and Chipotle, via growth analysis

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