The Science of Adaptation … a review of EXPLOITING CHAOS

Jeremy Gutsche, the author of Exploiting Chaos: 150 Ways to Spark Innovation During Times of Change, is an expert in innovation and early spotting of trends in the world around us. His mantra is to define strategies to exploit the opportunities being created from the extraordinary chaos from today’s crazy times.

Gutsche suggests that the next wave of management will focus on the science of adaptation. Accordingly, his book approaches the science of adaptation using four important tactics: Culture of Revolution, Trend Hunting, Adaptive Innovation, and Infectious Messaging. We summarize some important takeaways from each tactic

Culture of Revolution

An organization’s culture underlies its ability to adapt and times of dramatic change magnify culture’s importance. Work to create the culture of change… of revolution. From this culture, you can spark a new paradigm for creative change from which your strategies will be derived.

Trend Hunting

Innovation and competitive advantage hinge on your effectiveness in anticipating trends and identifying the next big thing. Invest energy and continuously work to improve your abilities to anticipate the important imminent changes. Filter through all the noise and chaos, cull out the trends and identify the clusters of opportunities that will be created. Focus your teams’ creativity on the most important of these opportunities.