Microtrends: The Small Forces Behind Today’s Big Changes
Mark J. Penn with E. Kinney Zalesne
http://www.microtrending.com/

The Chaos Theory tells us that a movement small as the flutter of a butterfly’s wings in one part of the world can set off a hurricane in another. In Microtrends, Mark Penn talks about the real trends that are wielding large influences on society today and in the days to come. These may be small behaviours involving as little as one percent of the population in some instances, but they are powerful enough to “transform a business, tip an election, or spark a movement”.

What has Mark Penn found out that startles?

1. There are too few straight men for all the straight women in America, and so women are unexpectedly caught in a game of musical chairs, in which at least 3% are going to be left standing.
2. Older women are dating younger men; they call these women “cougars” who are established, not looking for commitment and are more sexually experienced.
3. Office Romancers – due to the fact that many of us are spending more time at work.
4. Commuter Couples – due to the fact that more couples are working physically far away from each other and rely on technology to connect them. Contrary to what one might think, the arrangement may not turn out to be hazardous for a marriage as it affords more space and tolerance for each other.
5. The Working Retired – more people are working past the retirement age of 65. This has a lot of implications for the size of our workforce, health, income and work environments.
6. Inter-racial families
7. DIY Doctors
8. Pampering Parents – don’t we all know this – kids get picked up, timed-out, negotiated with at great length – the jury is out on whether we’ll get a more nonviolent society or more people unwilling to listen to authority.
9. Long Attention Spanners – look at golf, marathons, sudoko, lan-games and long movies – they get their share of followers.
10. Educated Terrorists – the Virginia Tech killings were the product of a single deranged mind whose ideas died with him while 9/11 was the result of an intellectual and religious movement that has the power to convince even well-educated and seemingly rational people both to give up their own lives and commit mass murder.