Non-Obvious 2019- How To Predict Trends and Win The Future

by Rohit Bhargava

  Stuck-at-Work Dads

  Men don’t just receive confusing messages about what it means to be a father from the media. They receive them at work, too. Over the past few decades, we have debated and dismissed the stereotype of the “stay-at-home mom,” but the stereotype of the “stuck-at-work-dad,” who is required to remain at work from 9 to 5 (at least) has barely been revisited. Even today, in dual income households, fathers are still expected to primarily provide for the family, according to Pew.[15] Meanwhile, mothers are disproportionally expected to balance work with kids’ doctors’ appointments and grocery shopping.

  Women, of course, have fought hard and long for their place in the workforce. And that fight has been supported by networking groups that help mothers with work-life balance as well as evolved workplaces that understand that sometimes, schedules have to accommodate the needs of moms who must care for a sick child or attend a school function. These are all positive shifts for women and families.

  Unfortunately, the same understanding is often not yet offered equally to dads. Many men still work in environments in which it is not culturally acceptable to leave early to attend a school function.[16] “Boasting about your latest diaper victory isn’t yet a normal part of guy talk,” writes Brittany Levine Beckman in Mashable. “Even taking paternity leave can still be perceived as weak.”

  The result is that men are increasingly being expected (and willing) to be supportive, equal partners and emotionally available fathers–but struggle to balance those demands with sometimes hostile workplaces that don’t accommodate them or make it acceptable for them to prioritize their kids and family above work.

  The Gender-Fluid Man

  Traditional ideals of masculinity have imposed significant limitations on how modern men express themselves. But there are encouraging signs that the reevaluation of these ideals is underfoot on multiple levels, particularly as society starts decoupling gender from the choices we make—from what we wear to what we call ourselves to what we buy.

  One of these signs is the growing number of trailblazers who are challenging us to reimagine gender roles in general. Jaden Smith, for example, has become a symbol of the fashion-forward man who refuses to be confined by traditional clothing choices. He cites Batman and Poseidon as design influences, and famously wore a skirt for a Louis Vuitton photo shoot. I also wrote about Smith in last year’s discussion of the Ungendered trend. The son of actors Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith, he speaks often about his gender fluidity and his hope to break down gender lines while helping others to do the same–or at least to revaluate where those lines should or should not be drawn.

  Another pioneer doing groundbreaking work to challenge typical gender conventions is Los Angeles-based teacher and relationship expert John Wineland. He founded The New Men’s Work Project, which helps men to rethink traditional ideas around intimacy and open up and better communicate with others (particularly women) by being more connected and vulnerable.

  One more small sign that our ideas of gender may, indeed, be shifting come from considering the evolution in popular baby names in the United States. In 1910, only 5 percent of American babies named “Charlie” were girls. Over 100 years later, more than half of the babies with that name were girls.[17] A broader analysis by Quartz showed that American names in general have become less gendered since the 1920s: baby names are increasingly used for either boys or girls, whereas before, those names would have been assigned primarily to one gender.

  Why It Matters

  For much of the past decade, our traditional understanding of gender roles has been continually challenged and broken down. The main focus, however, has been on reconceiving female gender roles; and the secondary focus has been on the reinvention of gender itself. Understanding or reevaluating male gender roles—or masculinity—has taken a distant third for too long.

  Every organization on the planet is faced with workplace challenges and conversations related to interactions between men and women. These are shaped by societal norms, political overlays, media programming, and how we were all raised. The fact is, organizations that can utilize a better understanding of how to help men and women deal with Muddled Masculinity will have greater harmony and teamwork, less workplace conflict, and the ability to build a stronger workplace culture.

  In the coming year, we expect more introspection and discussion of the role of men in culture and what it means to remain a good man, as well as a reevaluation of how we portray and appreciate fatherhood in the workplace. A single new definition of masculinity is unlikely to emerge; after all, so much of the process of reevaluating gendered roles is about freeing them from limiting expectations. As a result, we anticipate that this trend, Muddled Masculinity, will continue to evolve and be important to watch.

  How to Use This Trend

  Encourage the nonconforming–When men or boys express a passion or curiosity for exploring traditionally feminine things, it is up to all of us to find ways to encourage them, and to avoid making quick judgements. In our experience, creating permissioned, fun, safe experiences at work that allow men (and women) to explore new perspectives can build powerful bonds across genders and teams while igniting new and innovative ideas. To reinforce these experiences, consider using non-conforming images and messaging when portraying men—and their relationship with women–to help encourage nonconforming views of masculinity to come out into the open.

  Innovate with compassion–We frequently see organizations investing in training for innovation, creativity, and even mindfulness. What about compassion? One of the biggest takeaways from the trend of Muddled Masculinity is that both men and women have to unlearn traditional gender roles and see the world a bit differently. The companies we have studied and worked with that do invest in compassion are the ones who are able to shift their culture based upon trends like this one far more effectively.

  06

  Side Quirks

  What’s the Trend?

  A global shift toward individualism drives people to follow their passion, start a side business, and appreciate quirks in one another.

  A coffee mug can be a nearly universal symbol of individuality.

  This simple insight is one that the team at the online arts and crafts marketplace Etsy uncovered as they prepared several years ago to launch their first global brand advertising campaign. The campaign introduced the tagline “Difference Makes Us,” and featured an assortment of unique and quirky products (like coffee mugs), which were sold directly to consumers by artistic enthusiasts.

  Describing the vision behind the campaign, Etsy CCO Paul Caiozzo said, “An important part of this message is: did you know that something as simple as a coffee cup can reflect what creativity means to you? And on Etsy, there are 200,000 different coffee cups—new, old, antique, used, vintage—that you can get.”[18]

  With more than 25 million buying and selling users, Etsy also happens to be the ultimate place for anyone to explore their Side Quirks. It provides the perfect introduction to this trend. The site allows consumers to find the ultimate product to express their individuality, and supports aspirational entrepreneurs in generating income from their passion.

  The real secret of the site’s success, though, might be a global shift that has been decades in the making.

  Rise of Individualism

  Social scientists describe the societies of the world as holding two seemingly opposite worldviews. “Collectivist” societies value family and group goals over the needs of the individual. In collectivist cultures like India, China, Korea, Mexico, Japan, and most of Africa, the “rules” of society promote working with others, selflessness, and caring for larger extended families.

  “Individualistic” cultures, like the USA, Australia, South Africa, and most of Europe, generally celebrate individual achievement, and encourage people to rely on themselves and focus on their immediate families.

  Although those classifications have long been accepted as fact, recently, researchers have started
to test these assumptions.

  The groundbreaking World Values Survey (WVS), for example, has measured people’s values and beliefs across the world since 1981. One of the architects of the survey, social scientist Ron Inglehart, has said that the mission of the WVS is to measure everything from support for gender equality to attitudes toward family, national identity, and culture.

  One of the key findings from the survey over the past two decades has been a rising shift toward individualism globally.[19]

  In some highly individualistic cultures like the United States and many parts of Europe, this has also led to a corresponding rise in entrepreneurship from people who are taking their Side Quirks and using them to start new businesses–a phenomenon many people are now describing as a “side hustle.”

  Side Hustles

  Catherine Baab-Muguira offers the following description of the appeal of the “side hustle” in a piece for Quartz online:

  “The side hustle offers something worth much more than money: a hedge against feeling stuck and dull and cheated by life...in the best-case scenario, your side hustle can be like a lottery ticket, offering the possibility–however remote–that you just might hit the jackpot and discover that holy grail of gigs. The one that perfectly blends money and love. The one that’s coming along any day now.”[20]

  Baked into this description is a sense of hope and optimism for the future fueled by the side hustle. It offers a purpose that work often does not–and does it in a way that offers a more fulfilling life without quitting your day job.

  Whether you use it inside the company or as an entrepreneur, the side hustle is an example of how Side Quirks are affecting careers, how companies attract and retain employees, and the way we think about work for people of all ages.

  Though the side hustle is often equated with a millennial mindset, it is important to note that one of the fastest-growing groups embracing this idea are people over 50 years old. To embrace this shift, the AARP now offers a frequent stream of articles and advice, both online and in their monthly magazine, on how to make money on the side while exploring all sorts of unrequited passions for hobbies they might have had earlier in life–from graphic design to saddle-making.

  Our past trend of Optimistic Aging was inspired in part by the growing desire of those over 50 not to only remain active in their retirement, but also to accomplish this by starting a second career or an entrepreneurial venture on the side.

  The side hustle is a positive implication of the Side Quirks trend; however, there is another side to consider. This becomes apparent when we turn our attention across the world to a shift taking place in many traditionally collectivist societies, like Korea, Japan, and China.

  Korean Honja, Japanese Hikikomori,

  & Chinese Individualism

  While individualistic societies tend to celebrate the success of the individual and the “quirk” that helps them stand out, in other places, this shift toward increasing individualism is leading to some disturbing results. Perhaps nowhere is this more apparent than in the case of the hikikomori in Japan.

  The term hikikomori is used in Japan to define a reclusive subgenre of (mostly) men who haven’t left their homes or interacted with others for at least six months. A recent Japanese cabinet survey estimated that well over 500,000 young Japanese aged 15 to 39 could be described as hikikomori, though some say the real number could be twice as many, since their reclusive nature makes them hard to count.

  Some have been driven to their solitary existences by failing to live up to societal or parental expectations. Others retreat after being unable to cope with some big conflict. This isolation, ironically, may itself be a way to express originality, according to photographer Maika Elan, who published a rare photo essay and interview of the hikikomori for National Geographic magazine. In the interview, she explains:

  “In Japan, where uniformity is still prized, and reputations and outward appearances are paramount, rebellion comes in muted forms, like hikikomori.”[21]

  Part of what makes this type of existence appealing is easy access to the Internet and technology, which allows hikikomori to retreat into the digital world. In China, the rise of individualism is having a different effect. When former J. Walter Thompson Asia-Pacific CEO Tom Doctoroff was interviewed about the state of individualism in China, he described the youth of China in this way:

  “Young people in China use the Internet as much more of an emotional engagement with their own identity. They feel they have opportunities to express themselves in ways that they never could in the real world.”[22]

  In China, the path for rising individualism goes through the Internet. In South Korea, individualism is creating a rising comfort that people are finding through time spent alone.

  In late 2016 a well-known Korean jobs portal called Saramin asked 1,593 male and female users between the ages of 20 and 30 years old about their preferences and habits. When asked whether the spread of “individualistic culture” and wanting to enjoy more “me time” was a positive thing, 86 percent responded yes.[23]

  Despite the fact that in Korea, going out alone was once considered the behavior of a social outcast (wangda), a new vocabulary has emerged in recent years to describe a slew of activities that used to be taboo, but are now growing in popularity.

  On a recent visit to Asia, a Korean colleague of mine shared that honbap is the Korean word for eating alone, honsul for drinking alone, and honyeong for going to the movies alone. “Hon” is the first syllable from the word honja (which means to do something alone in Korean), and an online search for “hon” activities now yields hundreds of results. In the survey, most respondents felt that technology and social media (often described as “selfie culture,” which we explored in our 2016 trend Selfie Confidence) had enabled more independent thinking and less desire to conform among Korea’s youth.

  What can the Japanese hikikomori, the growth of honja activities in Korea, and the way Chinese citizens find and explore their identities online tell us about the power of Side Quirks? In some cultures, the quirk may not be exploring a hobby for pleasure,but rather driving people to spend more time alone,which can be empowering for some and isolating for others.

  Twee Revolution and Generation Z

  The final element of this trend to consider is how individualism is impacting the sense of identity among young people. These successors to the millennial generation who are just now entering their teenage years are increasingly being called Generation Z.

  In his book Twee: The Gentle Revolution in Music, Books, Television, Fashion, and Film, former Spin magazine writer Marc Spitz introduces an alternate term for this generation, which he calls “Twee,” and defines their cultural mindset as “the utter dispensing with of ‘cool’ as it’s conveniently known, often in favor of a kind of fetishization of the nerd, the geek, the dork, the virgin.”[24]

  Whether you prefer the term Twee or Generation Z, this new cohort (generally between 5 and 19 years old) differs from their older millennial cousins and siblings in a few important ways. Most notably, according to a research report from the consultancy Sparks & Honey, they have global social circles, are concerned about and aware of the world, and far more likely to come from blended cultural backgrounds.[25]

  This mixed background creates a curious duality: they want to fit into the group and feel connected, but also try to retain enough personality quirks to stand out. While children of their parent’s generation might have been ridiculed for bringing ethnic foods to lunch, they use it to stand out and embrace their heritage.

  This desire for a unique self-identity and embracing of Side Quirks extends to the traditionally binary descriptor of gender, as well. Gen Z are driving the shift toward a world where the options for gender are now unlimited

  Why It Matters

  There used to be a global divide between cultures that celebrated individualism and those that did not. Among those that did, people were encouraged to find success as an individual, but not necess
arily encouraged to celebrate the quirks of their personalities that made them unique in the first place. These passions and behaviors were once described in a derogatory manner as quirks. Now, quirks have a new positive meaning, and more people are finding joy in embracing these previously-hidden elements of their personalities.

  In some cases, Side Quirks are leading people to start businesses or volunteer for causes they believe in. In other situations, they are just leading people to feel more independent and comfortable spending time alone, without the necessity of having others around. While some cultures will continue to struggle with this shift, leaving behind troubled groups like the Japanese hikikomori, we believe the broader effect of this trend will be more consumer empowerment, greater self-esteem, and the flexibility and freedom to do the things you always wanted to do, at work or otherwise.

  How To Use This Trend

  Show your quirks to connect–When leaders want to build trust, they are often best served by showing some vulnerability. Showing your quirks can be a great way to build connections. This might mean sharing a hobby or having a side interest that becomes a reason to connect. Either way, Side Quirks can give people a reason to believe in and trust you more deeply.

  Stand for something–Inherent in the idea of showing your quirks is being willing to take a stand on behalf of what you think. This is a powerful strategy that allows brands to stand out, and one that you will routinely see beloved brands employ. Side Quirks are not just to be embraced in people, but can also bring a brand to life, creating more human and emotional connections with customers.