Rohit Bhargava is a trend curator and author who helps companies understand present trends to predict future trends. His book Non-Obvious discusses developing a "non-obvious" way of thinking to see what others miss. It identifies 10 megatrends, such as amplified identity and instant knowledge. The book reviews past trend predictions and discusses curating trends through the Haystack Method. It aims to help readers anticipate and win the future through creative, non-obvious thinking.

1. Non - Obvious: Mega Trends. How to See What Others Miss and Predict the
Future
Book Review by Dr.N.Asokan
Rohit Bhargava is a trend curator, story teller, marketing expert, founder of the Non-
Obvious company and the author of five best selling business books including the Wall
Street Journal best seller Non-Obvious.
Future Predicting Skills : Non Obvious is Powerful, Energetic, and, Assertive. A rich
blend of critical thinking, creative thinking, cultural and business strategy , Rohit
Bhragava guides to develop the ability to observe and clearly understand the
present business trend patterns of different industries to predict the future
trends with informative stories to eliminate the fear of future. It is totally
unputdownable.
Every society has a concept of the future. But every society is also anxious about
the future, on some level, fear the future. This is why, in every society, we give
prestige to those people who claim to be able to predict the future. The
Samoans call them seers, while we call them economists, but the point is the
same – if anyone can help us see the future more clearly, we will give them
special status. Rohit Bhargava deserves the special status.
Great leaders’ job is to rally people toward a
better future. Driven by their compulsion for
a better future, their challenge is to do
everything in their power to other people to
join together to make this future come true.
Rohit Bhargava is a great leader.
Finding the solution to a particularly tricky
problem or discovering a world changing
idea takes more than creativity, called
“curating ideas”. Bhargava and his new team
curated 10 new megatrends from thousands
of stories, dozens of interviews and over 100
past trend predictions. This curated list of
trends gets better year after year for the past
ten years, used annually by hundreds of
global brand leaders.

2. Being described as “futurist” or “near futurist,” Bhargava and his team research
trends to help brands and leaders understand the accelerating present and act
on that knowledge today. He focuses on trends that are affecting our behavior
or beliefs right now. However, that doesn’t mean his annual trend predictions
expire; instead, if well predicted, they become more obvious over time.
One of the goals of this book is to challenge lazy or obvious ways of thinking that
are, sadly, no more useful than these hyperbolic futuristic predictions.
The beauty of a book versus any other media channel is that you can skip back
and forth like this quite easily.
This book is all about thinking in new and different ways. Through that lens,
taking a trend and aiming to embrace its opposite certainly qualifies.
Most importantly, non- obvious thinking can help you anticipate, predict and win
the future. The ten mega trends can be a spark for new ideas and an instigator
for innovation. The most beautiful thing about well curated trends is that new
ones don’t replace old ones.
A trend is a unique curated observation of the accelerating present. "Curation,"
as Bhargava writes in “Non Obvious”, "is the ultimate method for transforming
noise into meaning." Non- obvious thinking can make you the most creative
person in any room, no matter what your business card says and help solve your
biggest problems.
In Part 1, you will discover the five key mindsets required for being a non-
obvious thinker, such as how to be curious, observant, thoughtful, fickle and
elegant, and what is interesting in this 2020, he has given three ways of how to
develop those mindsets.
He illustrated five steps of The Haystack Method, which is a process for curating
trends. The Haystack Method can help you not only curate trends, but also find
intersections between industries and avoid the trap of narrow- minded thinking.
This mental shift is ultimately the greatest benefit of using the processes
outlined in this book.
Part 2 of the book features predictions of ten powerful megatrends that will
shape the coming decade, along with implications for culture, business, careers,
and humanity.

3. Future Come True: Some of the ten mega trends from this year’s trends
include AMPLIFIED IDENTITY: As individualism rises globally, people are carefully
cultivating how they are perceived both online and offline, chasing stardom, and
making themselves vulnerable to criticism in the process. INSTANT
KNOWLEDGE: As we become accustomed to consuming bitesized knowledge on
demand, we benefit from learning everything more quickly but risk forgetting
the value of mastery and wisdom. HUMAN MODE : Tired of technology that
isolates us from one another, people seek out and place greater value on
physical, authentic and “unperfect” experiences designed with empathy and
delivered by humans. ATTENTION WEALTH: In the information economy, our
attention is our most valuable resource, leading us to be more skeptical of those
who manipulate us to get it, and instead seek out and trust those who
communicate in more authentic ways.
A review of every past trend published since 2011 that relate to this ten
Megatrend is an interesting look back at the evolution of the last decade of
research and insights.

4. Here is a snapshot of the curated observation of the accelerating present
featured in the book:
Success:
Success wasn’t determined by natural ability. People with growth mindsets
believe that success is the result of learning, hard work, and determination. They
think that they can achieve their true potential through effort. As a result, they
thrive on challenges and often have a passion for learning.
Strengthen Your Company’s Culture:
Contrary to what you might have read, you don’t have to provide free food,
massages, or ping- pong tables to inspire a great company culture. Workplace
surveys after surveys show that what people desire most is making an authentic
human connection with their co- workers feeling that their work matters, and
having some autonomy over their own time
Perfect selfie in the first place:
Taking and posting the perfect selfie has become so important that people are
literally willing to risk their lives to get the perfect one. One reason it matters so
much is that selfies allow us to curate the version of ourselves that we present
to distant friends and relatives whom we see rarely in real life. A selfie suggests
something in picture form—I think I look [beautiful] [happy] [funny] [sexy]. Do
you?—that a girl could never get away with saying.”
Individualism
As individualism rises globally, people are carefully cultivating how they are
perceived both online and offline, chasing stardom, and making themselves
vulnerable to criticism in the process. From our LinkedIn profiles to our tweets
and selfies, our online identities have become the ultimate expression of who
we are—or perhaps a carefully crafted self- portrait.
Light- Speed Learning
The idea that the speed of acquiring a new skill is more important than ever.
Today we are turning to online videos for help with doing math homework,
balancing a checkbook, or becoming a better basketball player. These packaged
nuggets of instant knowledge not only provide the fastest way to learn about a

5. topic, but also give on- demand access to experts who were previously too busy
or otherwise impossible to access . . . even celebrities.
Shortcut culture:
When we don’t earn our knowledge to do and make things, we may fail to
appreciate its significance. As we steadily find shortcuts to improve our jobs and
life, we undervalue the importance of developing mastery. Today’s technologies
are increasing that danger as they create ways to avoid the one vital requisite to
learning any skill or achieving any mastery: practice.
Become a deep expert:
In a world where people know a little about a lot, those with decades of
experience in a trade, craft, or skill will be more valued for their knowledge. If
you want to succeed in coming years when Instant Knowledge is likely to
accelerate, one way to do it is to balance fast self- learning with deeper
intentional mastery of a topic, subject, or skill.
Gender X:
“I’m gender nonconforming. Like, some days I feel like a man, but then other
days I feel like a woman.” Allowing individuals to select a gender- neutral choice
of X (this is the letter used instead of M or F) on their driver’s license and ID
cards.

6. To understand Rohit Bhargava’s research findings and his thought process of How to See
What Others Miss and Predict the Future on Robopets and digital avatars, Unperfection : the
combination of vulnerability and authenticity, More informed and more narrow minded, The
rise of lifters, When fake accounts spoil the data, Male Confusion, Authenticity in a fake
world, The fear of missing out (FOMO), Deepfakes and attention sabotage, Unlikely social
change heroes, Automated adulating, wait till January 7, 2020 to read his book.
Finally, Part 3 includes a candid review of every previously predicted trend from
the past nine years, 100+ past trends, along with a curated rating of how each
one fared over time and the fascinating back story of how the report itself
evolved from year to year.
Can non-obvious thinking save us from an asteroid 867 years from now?
Bhargava questions a team of scientists, who, discovered a 0.3 percent chance
the world will end on March 16, 2880 due to a cosmic collision course between
Earth and a celestial body known only as Asteroid 1950 DA and he hopes so.