The Bill Cunningham Eye
New York Times photographer and videographer Bill Cunningham – a regular in the streets from New York to Paris – is known for noticing subtle shifts that foreshadow soon to be global fashion trends. He’ll quietly weave through the streets in his blue lab coat and on his bicycle, taking his pictures and recognizing great style.
As Anna Wintour – editor of American Vogue and Creative Director of Condé Nast – says about Bill: “I sometimes will look at his pages in the Times or online and be so amazed that he and I and all of my team and all the rest of the world, we’re all sitting in the same fashion shows, but he sees something on the street or on the runway that completely missed all of us and in 6 months time, you know, that will be a trend.”
http://www.nytimes.com/video/on-the-street/
Entrepreneurs can learn a great deal about the subtleties of their potential customers by adopting the quiet observational stealth of Bill Cunningham. By constantly keeping an eye on the relevant ‘street,’ by being open to seeing new patterns and by keeping themselves out of the picture, entrepreneurs can get a much better handle on market whims and needs.
Bill’s Words Of Wisdom
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5TUCmAWl9g
Your Street
A. What can you learn from Bill Cunningham’s approach specifically.
B. In what environment would you place yourself to quietly observe and keep current on where your future customers are going and what they might need?
C. How can you keep yourself from the self-confirmation bias, that is noticing what you want to notice?