High School: A Teenage Stage of Change

For many North American teenagers, the transition into high school represents a period of transformation and change. A social environment with new rules, structures and social experiences, high school can have a profound influence on teen motivations and behavior.

“When you first go to high school you’re more careful. You don’t want older kids making fun of you. You’re entering a new place. It’s different. I have shirts I wear in public but not in school. I don’t want people to think I’m weird.” – Teen Girl (2012)

The Science of Environmental Change

Research has found that environments can have a major bearing on human behavior. When living in a known environment, human actions have a tendency to become habitual (i.e. repeated without awareness). However, when an environment change occurs it can create a 'window of opportunity' in which habits are more likely to be considered.

"I started feeling insecure because it was a new school. You pay attention to those things that you can change; like what you eat, the clothes you wear, you can even change your personality. In elementary school everything was perfect. I'd wear sweatpants, but in high school I wear skirts.” – Teen Girl (2012)

The High School Stage of Change

The teenage transition into high school provides an excellent example of how environmental change can impact behavior. From food to fashion, entering high school can cause teens to re-evaluate many of their behaviors - which is what makes it an important stage of change.

Standard Deviations: Where Market Trends Emerge

In business a lot of effort is spent exploring the middle of the market - whether it's understanding what the average person wants, or the mid-point of customer behavior, we search in the middle because it appears to offer the greatest marketing opportunity.

The middle has size, the middle has scale, and focusing on the middle fulfills a deep human desire for safety and security.

Like many other animals, human beings often gravitate to the middle of a pack during times of danger because in the middle they feel less vulnerable to predators and external threats.

This same pattern of behavior can be observed in organizations when executives focus their attention on the middle of a market whilst ignoring patterns of behavior on the edges. Being in the middle seems safer.

However, when it comes to discovering trends and opportunities the middle of the market is the worst place for companies to focus.

It's not from the middle of the market that trends emerge but rather on the edges, as standard deviations in behavior that eventually become the average. The edges are dynamic and niche but make no mistake, it's from the edges that trends emerge.

So if businesses want to become more innovative, they need to move away from the safety of the middle and invest more time exploring the edges. Because hidden in standard deviations are future market trends and opportunities waiting to emerge.

PS. Thanks Pacific Planning for bouncing these idea around with me last month.