Coolhunting: Chasing Down the Next Big Thing [Hardcover]

Review for "Coolhunting: Chasing Down the Next Big Thing" by Peter Gloor & Scott Cooper, New York, published by AMACOM 2007, 1. Edition, 236 pages.

The title of the book keeps its promise by chasing down the next big thing: coolhunting. It is a very well grounded in theory, though fun and inspiring book to read about coolhunting for coolhunting, a subject becoming a big subject (June 1, 07: 807,000 google hits). As described by the authors, coolhunting "is not as simple as the simple description - uncovering the source of trends - often given". Coolhunting also investigates how groups of people work together to innovate in so called COINs (Collaborate Innovative Networks), nourished by swarm creativity.

Both authors are renowned, much valued scientists in their respective fields, who published extensively on different interdisciplinary topics. Peter Gloor has many years of experience in management. This strong foundation enables an academically profound and comprehensive book with illustrative examples and inspiring stories about an intriguing, and in many ways paradox issue. Paradox, because "cool" products, themes, issues, designs, ideas etc. are not for everybody, as upon becoming public knowledge they actually loose their "cool" factor. This is the paradox the book is dealing with in a very open, dedicated, and informative way (and perhaps not everybody wants that secrets like this are broken). Beyond, with Social Network Analysis one can even visualize the process how groups of people collaborate, communicate, and innovate. As the authors state: "There can never be too much communication! And talk in galaxy, not as stars!"

When I started to read the book, I was surprised, and quizzical about the openness and diversity of the exemplifications, from personal stories to business cases to the constitution of Switzerland. Further, values like altruism, sharing, fun, responsible citizen came across. My mind was attuned to a technological driven book from two MIT researchers. Far from it! This is a truly diversified, innovative approach combining social processes with technology (coolhunting in swarm creativity), sometimes translating these innovations into real business (coolfarming).

In their recent article "The New Principles of a Swarm Business" (MIT Sloan Management Review, Summer 2007) they state three principles which are contradictory to usual assumptions: gain power by giving it away; share with the swarm; concentrate on the swarm, not on making money. This is exactly what the authors are doing with this book: giving away the information how to reveal innovation; sharing it with the people; for the third there is a blog to be found, where the authors concentrated on the people, not on making money: [..]

This innovative book is a must for everybody interested in detecting, even visualizing how innovation emerges in all kind of fields. It provides insights into a meta process applicable to nearly any kind of issue, therefore making a significant contribution to the open source movement, being innovative and open itself. Consequently, giving you everything you need to chase down your next big thing.

What I really like about this book is that it's easy to read and doesn't just
give you theory. There are lots of compelling examples and good -- even unlikely
-- stories about coolhunting and coolfarming, like the rock musician John Mayall
or a high school theatre group. Plus, there are instructions for putting the
ideas to work in a real experiment, using software to analyze social networks
that the authors' let you download for free.

"Coolhunting: Chasing Down the Next Big Thing" by Peter Gloor & Scott Cooper, AMACOM, New York, 2007. Review.

Reading this bright book is a recommended experience. For three main reasons.

First, it contains a refined abstraction of the human and social mechanisms that by far from we are in existence are the basis of human evolution. That is to point that at the individual side it is not just information exchange that determines the growing patterns of culture and civilization, what we call "trends", but the interaction experience of the "ego" in reality; and, at the collective side, the awareness to be part of a continuously changing collective universe that makes this process the "world experience". As far as we can predict from individual experience the individual evolution in personality, attitudes, choices and performance, from this collective sense of interaction we can track the processes and dynamics that are the premises of the world of tomorrow. We can predict the future.

So the first simple revelation of the work is right a truth: every role we are going to have in the process of trends emersion, leaders or followers, writers or readers, speakers or listeners, observers or proposers, we are all part of it, inevitably. Awareness is the first point.

Second, the authors develop very further these assumptions in a really concrete way.

The choice, they say, of the role to have in the collective interaction experience relies not only on who we are, our personal characteristics, attitudes and natural instinct.

It may be a conceived rational choice, that starts from the awareness of the creativity developed in a "swarm dimension" toward the owning of the way of managing, rather then following, the process. That is the choice to follow palely emerging ideas, or to look for the emerging new trends, or to create actually new trends by cultivating new ideas.

This is the second revelation the authors explain, followed by the introduction of the appropriate scientific, methodological and technical tools to support our mental model improvement requested for what they call "coolhunting" and "coolfarming".

Third, the authors argue a flowing stream of interesting considerations coming from their own different backgrounds that guide in a easy bright way through a path of evidence about a sort of "intellectual energy" emerging now as in the past, that was the basis for great world changes, inventions, creations, renewed during the last years in shape, speed, accessibility and terms, thanks to new technologies and cultures that reduced space and time, giving a new dimension to the new small world.

Making evidence from a rich variety of relevant examples and cases, coming from about science, democracy, wisdom, collaboration, as much as business, education and art, they built a really thought provoking logical architecture.