As Featured In:
Webby
AdAge
HBR
WSJ
This week the FTC issued a rule this week that bans non-compete clauses, estimating that up to 8,500 new startups will be created as a result of the ban. The federal agency describes the downsides of non-competes this way: “Noncompetes are a widespread and often exploitative practice imposing contractual conditions that prevent workers from taking a … Read more
The skies were orange above Athens and that was just one of several climate and energy related stories this week that offered a glimpse into stories we will see more frequently in the coming years. The first example is a concerning story of a tiny Arizona town where a private company purchased land and water rights only … Read more
The “meta-narrative” of Oprah’s legendary media career has been her weight loss and body image. As a result, she may be the perfect ambassador to explain the impact weight-loss drugs are having on the story of obesity in America and beyond. Should these drugs be considered medical treatment for a condition (obesity) that should be … Read more
Yolk is a new app that lets people “communicate through items that you see” and some reviews suggest they might be forging a new method of communication in the process. Just signing up requires you to invite a certain number of friends. There’s no way to send a direct message or use any text. And … Read more
A long read last week from The Atlantic offered this viral headline – Why Americans Stopped Hanging Out. Around the same time, I came across a leisure study from a bunch of marketers about how people are spending less time at bars and pubs, even as they spend more time running marathons. All of it … Read more
If you have ever been to another region of the world and been curious about how they ended up with the various flavors of crisps (chips to Americans) that are on store shelves, you’ll find this article very interesting. It asks and answers everything you’ve wondered about how various flavors get reduced to the flavored … Read more
This week Wendy’s unintentionally stirred up some trouble as headlines popped up online that the fast-food chain was testing “surge pricing” similar to Uber where they would charge more for food when demand was highest. The chain quickly backtracked with the relatively bone-headed explanation that they were actually using it to offer “discounts during slower … Read more
We might all be getting addicted to bad news. I was thinking about this point as I considered my own reactions to two other disturbing stories I read this week. The first was about an outbreak of measles in a Broward County Florida school where 11 kids were unvaccinated and over 100 may now be at risk. The … Read more
What if you had to “convince” ChatGPT to give you a better or more in-depth answer? Some users are suggesting a “winter break hypothesis” to explain why AI sometimes seems reluctant to do hard work. While the claims are unproven, OpenAI acknowledged the criticism from several users via Twitter and noted that they are “working on … Read more
Did you know that back in the earliest days of the Internet, there were a list of error codes created for situations that the web’s first designers thought would be highly possible in the future? Of course, the dreaded 404-error is the one that most of us know well: page not found. It was ubiquitous among websites … 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.
Skip the obvious and anticipate the future with our weekly newsletter. Join over 25,000 subscribers and start receiving the stories (and insights) you’ve been missing.
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.
