Why Do We Follow New Trends Every %^$ Year!
Why Do We Follow New Trends Every %^$ Year!
The Annual Trend Frenzy
Every new year like clockwork, a fresh batch of “game-changing” trends bursts onto the scene—and companies scramble to embrace them. It’s almost comical: one minute you’re wrapping up Q4 on a steady course, the next minute January 1 hits and suddenly “XYZ is the future, we need to pivot ASAP!” Executives return from the holidays energized by some hyped Harvard Business Review article, marketers can’t stop tweeting about the Next Big Thing, and entire teams are sent into a frenzy updating strategy decks with the latest buzzwords. Welcome to the annual trend frenzy, where FOMO-fueled urgency meets corporate New Year’s resolution.
We’ve seen this play out year after year. One year every company needed a mobile app, the next year it was all about Big Data, then blockchain, then the metaverse, and now (surprise!) generative AI. Marketers and consultants fan the flames by publishing “Top 10 Trends of {Year}” lists, and anxious executives feel compelled to hop on each one lest they appear behind the times. It’s almost a ritual: new year, new trend, new scramble. In meetings, you hear things like, “Our competitors are already doing X, we can’t be left out!”—as if not following the trend this instant would make the company as obsolete as a fax machine. This breathless cycle is fueled by good intentions (staying innovative) but often devolves into trend-chasing theater. Before we know it, the corporate world is buzzing about whatever shiny object is in vogue, whether or not it actually makes sense for the business.
So why are we like this? Why do smart people in well-run organizations collectively act like kids on a sugar high whenever a new trend drops? Let’s dive into the psychology behind our obsession with chasing trends every #%@$ year.
Why We Chase Trends
On the surface, trend-chasing seems irrational—why fix what ain’t broke? But psychologically and organizationally, there are some powerful forces at play:
Fear of Missing Out (FOMO): Humans hate the idea of missing out, and business leaders are no exception. If there’s a hot new trend, nobody wants to be the last one still doing business the old way. The fear is “What if this new thing gives our rivals an edge and we’re left in the dust?” In fact, a recent survey of IT executives found that 67% admitted FOMO was a significant factor in their decision to adopt AI in their organizations. That’s right—over two-thirds basically said, “We jumped into AI because we were afraid not to.” FOMO is a heck of a drug.
Herd Mentality: There’s safety in numbers. If everyone in your industry is chasing a certain trend, it feels less risky to follow along. It’s the classic herd mentality: “Well, if others are doing it, it must be the right move.” No one wants to be the lone outlier still clinging to yesterday’s practices while the herd migrates. This mentality can override even the voice of reason. Executives see peers embracing a trend at conferences or on LinkedIn and feel pressure to do the same, lest investors or media think they’re asleep at the wheel.
The Allure of Innovation: Let’s be honest—new stuff is exciting! Shiny Object Syndrome is real. Trendy ideas come with the promise of revolutionizing business, unlocking new markets, or at least making work a bit more interesting. It’s easy to be seduced by splashy case studies of early adopters claiming huge wins. Chasing a trend can make a leader feel visionary (“Look, we’re innovating!”) and garner positive buzz. There’s a status boost in being seen as cutting-edge. Plus, many leaders and marketers are genuinely passionate about improvement and evolution; the latest trend offers a tantalizing chance to shake things up for the better.
Career Incentives: Sometimes, individuals push for trendy initiatives because it’s good for their careers. Launching a high-profile project around a hot trend can be a resume highlight. If it succeeds, you’re the genius who led the AI (or blockchain or VR...) transformation. If it fails, well, sometimes blame gets shared or the trend itself gets blamed (“it was ahead of its time”), and the personal career risk might be lower than the potential reward.
Media and Hype Cycles: We live in a business culture that loves narratives. Each year comes with pronouncements like “2025 is the Year of X.” Media, analysts, and consultants create hype cycles that feed on themselves. This constant noise makes it hard to ignore trends even if you suspect they’re overblown. When your inbox is flooded with newsletters about how [Insert Trend] will disrupt everything, you start to think, “Hmm, maybe we should look into this…” The hype creates a sense of urgency that’s hard to escape.
All these factors mix together to create an almost irresistible pull. Psychologically, not following a major trend feels like swimming upstream. The path of least resistance is to go with the flow—join the trend party so you’re not the odd one out. It’s an emotional decision disguised as a strategic one. But as easy and even logical as trend-chasing might feel in the moment, it’s not without its downsides. In fact, blindly following the herd can lead your organization right off a cliff. Let’s look at the costs of this annual trend hopping habit.
The Cost of Trend Hopping
Chasing every new trend might make you feel innovative, but it can also put your company on a strategic rollercoaster. Constantly pivoting to the latest fad comes with some serious costs:
Strategic Whiplash: When you’re always shifting focus to whatever is hot this year, your long-term strategy suffers. It’s like trying to sail a ship that changes course with every gust of wind—you never get to your intended destination. Projects launched under last year’s “big trend” get abandoned or deprioritized as soon as a new buzzword arrives. The result? Half-finished initiatives, wasted investments, and an organization that never fully capitalizes on any one idea. Chasing too many rabbits means you catch none. Over time, this erodes your long-term vision. Ask any employee what the company’s five-year plan is, and you might get a shrug because it seems to change every six months.
Burnout and Cynicism: Few things demoralize employees more than feeling like they’re on a wild goose chase year after year. One quarter they’re told to become experts in Agile Blockchain IoT Synergy (or whatever the buzzphrase is), and just as they get the hang of it, leadership says “Nah, drop that, now it’s all about Metaverse Marketing” or some such pivot. This constant change of direction can lead to burnout—people are always scrambling to learn the next thing or re-do their work to fit the new trend. It also breeds cynicism. Employees start rolling their eyes at the “initiative of the year”, assuming it’ll flame out like the others. They joke about the “trend du jour” and become disengaged, figuring they just need to wait it out until the boss’s attention moves on. In short, morale and trust in leadership can take a nosedive.
Brand Dilution and Customer Confusion: Your brand thrives on consistency and a clear value proposition. If you’re reinventing your messaging or offerings every year to chase trends, customers can get whiplash too. Today you’re a company that’s all-in on one idea; tomorrow you’re about something completely different. That inconsistency can erode brand loyalty and confuse your market. Chasing trends for trends’ sake can also make a brand appear desperate or inauthentic. As one marketing expert put it, “Trend chasing is a dangerous game… Struggle and desperation are not good looks for a brand, and nothing drives an audience away more than when a business is trying too hard to appeal to them.”. In other words, customers can smell it when you’re hopping on a bandwagon without a genuine connection to your brand’s mission, and it’s a turn-off.
Lost Opportunities (by chasing the wrong thing): Ironically, chasing every shiny object can cause you to miss what really matters. While you’re busy pivoting to the trend of the moment, you might ignore core business improvements or a different innovation that’s a better fit for your company. Resources (time, money, talent) are finite. If you spread them thin across every new idea, you may never invest enough in the one or two things that could truly transform your business. Trend-hopping can thus have an opportunity cost: the cost of not focusing on what would have worked best for you.
Concrete Failures: There are plenty of cautionary tales of companies hurt by trend-chasing. Remember when Zappos adopted the radical Holacracy management trend (no job titles, no bosses) because it was the hot new organizational idea? It sounded cool and visionary. In practice, it created chaos and confusion about how to get decisions made. The experiment was so disruptive that about 18% of Zappos employees took buyouts and quit within a year, pushing their turnover rate to an all-time high. Ouch. That’s a real impact on morale and productivity, caused by jumping on a management fad without fully anticipating the consequences.
Consider also how Meta (Facebook) went all-in on the metaverse trend – even rebranding the entire company. CEO Mark Zuckerberg poured billions into this shiny vision of VR worlds. The result so far? A lot of money spent, a lot of skeptical investors, and a core business (social media advertising) that arguably suffered from neglect. By chasing a futuristic trend hard and fast, Meta signaled bold innovation, but it also confused many users and shareholders about its priorities. It’s still too early to call that move a failure, but it shows how high the stakes are when betting the farm on a hyped idea.
And then there’s Microsoft’s infamous acquisition of Nokia in 2013 for $7 billion, in a bid to catch up to the smartphone trend they initially missed. It was a classic case of late-to-the-party trend chasing. The Windows Phone never took off, and Microsoft had to write off the entire investment and lay off thousands of workers. Chasing that trend (instead of focusing on software and services, which were their strengths) cost them dearly.
These examples illustrate the point: whether it’s abandoning your strategy every year, burning out your team, confusing your customers, or outright costly flops, trend hopping has consequences. It’s not to say you should never pursue new trends—ignoring innovation can be equally dangerous—but doing it in a knee-jerk, every-year-is-a-new-identity way is a recipe for instability.
So, what’s the answer? How do we avoid the trap of being either a trend-chasing tumbleweed or a stagnant stick-in-the-mud? The key is finding balance—being innovative and agile without losing focus on who you are and where you’re going. Let’s talk about how to strike that balance.
How to Balance Innovation and Stability
After surviving a few rounds on the trend merry-go-round, many leaders realize the truth: you can’t (and shouldn’t) chase everything. Sustainable success comes from balancing shiny new ideas with a stable long-term strategy. Here’s how to walk that fine line:
Keep a Long-Term Vision as Your North Star: Trends should serve your strategy, not define it. First, be crystal clear about your company’s mission, values, and long-term goals. This vision is your anchor. When a new trend arises, evaluate it against this anchor: Does this help us get closer to our vision? Will it serve our customers in line with our mission? If yes, it might be worth exploring. If not (no matter how cool it is), you might take a pass or a “wait and see” approach. Companies that thrive (think Amazon or Apple) have a strong sense of identity and direction. They fold in relevant innovations while saying no to distractions, often with remarkable patience. Apple, for example, famously waits to adopt new technologies until they fit their product vision (they weren’t first to MP3 players, smartphones, or smartwatches—they just did them better and in sync with a clear strategy).
Practice Strategic Patience (Don’t Jump on the Bandwagon Immediately): You don’t have to be first at everything. Sometimes it pays to be a fast follower rather than an early adopter. Let others test the waters of a hyped trend and learn from their mistakes. This doesn’t mean you ignore the trend; it means you watch and gather information. Maybe that new trend is a flash in the pan that will fizzle out in a year (remember Google Glass? Or all those “social media for pets” startups? Exactly). By exercising a bit of patience, you can avoid costly missteps. And if a trend truly shows lasting power and real benefits, you’ll have more evidence and clarity on how to implement it effectively. Innovation is a marathon, not a sprint – pace yourself accordingly.
Run Small Experiments Before Big Leaps: Instead of overhauling your whole business to align with a trend, try a pilot project or a limited experiment first. Want to explore a new technology? Set up a small team and a limited budget to test it on one product line or a segment of your operations. This “sandbox” approach lets you gather data and experience without betting the farm. If the pilot flops, you’ve contained the damage. If it succeeds, you have a proven case to scale up. This iterative approach is how many agile companies innovate without wreaking havoc – they fail small and learn fast, then invest more in what works.
Stick to Your Core (with a Twist): One way to filter trends is to ask, “Does this amplify what we’re already good at?” Trends that enhance your core strengths or improve your value to customers are more likely worth pursuing. If you’re an analytics company and there’s a new data science technique trending, that probably deserves attention because it’s in your wheelhouse. But if you’re an analytics company and suddenly drone delivery is the hot topic, probably not your fight. By focusing on trends that align with your core competencies or address a genuine pain point for your customers, you ensure that any innovation is additive, not tangential. This keeps your overall business stable even as you innovate.
Set Priorities – You Can’t Do It All: In a world of limited budgets and bandwidth, part of balancing is choosing. Maybe there are five big trends this year in your industry; you might decide to seriously pursue one or two, watch another couple closely, and ignore the rest. And that’s okay! Explicitly prioritizing which trends matter most (and communicating that decision) can prevent the scattershot approach of trying to do everything a little bit. Leaders should convene and say, “Out of these trends, which ones genuinely have potential for us? Which fit our strategy and present real opportunity?” Then focus on those, and give your teams permission to not worry about the others. This also reassures everyone that you’re not changing everything at once.
Maintain What Works: While exploring new trends, don’t neglect the projects and processes that are already successful. It’s easy to get so caught up in “what’s next” that you fumble “what’s now.” A balanced company allocates resources to innovation and to continuously improving the core business. Think of it like tending a garden: plant a few new seeds (trends) but keep watering the flowers you already have. Protect the budgets of proven initiatives even as you siphon some funds for experimentation. This sends a message to employees that new initiatives won’t completely eclipse existing priorities—they’ll complement them.
Balancing innovation and stability is admittedly tricky—it’s much easier to say “focus on the long term” than to do it when the hype machine is blaring in your ears. One practical way to enforce this balance is to build a deliberate process for evaluating and integrating trends. In other words, don’t leave it to ad-hoc reactions; bake it into how your organization operates. This is where a dedicated Trend Pursuit Team can make all the difference.
A Smarter Way: The Trend Pursuit Team
Instead of willy-nilly chasing each new fad, savvy organizations establish a more intentional approach to trend adoption. Enter the Trend Pursuit Team: a cross-functional squad whose mission is to separate the true opportunities from the mere hype. Think of it as an internal filter (and safety net) that prevents knee-jerk trend hopping by applying brainpower and due diligence before the company jumps on a bandwagon.
What is a Trend Pursuit Team?
It’s a designated group of people from different parts of the business who regularly scan, evaluate, and recommend which trends to pursue (and how). This team acts as an early warning system and also a BS detector. They’ll spot emerging trends, research their relevance, and advise leadership on whether a trend is worth embracing, experimenting with, or ignoring for now.
Who’s on the team? To be effective, the team should be cross-functional, bringing together diverse perspectives so you don’t get caught in groupthink or one-track enthusiasm. For example, a Trend Pursuit Team might include:
An Executive Sponsor: a senior leader who empowers the team, ensures it has resources, and can champion its recommendations to the C-suite. This person keeps the team aligned with overall company strategy and gives them credibility at the highest levels.
Trend Scout/Analyst: someone who lives and breathes industry research. Their job is to monitor the landscape—market reports, tech news, competitor moves, startup trends, consumer behavior shifts. They surface new developments and provide initial analysis on what the trend is and why it matters.
Marketing or Customer Insights Lead: a person who understands customer needs and brand positioning. They assess whether the trend resonates with your target audience or if customers are asking for it. They’ll consider the brand implications: would adopting this trend enhance our brand or stretch it too far?
Technical or R&D Expert: if it’s a technology or product trend, you need someone who can dig into feasibility. This member evaluates what it would take to implement the trend—do we have the skills and infrastructure? Is it technically mature or bleeding edge? They provide the reality check on what’s actually possible in the near term.
Operations/Finance Representative: a practical voice who examines the operational impact and financial rationale. They think about scalability, cost, and ROI: What would it cost to pursue this trend? Do we have capacity? What’s the potential return or risk? They help ensure the trend makes business sense on paper, not just in theory.
HR or Culture Representative (if applicable): if a trend involves ways of working or organizational change (say, a new methodology or structure), someone from HR can weigh in on the people aspect. Will employees embrace this? What training would be needed? This perspective can be crucial for non-technical trends (like the Holacracy example earlier).
Depending on your company size, the team might be a dedicated unit or just a committee that meets periodically. The key is diversity: you want a mix of visionary thinkers and pragmatic operators. A marketing person might be gung-ho about a trend’s buzz potential, while an operations person might tap the brakes with practical concerns—and that tension is healthy. It ensures trends are looked at from all angles.
How does the Trend Pursuit Team work?
Best practices for making this team effective include:
Regular Trend Radar Meetings: The team should meet regularly (say, quarterly or even monthly) to discuss emerging trends on the horizon. In these meetings they compile a “trend radar” – basically a list of new things out there (new technologies, consumer fads, regulatory changes, etc.) and rate their relevance. The outcome might be a short report or dashboard of trends: which ones are high priority (worth a closer look), which are medium (monitor for now), and which are low (interesting but not relevant yet).
Clear Evaluation Criteria: The team should establish criteria for evaluating trends. For example: Alignment with company strategy/values, potential business value, customer impact, competitive advantage, feasibility/cost, and risk level. Using a consistent scorecard or rubric can take some of the emotion out of the decision. It turns “I feel we should do this because it’s hot” into a more objective analysis.
Small Experiments & Research: For high-priority trends, the team can sponsor deeper research or even a pilot program. They might commission a market study, run user surveys, or launch a tiny pilot project to test the trend in action. The idea is to gather real data. For instance, if “live-stream shopping” is an emerging trend in retail, the team might run a small live-stream sale event to gauge customer interest before the company invests heavily in it.
Go/No-Go Recommendations: Once the team has evaluated a trend, they make a recommendation to leadership. This could be “Yes, let’s allocate budget and try this in a bigger way”, “Not yet, revisit in 6 months”, or “No, this trend isn’t a fit for us, here’s why.” Crucially, they also suggest how to pursue a yes-trend (e.g., which department leads it, any hiring or tools needed, success metrics) or how to monitor a not-yet trend (e.g., key indicators that would signal it’s time to move).
Documentation and Knowledge Sharing: The Trend Pursuit Team should document their findings and reasoning. This creates an organizational memory. If people ask “Hey, everyone’s doing X, why aren’t we?”, there’s a paper trail: “Our Trend Team looked at X last quarter; here’s the analysis and why we decided to hold off.” Sharing this knowledge with managers and teams keeps the broader organization informed. It also reassures folks that yes, we see the trend too; no, we’re not just ignoring it; we have a plan. Transparency can curb the rumor mill and anxiety around trends.
Empowerment and Autonomy: This team must have the psychological safety to give honest opinions. If every time they say “no” to a CEO’s pet trend idea they get steamrolled, the process won’t work. Leadership needs to empower them to be the voice of reason. That means sometimes accepting their recommendation to skip a trend or to do a slow trial, even if the hype is strong. Over time, when the organization sees that thoughtful trend decisions prevent wild goose chases (and lead to better outcomes when they do proceed), they’ll build trust in the process.
A well-functioning Trend Pursuit Team essentially institutionalizes strategic patience. It creates a buffer between the outside world’s hype and your company’s decision-making. Instead of chaotic, reactive jumps, you get measured, well-vetted moves. This not only saves time and money, it also sends a message to employees: we have a plan for dealing with new trends; we’re not just throwing spaghetti at the wall.
Now, having a trend evaluation framework is fantastic, but how do you involve the wider organization in this? After all, innovation isn’t just the job of a small team—your whole workforce can either be part of the solution or feel like part of the problem. That’s where turning trend-chasing into an opportunity for empowerment comes in.
Empowering Teams Through Trends
Rather than letting yearly trends sow chaos and stress, savvy leaders flip the script: they use trends as a way to engage and empower their people. The idea is to channel the natural excitement around new trends into something productive—into learning, development, and cross-functional collaboration—so that even if a trend doesn’t ultimately pan out, your organization benefits from the journey.
Here are some ways companies can leverage trends to boost their teams, instead of derailing them:
Innovation Challenges and Hackathons: Create company-wide (or department-wide) challenges related to new trends. For example, if “automation” is a hot trend, host a hackathon asking teams to prototype an automated solution for a current business problem. Give employees a chance to form cross-functional teams (mixing IT, marketing, ops, etc.) and let them get creative with the trend. This turns a trend into a fun, engaging project rather than a top-down mandate. Employees will learn about the trend hands-on, and you might even discover a viable innovation to implement. Companies like Atlassian have “ShipIt Days” (24-hour hackathons) that often yield new features or improvements—imagine that spirit applied to whatever the year’s trend is.
Trend Pilot Teams (Empower Emerging Leaders): When your Trend Pursuit Team green-lights a small pilot project for a trend, staff that project with a volunteer strike team. Often you’ll have employees, especially younger or more tech-savvy staff, who are passionate about a new trend (maybe they’ve been dying for the company to try it). Tap into that enthusiasm. Let them lead or be part of the pilot. It’s a great way to give up-and-coming talent a leadership opportunity in a low-risk setting. They get to stretch their skills and prove themselves. You can even make participation in trend projects a part of high-potential employee development programs. Rather than trends being seen as disruptive, they become opportunities for growth and recognition.
Learning and Development Programs: Use the arrival of a new trend as a chance to upskill your workforce. If a trend is worth exploring, offer workshops, courses, or lunch-and-learn sessions about it. For instance, if “data science” is the big trend, sponsor some data literacy training for non-technical teams, or have your data experts share what they do. Employees appreciate when the company invests in their skills, and you build internal capability. Even if the trend doesn’t fully take off, you’ve improved the knowledge base of your team. This way, no exploration is truly wasted—it becomes part of continuous learning.
Cross-Functional Task Forces: Trends often cut across silos. Say the trend is “personalization in customer experience” – that involves marketing, IT, customer service, maybe product development. Form a task force with reps from each relevant department to brainstorm how the company could apply this trend. Give them a few weeks to come up with ideas and report back. This kind of collaboration breaks down silos and gets people talking to colleagues they normally wouldn’t. It’s good for company culture and ensures that if you do pursue the trend, you’ve got buy-in and insights from all corners, not just a top-down decree.
Celebrate Intraday “Wins” and Efforts: When teams or individuals contribute to trend-related initiatives, recognize and celebrate that. Maybe an employee taught themselves a new skill to help with a pilot, or a cross-functional team produced a great concept in an innovation challenge. Shout it out in the company newsletter or Slack channel. By highlighting these efforts, leadership sends a message that exploring and learning (even if experimental) is valued. It encourages a culture where people aren’t afraid of new trends; instead, they’re eager to engage with them because they know their work will be appreciated, not just judged on immediate ROI.
Keep the Chaos Contained: Empowerment also means setting boundaries. When introducing a trend to teams, clarify that it’s okay to spend X amount of time on this exploration, but it’s also okay to drop it if it doesn’t work. Employees need to know they won’t be punished if a trend-based experiment fails (as long as they followed the process). This psychological safety actually boosts innovation—people will give their best ideas if they’re not terrified of repercussions. By containing trend exploration in defined projects or timeframes, you ensure it doesn’t overrun day-to-day work. People can play in the sandbox without burning down the whole playground.
By involving teams in trend exploration, you transform the narrative. It’s no longer “Ugh, management is making us chase another fad.” Instead it becomes, “Cool, we get to try something new and our voices matter in how we do it.” Employees move from passive recipients of trend whiplash to active participants in innovation. This builds engagement, skills, and even loyalty—because folks feel like they’re growing rather than just being yanked around.
When handled this way, even if a particular trend doesn’t become a huge success, your organization still gains: smarter, more adaptable teams; better cross-department relationships; and a reputation (internally and externally) as a place that embraces learning. That’s a win in its own right.
We’ve journeyed through the wild world of trend-chasing, the psychology behind it, the perils it poses, and some solutions to manage it. Now, let’s wrap up with a look at how all these pieces come together in the bigger picture of intentional innovation.
Then what? The Path to Intentional Innovation
Trends will come and go – that’s a guarantee as reliable as the calendar itself. But following them blindly every *%^$ year (pardon our French) is not a sustainable strategy. The key takeaway from this exploration is the importance of moving from reactive trend-chasing to intentional innovation.
Intentional innovation means you adopt new ideas deliberately, purposefully, and in alignment with your long-term goals. It’s about being proactive on the trends that matter and comfortable saying “no thanks” to those that don’t. In other words, it’s innovation on your terms, not just because “everyone’s doing it.”
Let’s boil down some key principles for leaders and organizations aiming to navigate trends more strategically:
Remember Your “Why”: Always loop back to your company’s mission and strategy when a new trend emerges. If you know who you are and what you’re trying to achieve, it’s easier to filter which trends deserve attention. Use your North Star to avoid getting lost in the hype galaxy.
Resist Knee-Jerk Reactions (Avoid FOMO Frenzy): Take a breath. Not every trend requires immediate action. Just because the competition or media is hyping something doesn’t mean you’re already behind. Approach trends with curiosity, not panic. As we saw, acting out of fear of missing out can lead to costly moves on flimsy justification. Discipline yourself to gather facts and perspectives before jumping in.
Build a Trend Evaluation Mechanism: Whether it’s a formal Trend Pursuit Team or a simple checklist for your leadership meetings, have a process to deal with new trends. This injects thoughtfulness into what is often an emotional decision. A little structure (evaluating ROI, alignment, feasibility) can save you from chasing your tail. Make trend-vetting a normal part of strategic planning rather than an ad-hoc free-for-all.
Start Small, Learn, Then Scale: Embrace the mindset of experimentation. You don’t have to wager the whole company on an unproven idea. Pilot projects and trial runs are your friend. They provide evidence and learning. If the trend shows promise, great—scale it up with confidence. If not, you can pivot or park it with minimal damage. This approach turns potential failure into a learning investment.
Engage Your People in the Journey: Perhaps most importantly, bring your team along for the ride. Communicate about trends and why you are or aren’t pursuing them. Solicit input—often the folks on the front lines have invaluable insights into what customers want or how a new tool might actually work on the ground. By involving employees (through task forces, hackathons, training, etc., as discussed), you turn a source of disruption into a source of motivation. An engaged workforce will carry a trend initiative farther than a disengaged, skeptical one every time.
In the end, the goal is innovation with intention. Instead of asking “Are we keeping up with all the new trends this year?”, the better question is, “Are we building the future we want for our company and our customers?” Sometimes that future will incorporate a hot new trend – fantastic. Sometimes it will mean sticking to your guns while others chase rainbows. Wisdom is knowing which is which.
So the next time you feel that annual itch to overhaul everything because a new trend is making headlines, you’ll know what to do. Take a step back and channel that energy more thoughtfully. Set up your trend evaluation team, empower your people to experiment wisely, and make sure any innovation you pursue has a purpose behind it. By doing so, you won’t just follow trends – you’ll harness them, align them with your vision, and ride them toward sustainable growth.
In a world obsessed with “What’s new this year?”, be the leader obsessed with “What makes sense for us?” That is the path to intentional innovation — and it’s how you ensure your company isn’t just chasing the future, but actively creating it.
