The100: Unprompted opinions, value grids & goodbye

You may have spotted on LinkedIn that there are some big and exciting changes happening today when it comes to Watch Me Think. TL;DR: my time is done. 

As a result, I’m also handing over The100 reins to my magnificent colleague, Fran. She’s been helping to edit these since, well, we can’t actually figure that out. But enough years to know where to find the best map-related content. Your Friday reading is in good hands. 

I’ve really enjoyed writing this for you all. What started as a bit of fun in March 2017, sharing interesting things with 100 interested people, has grown into something quite different. There are now over 3,000 of you. (First edition here if you’re interested.) 

Thank you for reading. I hope you’ve enjoyed doing so as much as I’ve enjoyed putting it together. 

Anyway, enough already. 

Value positioning

I absolutely loved this value grid from Richard Huntington, especially as I can map exactly where Watch Me Think sits. As Richard says: 

“I think there are only nine value positions it is possible to occupy in any market and only five are advantageous to the business […] What has also been clear is that you can be repositioned in the market on value without doing anything simply because of competitor activity.”

Beyond the obvious

McKinsey have published their State of the consumer: When disruption becomes permanent report. 

I can’t say that I’ve ever been a huge fan of theirs. However, once I’d glossed over some of the not-quite-exciting-enough-for-me conclusions, such as “people are spending more time alone and online” (who knew?), I was nodding along with one of their strategic recommendations:

“Get even closer to the consumer. Consumer sentiment is no longer neatly aligned with consumer spending, and simple methods for predicting consumer behavior are insufficient. Companies need to build a 360-degree view of their consumers that enables proactive decision-making.” 

What would you do with an extra 2 hours a day?

With absolutely no comment whatsoever, and complete co-incidence, Lloyds Banking Group produced a report on the future of free time and the areas where technology can help people reclaim it.

And here’s how the robots would spend their time if they were human. I think they might deserve a hug. 

“The courage to start with what you wish existed”

Nils Leonard of Uncommon spoke at D&AD recently, and if you are planning to start a company, it’s gold. I wish I’d seen this before we started Watch Me Think.  

The gold starts flowing at 00.50 with:
“You don’t start a company in a category. You start a company in the world.”

Said flow moves into a full-on, long-arm pour at 09:43 with the importance of selling (as much as everyone hates it): 

“If someone gives me a million pounds to come up with an idea, and I can’t tell them about the idea, in a way that makes them have to do it, how can that be their fault?”

The inevitable AI section

Apple released a paper on how AI doesn’t think and, as Jasmin Hyde explained, instead remixes patterns with better grammar. Or, as Stephen Klein framed it, models as “a very expensive auto complete”. 

Neil Perkin wrote about Superagency, the amplification of individual or team capability through AI, and the associated threats / opportunities. One to follow if you’re interested in AI, he’s very good. 

“Do you have an unprompted opinion?” Love this line from Ant Melder’s mocked-up Economist ads.

And finally…

Some culture… Firstly, the 22 best museum videos on YouTube. Secondly, the literature clock. Every minute a new quote will appear about that precise time.

A list of unexplained sounds. Bloop anyone? Amazing.

And I’m still chuckling about this:

Time to go now. Thank you again for reading and for all your kind words since we started The100. I hope it’s provided some inspiration, maybe even a few laughs. And I hope it’s made you think kindly towards Watch Me Think. 

Over to you Fran.