This has been a year of extremely productive writing for me. Long-time readers of this column may question that statement, as I’ve had less columns here in 2012 than in prior years. Why is that? Over the last twelve months, I have been writing a book.
“Entering the Shift Age” is a deep look into the new age we are now in. Five years ago, in “The Shift Age,” I wrote about the Three Forces of the Shift Age and the fact that humanity was about to enter a new age. The goal of that book was to announce this new age and to prepare readers for the incredible changes it would bring.
Five years later, it is clear that we are now fully in the Shift Age. The Three Forces of the Shift Age have shown their redefining powers and many forecasts have proven true.
A New World, Five Years Later
Think of all that has happened since late 2007. Think about what was going on at that time: your thoughts, your communications, your outlook on work, your profession, the global economy, your investments, how you consumed media. Think of the technology you thought was cutting edge in 2007. Compare that to how you view these subjects today.
In 2007, I said that humanity would be entering a five-year long reorganizational recession. We were between the end of the Information Age and its underlying constructs and the beginning of the Shift Age and the new dynamics now here or coming into view.
CEOs all over the world have told me that this outlook was the first and best context for them to more fully understand why so much of the “great recession” or the “global financial crisis” was unprecedented and hard to navigate. Old models no longer worked. Old ways of thinking went out the window. We weren’t in Kansas – let alone the Information Age – any longer.
What’s This New Book All About?
“Entering the Shift Age” is an explanation of this new age, a guide to how to navigate it, a directional map to what lies ahead and a path to new ways of thinking and looking at the world.
In Parts One and Two, I revisit, update and deepen the look at why we are in this new age. A fresh look at the Three Forces of the Shift Age confirms not only their power, but also how deeply they have changed the world. The massive changes they have initiated have even gone beyond some of the forecasts and predictions made five years ago.
In Part Three, I look deeply into the Transformation Decade 2010-2020, a topic familiar to long time readers of this blog and to audiences around the world. It is in this decade that legacy thought is falling away, change has become environmental and new trends and dynamics are becoming clear. I look at some of the emerging trends that are in rapid development and why.
In Part Four, I set forth the Five Contexts of the Shift Age. In the Shift Age, “context is king.” We live in an ever more contextual world. These five contexts will be the largest ones that will increasingly shape our thinking. I also take a specific look into the future of numerous areas of humanity: Shift Age generations, the ascendency of women, education, energy, technology, health and medicine, big data, IP and power.
Due to the new and unique way “Entering the Shift Age” is being published [see below], you can sample any subject of Part Four that is of interest to you.
“Entering the Shift Age” is my best book about all aspects of our collective future. If you would like to learn more about the book or order it, please go here for a video and more information. The publish date for the book is 1/1/13, but you can go to the landing page to pre-order now. You can also sample any part of the book in mini-Ebook form.
A New Publishing Model
As a futurist, I was conflicted five years ago when I wanted to have a book published. I knew at the time – and this was pre-kindle – that book publishing as we knew it was about to be transformed and, to some degree, digitally disintermediated.
Five years later, I am able to publish “Entering the Shift Age” in a new model, in a way that I think we will see successful models for the future of book publishing.
The publisher is Sourcebooks and they share my vision to redefine, at least with this model, a different way to publish a book. The Agile Publishing Model is unique, participatory, provides partial purchase of content and brings my book to market faster than most traditional models: something certainly important to a futurist!
A number of you participated in the first stage, which was to provide feedback to me for each of the four parts of the book. The second stage, which is now, is the publishing of 12 mini-Ebooks that will all be published before the full book is available on January 1. This will allow anyone to start reading the book right away, to immediately read the parts of the future that interest them or just inexpensively sample the book before choosing to purchase.
Again, here is the page with more information about “Entering the Shift Age.”