Which Trends Can You Trust?

Mention the word “trend” in a group setting and you’ll find that most will shrug it off, the reason being that the word “trend” has a negative connotation to it, causing trends to be considered untrustworthy.

Having an avoidance relationship with trends of any kind based on this aura can be a significant mistake in your career. Some trends are so trustworthy that they can be considered future certainties, or what I refer to as Hard Trends. Others are somewhat less certain, but open to important influence that you can leverage to your benefit. I refer to those as Soft Trends.

With the “new normal” we find ourselves heading towards — now that we have faced a global pandemic, a wide variety of new Hard Trends and Soft Trends have emerged. Understanding and embracing a different view of trends can unlock enormous opportunities for both you and your organization that we have never had before.

4 Ways to Spot a “Trendy” Trend

A “trendy” trend is often defined as what’s hip or popular at a certain point in time. When framed that way, it’s easy to understand why so many people have a knee-jerk distrust of trends. For one thing, it relates to how the word trend is often used.

Here are 4 ways to differentiate between a “trendy” trend and a trend that can be leveraged by being…