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Powerful Times

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Powerful Times

Anticipating an Uncertain Decade that Will Decide the 21st Century

Wharton School Publishing,

15 min read
10 take-aways
Audio & text

What's inside?

Environmental and economic change no longer respect national boundaries. Think globally – and act globally.

Editorial Rating

8

Qualities

  • Comprehensive
  • Innovative
  • Scientific

Recommendation

Eamonn Kelly’s predictions aren’t as simple as those offered by some futurists, but that’s because he’s trying to be realistic about the complexity of "powerful times." And while Kelly’s ideas aren’t simple, they are clear. You can take any one of his predictions, such as the growing importance of water or the rise of consciousness about the sacred, and work through the implications for business and home life. In fact, Kelly explicitly asks readers to do so. His afterword poses a series of questions about how individuals and organizations are experiencing the changes he enumerates and invites readers to share their ideas within their organizations and on his Web site. Kelly emphasizes that humanity has just begun to feel the effects of many of the high-profile changes of recent decades, and that they haven’t yet worked their way through the global economy. If the book has a weakness, it is that it’s so focused on the United States. Kelly’s treatment of Western ideals in general, and of U.S. military and political aims, seems to take America’s self-image for granted. getAbstract recommends Kelly’s book to policy wonks, executives involved in change management and, in general, anybody seriously planning for the future.

Summary

"Powerful Times"

Today is a time of great "cognitive dissonance," as popular notions about the world seem less and less relevant to what’s actually happening. Complexity and ambiguity seem to be constantly increasing. Policymakers face questions with sweeping implications: How real a threat is global warming? Will terrorism spread? How can anyone tell? What is the solution?

Contemporary problems are rooted in past solutions. For example, the nation-state, the organizational structure that dominates today’s political landscape, is not natural and inevitable. Rather, it arose out of the historical forces of the Renaissance and Enlightenment periods. Because today’s threats are not confined within national boundaries, responding to them will require new forms of political organization.

Making sense of the current period requires new assumptions. Western science and ideology have an "either/or" orientation that says one choice or the other is true - not both. Yet today, contradictions abound. These are the best of times: material wealth and average life spans are rising; creativity and new ideas are proliferating. These are also the worst of times: human beings have...

About the Author

Eamonn Kelly is CEO of Global Business Network (GBN), and co-author of What’s Next? Exploring the New Terrain for Business and The Future of the Knowledge Economy.


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