The CIPHER tool for trend identification

The CIPHER acronym for trend identification
The CIPHER acronym describes six indicators for identifying trends:
- Contradictions, those examples that demonstrate opposing or incongruous forces at play simultaneously
- Inflections, occurrences that mark a major turning point or establish a new paradigm
- Practices, emerging behaviors that are becoming more pronounced or gaining in popularity
- Hacks, inventive, unintended uses for tools, technologies and systems
- Extremes, instances of technologies, functions or concepts being pushed to new limits that might change the nature of their use
- Rarities, highly unlikely or unexpected events and phenomena.