World Ark Magazine - January/February 2008 - (Page 38) MIXED MEDIA|FOOD FOR THOUGHT Microtrends The Small Forces Behind Tomorrow’s Big Changes Reviewed by Jaman Matthews, | WORLD ARK WRITER T he concept is touted as “cutting edge,” “brilliant.” Like many brilliant ideas, once you read about it, it seems suddenly obvious and observable everywhere. And it doesn’t hurt that it has a catchy name. Microtrends, according to author Mark Penn (former Bill Clinton polling guru and the man who brought us the term “soccer moms”), are “the small forces behind tomorrow’s big changes.” The book and its catch-phrase title are Penn’s modern-day answer to 1982’s Megatrends. Then, we were told we were on the cusp of a new era. Now, 25 years later, Penn is telling us that we are again on the cusp of a new era. But this time around, it is the small, almost unnoticed impetuses that will shape our future. Evidence of these small forces and trends hides in the reams of polling and census data collected every year. By combing through the numbers, Penn susses out small but significant populations of working retirees, older new dads and protestant Hispanics, for example. But as Penn points out, even 1 percent of the U.S. population is still millions of By Mark J. Penn with Kinney Zalesne Twelve Hardcover | $25.95 people. And so Microtrends has come to show us a new way of thinking, not about people, but about polling data. Unfortunately, Penn fails to thoroughly flesh out his idea. Beginning on Page 3, after a brief introduction and the only explanation of his new concept, he launches into 75 chapters of examples of microtrends. If the point of the book is simply to enumerate the tiny trends, why stop at 75? The list could certainly go on and on. Ah, but that is the vulnerable underbelly of Penn’s idea. If the author were to admit the endlessness of this list, potential readers would see microtrends as largely arbitrary forces that gain cohesion only by their collection and collation under a new, broadly defined term. Still, Penn identifies and defines some interesting trends (DIY Doctors, for example). You’ll find a few examples that already seem dated, obvious and/or not so micro (Young Knitters). And at least one which is truly frightening (Aspiring Snipers, in which Penn recounts the disturbing number of young people who believe that in 10 years they will be freelance snipers). Despite Microtrends’ drawbacks, Penn has almost certainly coined yet another new phrase and concept destined to edge its way into everyone’s vocabulary, much the way “strong-willed child” and “Dianetics” have. Hungry Planet: What the World Eats Peter Menzel and Faith D’Aluisio Paperback | $24.95 Ten Speed Press This award-winning book is now available in paperback. The authors visit 30 families in 24 countries to capture snapshots of abundance and deprivation at the dinner table. Dwell magazine One year (10 issues) | $19.95 A beautifully designed magazine about modern home design, with plenty of nods to simplicity and sustainability. www.heifer.org 38 January/February 2008 | WORLD ARK http://www.heifer.org
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