Introduction

You might find my line of work exotic, adventurous, or even a little eccentric, but ultimately I’m just trying to figure out what makes people tick.

A large part of my job is to spot and decode the little things that most people take for granted—something that many of the world’s most distinguished companies will pay handsomely to understand. The work might have me attending Sunday church services in Utah; walking the aisles of a big-box do-it-yourself store in the Tokyo suburbs; or rising at the crack of dawn to document how a suburban street wakes up and reveals itself to the world.

Other times I’m looking to the extremes and to the future, engaging in activities that help me to better understand the outliers that may someday become ...

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