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On an ordinary Friday evening this past October, I was reminded of why I wrote this book.

After four years of digitally publishing 15 new trends every year in my “Non-Obvious Trend Report,” in 2015 I decided to transform the 5th edition of the report into a full length book. That was the year Non-Obvious first came out in print and, to my delight, it struck a chord in organizations and readers globally.

Instead of just publishing the trend research that year, I also revealed some of the processes that my team and I had previously only shared in private client workshops or in my university classes for gathering ideas, finding intersections and learning to consistently see the patterns that others usually missed.

Sitting on the grass outside my boys’ elementary school that idle Friday evening for an outdoor movie night, my realization came when we started watching the animated film Ratatouille. The tale is a classic outsider story of a rat named Remy who lives beneath the streets of Paris and has a passion for cooking.

Of course, no one wants a rat in the kitchen – but Remy is encouraged by the imagined voice of his hero, a late chef whose longtime motto was: “anyone can cook.” It was the perfect reminder that the things we often prescribe as only the domain of experts may be within reach of anyone who has the right combination of passion and curiosity.

That idea inspires me every time I think of it, because it is empowering in a way that I always hope to be as a teacher and mentor. It is also particularly relevant when applied to the topic of trend predictions.

The future is new and sexy. It has always been and always will be. The future is where money is made and lives and culture are shaped. The future is irresistible. Of course, predicting that future seems like it should be impossible. What if I told you it is not only possible, but something you can learn to do for yourself?

Unlike other “Futurists,” I have never focused on the long-term possible future. Instead, I research and write about the short term certain future. I call this “the accelerating present.” The real secret to predicting the future is getting better at understanding the present.

That’s the simple premise at the heart of this book and it means that I believe anyone can learn to predict what will come by honing his or her powers of observing what is already happening.

Aside from teaching you a step by step approach to do this (Part I of the book), this 2017 edition also features original research presenting 15 new Non-Obvious Trends that will change business in the coming year. If you are a new reader to this book series, it might be easy to dismiss this list of trends as an expiring collection of ideas destined to be obsolete every 12 months when replaced by the next edition comes out. The truth, as the readers of earlier editions of these trends can attest, is that this has never been the case.

New trends don’t make “old” trends irrelevant.

Instead, from our research, we know that a trend will either continue to gain momentum… or it will not – but they usually move independently from one another. Some of the biggest trends changing the world of business today are ideas that we first identified and wrote about more than three years ago.

Trends like the Rise Of Curation (2011) predicting how content creation would be the wave of the future in marketing, or Corporate Humanity (2012) to describe the importance of brand authenticity as a way to build customer loyalty or Powered By Women (2013) to describe the global shift toward women taking leadership roles in business. Each of these, when first published, were ahead of their time – but today they don’t seem nearly as contentious.

These same trends that were once reasonably described as “Non-Obvious” when they were first published have, over time, become closer to obvious… and in some cases even fundamental. They matter more than ever, but they are no longer a surprise.

To ensure that these trends are not abandoned before their time, last year I decided to include five previously published trends among the 15 curated for the report. The feedback on this choice from readers and clients was extremely positive, so you will see that technique repeated in this year’s edition.

For each previously predicted trend, choosing to revisit and include it involved significant additional research, compiling new stories and often outlining some unexpected nuances or shifts in the meaning of the trend.

In addition, one of the trademarks of this trend series has been a consistently humble willingness to shine an honest lens on ALL 105 previous trend predictions since 2011 along with transparent ratings for how they fared over time. You will find those “Longevity Ratings” in Part IV of this book. Next year our plan is to add a ratings and review panel to allow readers like you to have input into how past (and current) trends are scored to add even more authenticity to the process.

Beyond the trend report, if you don’t want to wait an entire year before reading these insights – you are also welcome to subscribe to my “Non-Obvious Insights Newsletter” where I share 5-7 surprising and underappreciated stories every week. It is a wonderful community of storytellers, innovators, leaders and thinkers – and I highly value the time they spend reading the email every week. To join, you can visit www.rohitbhargava.com/subscribe and I would be honored to have you on the list.

As an added incentive, all of my subscribers will also receive an exclusive “sneak peek” at my 2018 trend research nearly a month before it is publicly available and published.

Finally, if this book sparks any new ideas for you or just gets you to think differently… I would love to personally hear about your experience or have a dialogue about them!

I respond to all my emails, and I relish the chance to have a conversation with readers and leaders like you. You can reach me by email directly at rohit@nonobviouscompany.com or pick the social media platform of your choice (Twitter, Facebook, etc) to connect with me there instead.

My business card describes me as a trend curator, speaker, and “nice guy.” I invite you to test that last claim for yourself and look forward to engaging with you digitally or perhaps at an event in the near future.

Thanks for reading this and enjoy the book!

Rohit Bhargava

Washington DC

December 2016