News that the trend forecasting industry has grown to an estimated $36 billion dollars, suggests that trend forecasting information is becoming increasingly important to innovators and designers.
And, with the industry having achieved such scale, perhaps we should question who is really driving the trends we see on the catwalk and the high street these days – designers or trend forecasters?
What are the important personal qualities and character traits that an innovation manager should have?
The list is potentially a long one - future orientation, interest in novelty, leadership, resilience and so on. However, if I were pushed to determine the single most important quality, I would say open-mindedness.
The authors of Gamestorming promise that by “imagining, creating and exploring possible worlds, you will open the door to breakthrough thinking and real innovation”. What’s more, the ‘games’ they describe in their book can help us do this. So how well does it deliver?
