Future, Inc.: How Businesses Can Anticipate And Profit from What's Next

By Eric Garland

Foreword by Joseph Coates In the next 50 years, new technologies, shifting global economics, and many other factors will present innumerable changes for business and society to navigate. Starting now,... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0814408974
• ISBN13: 9780814408971
• Release Date: January 2006
• Publisher: Amacom Books
• Length: 264 Pages
• Weight: 1.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.3" x 1.0" x 6.5"
• Age Range: 17 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 12 and higher

Customer Reviews

It's really worth every penny!

Fantastic book! Very interesting and well written. Connects directly "future studies" with "strategic planning". Introduces the concept of System Thinking, analizes trends and go through scenario generation, all ilustrated by good cases.

Future Inc

After hearing the author speak on a panel about the future, I decided to buy his book. And what a fabulous book it is! Displaying in-depth knowledge, and conveying it in an entertaining and clear manner usually don't go together. That is what makes this book a great read. If you like ideas, thinking about them, exploring them, etc., then you will love this book.

What is the Secret Sauce to Being a "Visionary" Thinker

Highly recommended reading for anyone. It contains important ideas. I think about its relevance, particularly in light of the news [daily] about an upcoming Recession. While this may tend to put us in knee-jerk reaction-mode, thinking about what we have to do presently in reaction to the possible conditions of the next 12-18 months; it is actually now more than ever that we need a framework for thinking about what is on the 10-20 year horizon. If you could effectively do that [i.e., build the scenario for 10-20 years out, and alter your current plans accordingly], imagine how far ahead of your competition you would be -- in business and in life.

Business Storytelling in the Future

I was attending a social event and bumped into Eric Garland. His ideas of the future intrigued me enough to buy my own copy of Future Inc. After reading his book, I have come to learn that the study of the future is its own discipline. Studying the future can help organizations "profit from what's next." Truly, the future is something all of us should be thinking about more. I travel the country speaking and consulting on topics that help organizations build stronger and more profitable relationships. Meeting thousands of individuals and hearing their stories, many folks are singly focused on the short-term gains. This focus makes them miss many important direct and indirect trends and forces. Garland suggests and I agree, that we should use a model to capture the trends and forces. He recommends using the STEEP model (society, technology, economics, ecology, and politics) along with scenarios. Scenarios portray various futures to help decision makers understand the direct and indirect trends and forces that shape their own organizational stories. Page 27 sums this concept nicely, "When you think about a problem or anything else, no matter how complex, take it apart. If it's a product, find out where its supplies or components came from, who participated in its creation, and where it all began. If you can see all parts of the system, then you have a much better chance of seeing where the next change will come from." I appreciate the thorough approach to the study of the future along with the practical tools you can use today. I especially enjoyed chapters 5 (Strategic Implications: What the Future Means to You), 6 (Scenario Generation: Drawing a Picture of the Future), and 7 (Communicating the Future--Even to the Skeptical).

A MUST-HAVE FOR EVERY BUSINESS OWNER!

The start of this book hits it right on the head- no company wants to be the record industry, one day suing its customers. If they had seen into the future, they (record companies) would have known what trouble they were heading for, and turned that trouble into profit. This book teaches you how to think critically about the future as it relates to your business. It should be required reading in business schools. Great writing and clear tips for success make it stand out from boring business books.