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The difference between a trend and a disruptive shift

While both trends and shifts are emergent opportunity spaces and relevant for business, there is a key and significant difference. Trends are tendencies that will increase in strength and begin to spread. Disruptive shifts, by comparison, are fundamental changes to how we live and work that will disrupt the scaffolding of both business and society. For sure there is overlap, but disruptive shifts include only the subset of trends that displace or change what was in existence.

The agents of change in society – mobility, social networks, wealth of personal data, are fundamentally changing business.

Societal shifts change the way designers think and work.

Societal shifts change the way in which new businesses are created.

Example of disruptive shifts:

- The shift from ownership to access (source EPIC 2011)

- The shift from ownership economy to participatory service networks

Disruptive shifts lead to many opportunity spaces, examples:

- The personal data ecomony