Small data: the tiny clues that uncover huge trends by Martin Lindstrom

Includes bibliographical references and index.

I put this on my TBR list as soon as I heard it was coming. I respect Martin Lindstrom--he's well marketed and I've read Brandwashed and Buyology and while neither was life-altering, both showcased solid thinking.

So...I work with small data also, so I have an appreciation for it and powerful insights that can be drawn through patterns of small observations. Like him, I agree that big data doesn't spark insight and it favors analysis over emotion. I agree about the value of building anticipation and it being a lost art at the pursuit of delivering instant gratification. His point about respect brands versus loved brands...that's really smart and articulated well.

No question the author is bright, resourceful, and gifted; however, this book missed the mark for me.

With this book, his thinking has become a little too black box. Some of the conclusions he draws are a little mystifying as he goes from a to q without connecting dots. There's a sort of magical thinking here that touches closely to lack of logical discipline. We're to take his conclusions and truths as evident because he says so; however, there's no real way for the reader (or his clients) to challenge him because his truths are based on what he spots. And what he spots are small pieces of data that others typically miss or disregard as unimportant.

There were a couple of times where it was hard to figure out why he landed on a conclusion he did. With the evidence and observations shared, there could be several other valid hypotheses. For a natural storyteller, I wished for a little more meat to the story...a little more string to tie his thoughts together.