Jeremy Gutsche Interviewed in Toro Magazine About Trend Hunter & EXPLOITING CHAOS Edit

A few weeks ago, Toro Magazine gave EXPLOITING CHAOS a rave review; this morning, they’ve published an interview with Jeremy Gutsche in which he discusses EXPLOITING CHAOS, his keynotes and Trend Hunter with Toro Magazine senior writer Salvatore Difalco.

Check out a snippet of Jeremy Gutsche’s Toro Magazine interview below, and be sure to read the article in its entirety here.

Jeremy Gutsche in Toro Magazine

Q: And of course adaption seems to be the central theme of the book, if it can be summarized in a word. Explain why this is so important now in the chaotic beginning of the 21st century.

A: Basically, companies create structure and procedures in order to preserve the status quo. So we find out how to make a profitable product and we try and preserve that and grow it as much as we can, but we don’t want to change it. But during times of chaos or dramatic change in the environment, then all the rules of the game are different, and those structures that you have actually stop you from seeing all the new ideas bubbling up around. The idea then is how do you tear that apart, create a culture of revolution, and then start to find ways that you can reinvent and not blind yourself to all opportunities that structures stop you from seeing.

Q: Your targeted demographic is business managers, but I thought your strategies could be used by almost anyone. Intentional, or happenstance? As a writer, ideas like embracing the fringe, seeking authenticity and tearing apart structure appeal to me.

A: It was written very specifically to be as applicable to someone working in a school board or an IT guy working in a back room, or an entrepreneur. And part of that comes from – many of my speaking dates are in hospitals, school boards, manufacturing associations, and so on, places you just don’t see as cutting-edge consumer product companies. But the reality is that in almost any job people are working in an organization and they have ideas and often the structures that surround them stop the ideas from growing. In some of these bureaucracies it can actually be more important to apply some of the principles in the book. So based on that, when I was writing the book I was careful to try and not always use words like “customer” or “profit,” and talk about ideas and growing and change.