Complicated Lives

Michael Willmott is co-founder of the Future Foundation, a consumer think-tank that advises organisations on emerging customer needs. He has 25 years experience as a researcher, analyst and forecaster and is a regular writer, presenter and media commentator on social, economic, political and technological change and its implications for business, government and society. His book Citizen Brands, recently published by John Wiley and Sons, deals with the dynamics of the relationship between companies and society and the implications for branding. William Nelson is Analysis Manager for nVision, the Future Foundation’s online social and consumer trends and forecasting service. In recent years, he has managed research projects for a number of major clients including a three-year programme of research for retail bank Abbey National on the subject of life’s complications. He is Editor of practioner papers for the Journal of Consumer Behaviour.

"...one of the best business books I have read in the past decade..." (Marketing Direct, Dec 05)

• ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. INTRODUCTION.Life could be easier.1 IT’S A COMPLICATED LIFE.Why is life becoming more complex?Technology and complexity.The manifestation of increasing complexity.Complicated times – understanding time and priorities.Navigating a complex world.2 THE NEW INDIVIDUALISM.The affluent society.A more demanding and marketing-literate consumer.Seeking fulfilment and experiences – the lure of cultural capital.Self-expression and ‘inconspicuous’ consumption.Wanting it all.Age and individualism.Managing in a world of individuals.3 THE ROUTELESS SOCIETY.The changing influence of institutions.The personalisation of authority (and the re-emergence of community?).Collaborative individualists.The growing importance of social capital.Life without a map.4 HUMAN CAPITAL AND THE NETWORK SOCIETY.Work and intellectual capital.Cultural capital.The three capitals.5 NEW LIFE COURSES, NEW CHALLENGES.From simple to complex life paths.From simple to complex (but enduring) families.The vertical family.The time of their lives.Anticipating transitions.6 TECHNOLOGY AND COMPLEXITY.Love and hate.The pace and breadth of change.Techno-determinism, complication and feature overload.More, and more complex, communications in the network society.The blurring of the boundaries between work, home and play.Looking ahead.7 THE CHOICE EXPLOSION.Drowning in choice?The choice explosion.How is today’s consumer handling choice?8 REGENDERING LIFE.Educational performance and earnings power.Women on top?Housework and shopping.Gender and finance.Who pays?Openness about finances: who controls the truth?Avoiding polemics.9 THE PARENTING CHALLENGE.Professional parenting verges on the paranoid.Professional parenting.Paranoid parenting.The negotiated family.Forever parents.Coping with complicated parenting.10 THE ANXIETY SOCIETY.The Fear Paradox.Myths of Social and Environmental Decline.Why is this happening?Worrying ourselves to death?11 COMPLICATED TIMES.The value of time.Overworked or not? Trends in paid work.Unpaid work – the chores of life.A life of leisure?The value of time.In search of happiness.Don’t discount time.12 NAVIGATING A COMPLEX WORLD.The happiness problem.Don’t believe the worst.Accept that we can’t control everything.Plan and prioritise.Try to assess the true value of your time.Don’t spend too much time choosing.Trust others.Use and choose technology selectively.Training, skills and networking tools.Final thoughts.NOTES.INDEX.