CoolSearch

There never has been a time when changes in taste, social outlook and lifestyle have been faster and more fundamental. Coolsearch shows that the revolution that is going on inside the workplace and that which is taking place in the marketplace are two sides of the same coin. Traditional divisions between work and play and between home and the office are being eroded. Twenties-somethings are using their mastery of new technology to transform product development, marketing and merchandising as consumers and ideas generation and decision making as workers.
But how can older companies with deeper vested interests and complex hierachies keep in touch with the needs generated by the new generation? Syrett and Lammiman show how street-wise market research, better use of technology, shorter decision making hierarchies, corporate venturing and bottom up leadership has helped a variety of seeming dinosaurs get abreast of the trends. Stories and case studies of companies such as IKEA, GMT, 3M, and L'Oreal and their championing the latest trends and thinking are throughout the book.
Coolsearch draws on original research by the authors on how new ideas are inspired and shaped in organisations as well as on interviews with leading thinkers in innovation including London Business School's Costas Markides, Strategos's Gary Hamel and Insead's W Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne. Acknowledgements.

PART ONE.

1. Cool Beginnings.

2. The Provenance of Cool.

3. Outside Cool.

4. Inside Cool.

5. Crux.

PART TWO.

6. Cool Leadership.

7. Managing Cool.

8. Brainstorming Cool.

9. Branding Cool.

Summary.

References.

Index.

?? a stimulatingly original book that goes far beyond previous analyses of youth phenomena such as Generation X and Generation Y.? (Director, May 2004)

?? one of its strengths is its practicality.? (Independent on Sunday, 16 May 2004)

??fascinating book..? (Professional Manager, September 04)

Jean Lammiman is a human resource development specialist whose career has spanned roles as a practitioner, academic researcher and consultant. She was Training Director at the International Stock Exchange and Management Development Director at Grand Metropolitan during a period of intense organisational change. She is a Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, Life Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and Fellow of the Institute of Directors.

Michel Syrett has written on a wide range of business issues over 20 years. His work has been published in, among others, The Financial Times, The Sunday Times, Management Today, Director, Asian Business and The South China Post, He has also conducted research on innovation and leadership for Cranfield School of Management and the University of Hong Kong.
Jean and Michel co-lead a research programme into innovation at work at the Roffey Park Institute. They are co-authors of twelve books and reports, most recently Successful Innovation, published by The Economist. Jean also led at Grand Metropolitan a marketing forum focusing on the global marketplace for leading brands such as Smirnoff, Haagen-Dazs and Burger King.

There has never been a time when changes in taste, social outlook and lifestyle have been faster or more fundamental - and Millenials, those born after 1980, are at the heart of the transformation. So how can companies use their insight into brands,technology and 24/7 living to keep up with the revolution that is happening in ther workplace and in the marketplace? Lammiman and Syrett give a fascinating insight into how street-wise market research, better use of technology, shorter decision making hierarchies, corporate venturing and bottom-up leadership will help to challenge and engage a new generation of workers and consumers who - unlike their predecessors - can walk away if they want to.

CoolSearch highlights five characteristics that define Millenials:

Intimacy - the ability to establish and sustain close relatonships over the internet

Loyalty - to their own closely guarded personal networks and, less consistently or reliably, to brands and employers

Awareness - of social issues inside and outside work, of the need for transparency and honesty and any hypocrisy in brand management or human resource strategies

Balance - in the interface between work and personal living their enthusiasm to embrace 24/7 lifestyles

Risk - in their openness to frequent change and their willingness to be open, flexible and mobile

Understanding how these characteristics impact on personnel and marketing orthodoxies is essential if companies are to bridge the generational divide. CoolSearch will hep identify the opportunities, threats and changes that are involved.

CoolSearch is a warning to all business seeking to attract the new generation of Millenials - those born after 1980 - as recruits and consumers. Millenials may have the same beliefs and behaviours as their teenage and twenty-something predecessors, but they are in a better position to fulfil their aspirations and chosen lifestyles and their ambitions may not include working for or buying into - you.

Yet the best of them have all the qualities, skills and characteristics your business needs. They have gripped a mouse for longer than they have held a rattle, they are brand-savvy and in terms of innovative lateral-mindedness, they have it in a way that other generations didn't. As Fast Company, bible of the dot-com business age put it: 'If you want your people to think outside the box, why not learn by working with people that don't know there is a box.'

You cannot afford to ignore Millenials. They will keep your business in touch and on the edge. To benefit from their fresh attitude to work and 24/7 living, you need to throw away the personnel and brand management rulebooks.

Millenials do not think the way you assume they do. CoolSearch will unlock their world for you.