A bird’s eye view of the book
- This extraordinary book is of great interest to people concerned about the future of our world. The book draws a tentative roadmap to the near future, applying a systemic and holistic perspective.
- We highlight the underlying forces which are shaping our world. The aim is to prepare the reader for the tectonic shifts which are transforming the social and business landscape of the 21st century.
- The paradigm underlying this book can be summed up in one short sentence: “We are living in a world of transformation and the world tomorrow will be very different from the world today or the world of yesterday.” Unexpected changes, elements of chaos and increased levels of complexity will mark the transition towards this new world. Linear transformation is becoming an exception; nonlinear and novel situations are becoming facts of life.
- This book is an attempt to take a holistic look at the underlying tectonic shifts driving theses changes. It is not an easy task, and we will invite some of the world’s leading experts and specialists in the fields covered here to contribute to this volume, thus creating a virtual team spanning all continents. We hope that this team will give us insights and predictions that will form a coherent message.
- To get our hands around such a large and complex topic we have used the Advanced Key Issue Management (AKIM) framework, a framework which is reflected in the book’s structure. In this context, ‘key issues’ are defined as major problems, serious challenges, big issues, top priorities and important opportunities.