ARTICLES AND REPORTS

Freedman, David H. 2005. The “Always On” Economy. Inc., June.

Synopsis: A host of new technologies is on the verge of creating a new, even faster-moving "always on" business culture, in which anyone anywhere can reach out and touch almost anyone or anything else—and not just in text, snapshots, or murky video. At first ding, this might sound like your worst nightmare, especially if you already grumble about our BlackBerry culture. In reality, though, the next wave of electronic connectivity may feel less invasive, and a lot more human, than the current one—especially to the employees, suppliers, and customers of companies that master it.

Goldenberg, Barton. 2005. The Consumer of the Future. CRM Magazine, May.

Synopsis: They number more than 150 million, more than 70 million of them from generation Y and the rest almost evenly split between generation X and younger baby boomers. They were born after 1956 and fall into the www generation. They rescued Apple; they prefer to check in at the airport using self-service machines; they use automated check-out registers at Home Depot or automated check-in devices at hotels. They've grown accustomed to using the Internet as their main way to get news, entertainment, and to do their shopping. They are comfortable with Web self-service and demand it from their suppliers. Most important, they will be the owners and senior executives of the industrial, consumer, and services companies that you will need to sell to and service.

Technology Review. May 2005. 10 Emerging Technologies.

Synopsis: O f the numerous technologies now in gestation at companies and universities, Technology Review magazine has chosen 10 that they think will make particularly big splashes. They're in early development, but they'll potentially transform the Internet, computing, medicine, energy, nanotechnology, and more.

Wilkinson, Lawrence. 1995. How to Build Scenarios. Wired, September 15.

Synopsis: Scenario planning derives from the observation that, given the impossibility of knowing precisely how the future will play out, a good decision or strategy to adopt is one that plays out well across several possible futures. To find that "robust" strategy, scenarios are created in plural, such that each scenario diverges markedly from the others. These sets of scenarios are, essentially, specially constructed stories about the future, each one modeling a distinct, plausible world in which we might someday have to live and work. Yet, the purpose of scenario planning is not to pinpoint future events but to highlight large-scale forces that push the future in different directions. It's about making these forces visible, so that if they do happen, the planner will at least recognize them. It's about helping make better decisions today.

World Future Society. 2002. The Future: An Owner’s Manual.

Synopsis: To meet the challenges of the future, we need to find out about what we can plausibly expect in the years ahead so we can understand what our options are. We can then set reasonable goals and develop effective strategies for achieving them. Many people believe it is impossible to know anything about the future, so the future can simply be ignored. This is a very serious mistake. It's true, of course, that we can know only a little about the future, but that little is extremely important, because a knowledge of the future—even when it's very uncertain—Is critical in making wise decisions, in both our professional and personal lives.

Zuboff, Shoshana. 2005. Preparing Kids for the Future Economy. Fast Company, July.

Synopsis: According to the Kaiser Family Foundation's latest report, kids ages 8 to 18 spend an average of six hours daily with electronic media (mostly TV, followed by computers, then video games) and less than half an hour reading books. This article examines how the things that kids do and pay attention to today will impact their preferences about work and life in the future.