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Coolhunting: Chasing Down the Next Big Thing
 
 
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Coolhunting: Chasing Down the Next Big Thing [Hardcover]

Peter Gloor (Author), Scott Cooper (Author)
4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)

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Book Description

April 4, 2007
'Coolhunting' and 'swarm creativity' are powerful concepts about identifying emerging trends and discovering the key trendsetters. They are about uncovering hidden innovation and innovators and they include the how and why new ideas and new knowledge are converted into products and services that correspond to the collective human mindset. Coolhunting involves making observations and predictions as part of the search for cutting-edge trends. It is a way of capturing what the 'collective mind' is thinking, and using what is captured to one's advantage. For an example of this 'collective mind' concept, on the television show "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?", contestants unsure of the answer to a question had the option of asking the audience or phoning a so-called 'expert'. Far more often than did the experts, the collective intelligence of the audience produced the correct answer.This is a simple example of swarm creativity. Humans swarm around like-minded people, with whom they not only feel comfortable but also can collaborate to produce winning ideas. The volume includes sidebars that expand concepts and present engaging anecdotes, as well as illustrations (charts, graphs, tables, and pictures) to help guide the reader through the explanations of concepts or simply to make for a more enjoyable read. The book includes many examples from history and from more recent business cases.Some of the examples are: how the CEO of Continental Airlines, participating in an online forum of frequent flyers, brought 200 of these people together in Houston at a dinner to discuss how the company could improve its services; how 10 research labs, collaborating globally to discover the causes of the SARS disease, were able to share newly acquired knowledge and achieve tremendous results very quickly; and, how Linux, an organization with no one officially in charge, became the only serious contender to the strictly hierarchical organization that developed Microsoft Windows.

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

MIT Sloan School of Management vets Gloor and Cooper strip "cool" of its cool in this half-baked introductory lesson to trendspotting. Beginning with a definition of "cool" that includes "excellent," "fun" and "makes the world a better place, in some way," the authors show how the excellent, fun iPod is truly cool because it's "keeping kids out of trouble." Strung together with the thinnest of strings, this textbook-style read covers a double-handful of basic new media concepts, including the "swarm," a future-predicting, trendsetting collectivity; the "coolhunters" who get down in the trenches, uncovering those swarms; and the "coolfarmers," nurturing know-it-alls who encourage the fruition of nascent creativity. Redundancy creeps in early, as the repetition of these terms-along with the mantra, "don't be a star, be a galaxy"-may lead readers to question whether Gloor and Cooper have a grasp on the latest trends in trendspotting. The authors' advice-brainstorm with others, the best ideas come from unlikely places, etc.-is mostly familiar, having been put to use by everyone from Ben Franklin to Google, but at least it's reliable.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

"Coolhunting reports on useful techniques for helping to see what’s coming.Wrap it in a plain brown wrapper,and read it surreptitiously." -- Tom Davenport, Harvard Business Online



"...Coolhunting is a skill we all need to master. This book, entertaining and informative..., is a terrific place to start." --Jack Covert, 800-CEO-READ Blog



“Marketers, especially the online variety, and anyone else chasing what’s cool, will want to read the new AMACOM book Coolhunting .” -Ted Kinni, Reading Writing Management Blog



“If success in business means determining your core business and then adapting that core as our customers' needs change quickly, then coolhunting is a skill we all need to master. This book, entertaining and informative about current culture, is a terrific place to start.”

-Jack Covert, 800-CEO-READ Blog



“Coolhunting is an entirely different experience and targets those of us who are fascinated by social networks, how they work, and what's ‘cool.’" -- AllThingsWorkplace.com



“Gloor and Cooper provide a real-world, practical approach to hunting something as elusive and illusory as 'coolness'.” -- Soundview Executive Book Summaries



“The authors write in a style that is easy for those outside of their cutting-edge mindset to understand." --Midwest Book Review



“Helping to ‘elucidate the culture of cool’ this book is fascinating… based on solid and credible field research…“ – Inside Retailing



“…For those keen to mine the wealth of information available in online communities…virtues of social network analysis are clearly demonstrated…an inspiring read…”-- B&T Weekly



“There are many layers to this book, but readers will leave convinced that social networks hold the key to the future.” – BizEd magazine



“An invaluable tool for businesses of all sizes…will show you how to stay ahead of the curve and on the cutting edge.” -- Strictly Business.com


Product Details

  • Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  • Hardcover: 256 pages
  • Publisher: AMACOM (April 4, 2007)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0814473865
  • ISBN-13: 978-0814473863
  • Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6 x 1 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #139,825 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I am doing research at the Center for Collective Intelligence at MIT. I also teach how to become a creative member of Collaborative Innovation Networks at University of Cologne and at Helsinki University of Technology.
Besides I am involved in the development of TeCFlow, a software tool for dynamic social network analysis. Until the end of 2002, I was a Partner with Deloitte Consulting, leading its E-Business practice for Europe. Before that, I was a Partner with PricewaterhouseCoopers and the manager for Software Engineering at Union Bank of Switzerland.
Much earlier I was a Post-Doc at MIT and got a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Zurich.

 

Customer Reviews

12 Reviews
5 star:
 (8)
4 star:
 (2)
3 star:
 (2)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.5 out of 5 stars (12 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars A 3.5 star special masquarading as something a little higher. I have trouble calling this a business book., July 1, 2007
This review is from: Coolhunting: Chasing Down the Next Big Thing (Hardcover)

This book was a tough read. When I finished it I asked myself "Why did I read it?" And I asked myself "What did I get from it?" I know I read it thinking there would be some good insight provided into how to identify trends and trendsetters so a reasonably quick profit could be made by jumping on the bandwagon. And now that I have finished the book I know that I certainly didn't get what I was looking for.

As far as I am concerned, the book uses too much of its own terminology and has to spend too much time defining terms. And the authors cite too many names and specific instances instead of smoothing over all of that and telling a simple easily digestible story. The title of the book is "Coolhunters." And that is fine. But why was there so much coverage of "Coolfarmers" in the book. That was a sideshow, and should have been left out in my humble opinion.

Basically I learned that coolhunters are seekers of trends and trendsetters. A coolfarmer is a leader of trendsetters. Swarm creativity is creativity resulting from a collective mindset. And Collaborative Innovation Networks (COINs) are teams of trendsetters who share ideas, information, and work in order to produce swarm creativity. Then social networks are cited as an example of some COINs. But so what? I still need to have all this pulled together for me so I can recommend the book to someone interested in starting a business or make their business better. I can't do that!

This book had 10 chapters as follows:

1. Why "cool" matters
2. Swarm creativity creates cool trends
3. Swarms can better predict the future
4. About trendsetters
5. Coolhunters look for coolfarmers
6. When swarms go mad
7. Do-it-yourself coolhunting with technology
8. Coolhunting by automated social network analysis
9. Five steps to becoming a coolfarmer
10. The coming world of swarm creativity
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars The Paradox of Coolhunting Coolhunting, June 2, 2007
By 
Angelica Marte (Cambridge, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Coolhunting: Chasing Down the Next Big Thing (Hardcover)
Review for "Coolhunting: Chasing Down the Next Big Thing" by Peter Gloor & Scott Cooper, New York, published by AMACOM 2007, 1. Edition, 236 pages.

The title of the book keeps its promise by chasing down the next big thing: coolhunting. It is a very well grounded in theory, though fun and inspiring book to read about coolhunting for coolhunting, a subject becoming a big subject (June 1, 07: 807,000 google hits). As described by the authors, coolhunting "is not as simple as the simple description - uncovering the source of trends - often given". Coolhunting also investigates how groups of people work together to innovate in so called COINs (Collaborate Innovative Networks), nourished by swarm creativity.

Both authors are renowned, much valued scientists in their respective fields, who published extensively on different interdisciplinary topics. Peter Gloor has many years of experience in management. This strong foundation enables an academically profound and comprehensive book with illustrative examples and inspiring stories about an intriguing, and in many ways paradox issue. Paradox, because "cool" products, themes, issues, designs, ideas etc. are not for everybody, as upon becoming public knowledge they actually loose their "cool" factor. This is the paradox the book is dealing with in a very open, dedicated, and informative way (and perhaps not everybody wants that secrets like this are broken). Beyond, with Social Network Analysis one can even visualize the process how groups of people collaborate, communicate, and innovate. As the authors state: "There can never be too much communication! And talk in galaxy, not as stars!"

When I started to read the book, I was surprised, and quizzical about the openness and diversity of the exemplifications, from personal stories to business cases to the constitution of Switzerland. Further, values like altruism, sharing, fun, responsible citizen came across. My mind was attuned to a technological driven book from two MIT researchers. Far from it! This is a truly diversified, innovative approach combining social processes with technology (coolhunting in swarm creativity), sometimes translating these innovations into real business (coolfarming).

In their recent article "The New Principles of a Swarm Business" (MIT Sloan Management Review, Summer 2007) they state three principles which are contradictory to usual assumptions: gain power by giving it away; share with the swarm; concentrate on the swarm, not on making money. This is exactly what the authors are doing with this book: giving away the information how to reveal innovation; sharing it with the people; for the third there is a blog to be found, where the authors concentrated on the people, not on making money: [..]

This innovative book is a must for everybody interested in detecting, even visualizing how innovation emerges in all kind of fields. It provides insights into a meta process applicable to nearly any kind of issue, therefore making a significant contribution to the open source movement, being innovative and open itself. Consequently, giving you everything you need to chase down your next big thing.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars to the point, June 19, 2007
This review is from: Coolhunting: Chasing Down the Next Big Thing (Hardcover)
What I really like about this book is that it's easy to read and doesn't just
give you theory. There are lots of compelling examples and good -- even unlikely
-- stories about coolhunting and coolfarming, like the rock musician John Mayall
or a high school theatre group. Plus, there are instructions for putting the
ideas to work in a real experiment, using software to analyze social networks
that the authors' let you download for free.
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Inside This Book (learn more)
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
collaborative innovation networks, swarm creativity, collaborative innovation network, cool trends, communication archive, scout bee, prediction markets
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Theatre Ink, The Family, Enhanced Gravity, Mutual Fun, John Mayall, United States, World Wide Web, Royal Society, Costa Rica, University of Cologne, Media Lab, Helsinki University of Technology, Open Source, John Doerr, Benjamin Franklin, Robert Langer, Linus Torvalds, Ted Nelson, Father David, Eric Clapton, Isaac Asimov, Deloitte Consulting, Cayce Pollard, Bill Gates, Jeffrey Skilling
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Surprise Me!
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