Discussion Questions
Finding the Trends that Matter: Get Your Environmental Scan On
- My library has a small budget and we never get anything we ask for anyway. Why should we care about what’s happening six months from now let along things that might happen five years from now?
- How often should we conduct an environmental scan and a SWOT analysis? Are these annual activities? More often? Less often? Why?
- Many school libraries in local districts are being closed or severely limited by budget cutbacks? We’re a public library that is likely to feel the effects of this. Some staff see this as a threat but I think there are opportunities. What do you think we should do with this if we were doing a SWOT analysis?
- I recall seeing a segment on Nightline a few years ago about a company that used design thinking to do their work, but I can’t remember the name or details. Do you know what I’m referring to, and what was the company? Could you tell me more about it and how it can relate to my public library?
- I’d like to be the "trendspotter" for my library, but I’m worried that the trends I spot will be the wrong ones. Any advice for someone who’d like to give this a try?
- Isn’t being a futurist a bit of a scam? If you make predictions and those things never happen, who will care or even notice? What is a "futurist" anyway?
- Steven Bell always says library workers should keep with this and that. Now he says we should keep up with business trends. When am I supposed to find the time for this when I can barely keep up with my work? Why bother?
- I’d like to do an ethnographic study of my user community, and get managers and staff on board. How do I get started and how can I garner support?
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