"The slower you move, the faster you die!“

Our life has changed dramatically, and it keeps changing. Developments which used to take 100 hundreds are now completed in five years. This acceleration governs all aspects of our life and is one of the most significant developments of our time. Technical advancement makes everything go faster and faster - eating, sleeping, life, work, recreation, even retirement and dying. On the other hand, the need for a slow-down is growing, there is a demand for deceleration - the romantic desire for a different world.

New types of food, a far cry from traditional meals, to fast food and drink foods, reduce the time required for eating to virtually zero. "Power naps between working sessions are attempts at reducing sleep requirements: short snoozes are the new message, be it in the office or in parks. Outsourcing, self-service and automation accelerate professional and private procurement processes.

New behavioural patterns

Entirely new characteristic body postures at computers or iPads are a challenge for architects and furniture designers. Consumers in the digital age are multifunctional – as users, thinkers, tenants, test persons, sharers, resellers, drivers, swappers, co-workers or manufacturers. Possession becomes less important, many things are available without the need to buy them.

But above all, we are seeing new behavioural patterns emerge. This includes the desire for immediate reward and satisfaction - delayed pleasure is rejected. You can see it and you want it now– including discounts. And we are also seeing decision fatigue due to constant time pressure and ending disposable income. And third: the speed of greed, consumers quickly develop desires and want to satisfy these uninhibited. Fourth: the "Stickiness Factor": the time gained easily dissipates in apps which leap at us from smartphones and stick to us - or we to them.

Systematic creativity

David Bosshart has several recommendations for developing one's own creativity despite this tremendous activity. First of all, avoid infobusity!" Excess information absorption limits creative energy. Simplicity is the name of the game. There are two speeds in the creative process: the first is fast, automatic, intuitive and largely involuntary, the second is slow, deliberate, conscious, focussed.

It is easy to guess which speed Bosshart prefers. Fast, intuitive decisions are required in daily routine programmes, information overflow is not helpful, it tends to restrict. To accelerate creativity he presented an extensive checklist for speedier thinking, communication, decision and action.
Speedier thinking: find micro-trends, foresee the next big waves, continuous brainstorming, no limits to collecting, refinement of algorithms, let the best ideas win.
Faster communication: focus on emerging markets, travel, external contacts and supporting language competence, use strong AND poor connections, intercultural experience, immediate collection of insights, allowing others to share.
Faster decisions: get rid of excessive bureaucracy, focus on ensuring that the right people share their knowledge, trust among all partners of the supply chain, facilitate all kinds of diversity-learning, face the challenge through a "court jester".
Quicker action: maintain the entrepreneurial spirit of small and middle-sized companies, support proponents of changes, employ outsiders and permanent "migrants" (people who have gained business experience in different countries) simplify exchange processes, manage creativity, seek financial flexibility, make comparative evaluations.

All these will result in completely new professions. The reason: new job profiles are important to find new ideas, products or business models in ever shorter processes. "Are you creative? Can you imagine?", asks Bosshart and lists: "Director of Mind and Mood, Vice President of Cool, Chief Imagination Officer, Visualiser; Assistant Storyteller, Manager of Diversity, Supply Chain Inefficiencies Detector, Taste Maker Support, Alternative Currency Banker, Societing Strategist, Deconsulting Advisor, Talent Aggregator, Digital Identity Planner."

Desires of the future

"What is sexy in a fast world", asks Bosshart "where virtuality dominates, where transparency is virtually guaranteed, where pornos are background music, availability is no longer a topic, where friends are mass goods and everything is more or less public?"

The answers he provides, show a world of magical attraction which successful products will require in the future: the new fascination of mystique, the desire of pleasurable anticipation, the power of forgiveness, the cult of authentic loyalty, the eroticism of tranquillity, the thrill of switching off, the gift of feeling remorse and - quite surprisingly - the learning experience of things unpleasant.

The current change is highly complex and we all need to adjust to this new totality.

The experience of packaging

Packaging has the big advantage that it comes closest to the desire for revelation, and the desire of living with secrets. Those who package well (sustainably!) and nicely (for soul and feelings) will always have opportunities for gaining people. The cartonboard industry therefore needs to do two things better: first, continue to nurture the good (sustainability) so that people can enjoy without regrets, and secondly, promote the nice aspects (whatever feelings and soul enjoy). For the fast consumer this mean the intelligent offering of convenience packaging, for the slow consumer it means making the shopping experience in the store more intensive and extensive through packaging.

Link Duttweiler-Institut
Link ECMA-Kongress