Are changes in behaviour purely built from being resourceful

Does the breaking ideas and trends in markets really just come from people being resourceful.

Asi wrote a post on his interest in courier cyclists and how they can have influence on the trends and fads. I often have thought about why trends and fads tend to come out of more bohemian style areas of cities which in turn tend to be some what poor (for a while anyway). I continually asked myself. Why do these people with no money help to drive the people with money. It was only when I was in South Africa in the townships (poorer black areas) that I started to realise what it was. Poorer people are a lot more resourceful with what they have. Its not about owning this and that so you can do this activity. Its often how can I do this activity with what I have. I particularly saw this with mobile phones in SA. A lot of kids actually used all the features on the phone.

What really blew me away was when I went into the back of this music store in Joburg to see this young guy with a pretty crap computer creating some awesome Jazzfusion beats. As well as when I spoke to the head of trends at one of the local radio stations who was talking a lot about 'bedroom producers' driving a huge amount of musical trends in the market. Fusing local african beats with electronic sounds and the more popular american groups.

So to be truly innovative should we restrict what we have available and look to be innovative with what we have. A TV show I used to watch when I was a kid was MacGyver. This guy seemed to be able to get himself out of any situation he was in, with his pocket knife and whatever was around him. He was resourceful and innovative with what he had. Designers often do this when creating prototypes. Making things out of whats around them.

Is this another reason that the credit crunch could in fact lead to more innovation. Because instead of just buying the next thing. People are being more resourceful with what they have. I have noticed that friends have started making interesting food in the kitchen as they try and limit the amount of food they are wasting. Could this be something for our future as we start to be more resourceful with everything, whether we have the money or not.

It sounds like it could be something interesting to look into. Im going to get out there and start looking more closely at what I have around me... and I how to could it in new ways