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If you are a professional woman, do you identify with this idea of “leaning in” as the right way to build your career, or do you feel that this expectation that it is your responsibility to assert yourself underestimates the cultural and institutional barriers that stand in your way?
Last year I went to Japan for the first time and experienced the inescapable presence of “Kawaii” culture. It is a word that describes the overwhelming cuteness of icons, mascots and media that focus on pastel colors, large rounded imagery and anime characters with big eyes and (often) short skirts. In many cases, it overlaps … Read more
For the past ten years I have gone through an annual ritual of publishing a book about trends that describe our shifting culture and business environment. Over the past decade, my team and I have identified and written about well over 100 trends covering everything from the rise of the #metoo movement (a trend we … Read more
India has some baggage when it comes to women with curly hair: “The Indian ideal for beauty prizes long, straight hair. For the most part, curly hair is considered ugly, unnatural and indicative of women likely to cause trouble and break rules.” An entrepreneur named Asha Barrack is trying to change these stereotypes and inviting … Read more
Millennials Glorify #Hustle,Take Unhealthy Workaholism Mainstream As we live through the rise of “#hustle culture,” this article provides a much needed reminder that we need to stop celebrating workaholism among Millennials and instead describe the workplaces which foster this culture for what they are: toxic and inhumane. Japan Hacks 200 Million Devices In Pre-Olympic CyberSecurity Test To prepare … Read more
Today there are plenty of examples of campaigns to help people become comfortable with their own bodies. Yet some have criticized this body positive movement as perhaps keeping people from admitting they are obese. One Newsweek article worried that people may use it as an excuse to justify their weight. This movement has also gone far beyond only body … Read more
Last week Netflix announced that they would be stopping their long standing policy of asking customers to vote on early pilots for programs to see if they have enough critical mass and audience to continue. In the same week, at a television industry event a Netflix executive shared that Netflix finds demographics to be useless … Read more
Cadbury is the first symbolic advertiser to have ads banned, but the real target may be sugary processed foods that pretend to be healthy snacks.
This week AirFrance became one of the first airlines to experiment with subscription pricing by announcing a new pre-paid travel product called Le Pass which allows frequent travelers to purchase pre-paid coupons to lock in pricing. A few days later, Mercedes-Benz followed BMW, Porsche and Cadillac by launching their own monthly all-inclusive subscription model, at … Read more
Recently Google engineers tested a Maps feature that equated the distance you walk to a number of mini-cupcakes you would burn off in equivalent calories. The only problem is, their fun little cupcake idea was a trigger for some people with eating disorders and others were just annoyed at the unsolicited suggestion. The feature and … Read more
Non-Obvious Thinking is my latest book about the 4 secrets of becoming a non-obvious thinker - relesaed 10/01/2024.
Rohit Bhargava is a trend curator, founder of the Non-Obvious Company and the 3-time Wall Street Journal bestselling author of ten books.
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In addition to Non-Obvious Thinking, Rohit is the author of 10 books on trends, the future of business, building a more human brand with storytelling and how to create a more diverse and inclusive world.
