11 words was all it took for “the expert” to clarify things yesterday – SCN Encourager

The day was still young when David Zach came to my rescue.

He couldn’t help it.

When he read my amateur treatise on trend-spotting yesterday, he knew a speedy-kwik intervention for my round-a-bout was needed.

As a former MSPRA speaker and all-around good guy, what other choice did he have?

He couldn’t let my loopdie-dooing around about the difference between trends and fads stand on its own.

What if it went viral?

Who knows what harm my 68o words could bring to the reputations of insightful professional futurists (like him) and other genuinely “thoughtful” people all across the globe?

It was a risk Zach couldn’t take.

So, using only 11 words, he sent me a guide for determining trends from fads.

Despite its brevity, I’ve got to admit it’s pretty good.

He didn’t ask me to pass it along to you… but I figured I’d better since Cindy made me email it to her at work when I told her about it.

(When I told you yesterday about having my old leisure suit in a trunk in our basement, it probably caused her to panic.)

Here’s exactly what Zach sent me.

Trends:
Powerful.
Directional.
Intentional.

Fads:
Fun.
Flavorful.
Seductive.
Distractive.

Choose carefully.

I hope you like Zach’s list of distinctions and his two caution words.

Don’t go overboard in sharing them, though.

I made the mistake last night of asking Cindy which words in either group described me.

(I especially wanted to give her the opportunity to use the word “seductive.”)

“Which words?!?” she queried. “You kidding?”

Uh, oh… this isn’t going to end well.

“There’s only one word out of the seven that truly fits you,” she said.

“Distractive!” 

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