Ideas change everything

Megatrends -- 5 tips on the art and science of trend tracking

57,961 plays|

Alison Sander |

TED@BCG Berlin

• October 2014

What's next? It's the question we never stop asking, with new answers emerging every day from trends and data that offer tantalizing clues for the discriminating observer. For example: pets now outnumber children in the USA, Europe and Japan. What product lines may emerge from this shift? Doggy Prozac? Megatrend expert Alison Sander explains how you can spot growing trends and gives five tips on how you can use trends to your advantage.

Want to use TED Talks in your organization?

Want to use TED Talks in your organization?

What's next? It's the question we never stop asking, with new answers emerging every day from trends and data that offer tantalizing clues for the discriminating observer. For example: pets now outnumber children in the USA, Europe and Japan. What product lines may emerge from this shift? Doggy Prozac? Megatrend expert Alison Sander explains how you can spot growing trends and gives five tips on how you can use trends to your advantage.

Want to use TED Talks in your organization?

About the speaker

Alison Sander

Trend sleuth

Through her role in BCG’s Center for Sensing & Mining the Future, Alison Sander tracks megatrends to help clients find their next areas of growth. She earned an MBA from Harvard Business School, a JD from Harvard Law School and a BA in political science with high honors from the University of Chicago. Sander is a member of The Council on Foreign Relations, a Board member of the World Resources Institute, an Overseer of the Museum of Science and a founder of AltWheels.

About TED Institute

Every year, TED works with a group of select companies and foundations to identify internal ideators, inventors, connectors, and creators. Drawing on the same rigorous regimen that has prepared speakers for the TED main stage, TED Institute works closely with each partner, overseeing curation and providing intensive one-on-one talk development to sharpen and fine tune ideas. The culmination is an event produced, recorded, and hosted by TED, generating a growing library of valuable TED Talks that can spur innovation and transform organizations.

Read more about the TED Institute