As information thunders through the
digital economy, it’s easy to miss valuable
“weak signals” often hidden amid the
noise. Arising primarily from social media,
they represent snippets—not streams—
of information and can help companies
to figure out what customers want
and to spot looming industry and market
disruptions before competitors do.
Sometimes, companies notice them
during data-analytics number-crunching
exercises. Or employees who apply
methods more akin to art than to science
might spot them and then do some
further number crunching to test anom-
alies they’re seeing or hypotheses the
signals suggest. In any case, companies
are just beginning to recognize and
capture their value. Here are a few prin-
ciples that companies can follow to grasp
and harness the power of weak signals.