Inevitable Surprises

In this summary you will learn

• How two great singularities - agriculture and the industrial revolution - shaped the past
• What singularity may shape the future, in terms of a few possible scenarios
• How to conceive of the future and prepare

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Why you should read Inevitable Surprises

Change is no news. The great changes that will alter the commercial, political and demographic workings of the world are already underway and some of their consequences are quite predictable, says author Peter Schwartz. He outlines a variety of the more important changes, particularly in places such as China and India, and limns scenarios that represent possible futures. Perhaps this sort of book is inevitable at the turning of a century, of a millennium. The author, in fact, compares his work to predecessors at the end of the nineteenth century. Although some of his predictions fall far short of shocking - for example, global warming and aging populations are hardly undiscovered issues - the exercise of thinking about scenarios and preparing strategies is a good one. The book is also entertaining, because Schwartz writes with a light hand and a casual style. getAbstract.com believes this book would be a good airplane read. It would certainly be appropriate for a long flight, since air travel contributes to some of the more important changes the author discusses. And, if you read it, the time will fly.

About the Author

Peter Schwartz is cofounder and chairman of Global Business Network, part of the Monitor Group, and is a partner in the venture capital firm Alta Partners. He is the author of The Art of the Long View; and co-author of The Long Boom and When Bad Companies Do Good Things. He lives in California and has advised filmmaker Steven Spielberg on possible futures.