Laddering: Unlocking the Potential of Consumer Behavior

Preface

The only constant is change, continuing change, inevitable change, that is the dominant factor in society today. No sensible decision can be made any longer without taking into account not only the world as it is, but the world as it will be.

—Isaac Asimov

I LOVE TO travel. It’s the ultimate way to support my underlying need and desire for change—a new location every day, a new city to experience, new cuisine to try. My future self has no permanent address or day-to-day responsibilities. The world is a huge, ever-changing place that’s just too enticing for me to refuse. I absolutely must explore it, understand it, and consume it.

Until I can afford to hang it all up and travel the world endlessly, I have built a career that has supported my core need for something new, something different. The companies I have built or helped build have covered a wide range of industries and products. This experience has granted me a unique perspective and made me an expert witness to the dramatic and disruptive changes technology has had on how individuals work, live, play, and interact.

Unlike the typical stereotype of technically oriented people—who desire only to work heads down on coding or building something cool or new—I view technology as an enabler, a way to make life better and more efficient. I knew very early in my career that I wanted to understand both the technology as well as how its use affected or changed the world. But even with this slightly more open attitude toward ...