Review
“. . . recommend [Megatrends 2010] to anyone who believes that business is more than just business.” — USA TODAY”. . .the book challenges conventional wisdom and opens the floodgates to the next paradigm to shake the planet.” — Economic Development Futures Journal”One of the foremost trend trackers in the United States.” — Christian Science Monitor”The Megatrends books have become a kind of self-fulfilling prophecy: they not only identify significant trends, but…
Buy Megatrends 2010: The Rise of Conscious Capitalism at Amazon
In their 1982 title Megatrends, Patricia Aburdene and her former husband John Naisbitt talked about the birth of the Information Economy; in Megatrends 2000, published in 1990, they predicted the networked, technology-driven Internet era. The coming megatrend, Aburdene asserts, will not be driven by external, social, or technological forces so much as “the internal dimension of change” that will reinvent free enterprise. And she’s predicting that this spiritual megatrend will take firm hold of the American way of business by, say, 2010.
In seven chapters the book identifies the major facets of the new megatrend, including:
* The Power of Spirituality – From Personal to Organizational
* The Dawn of Conscious Capitalism
* Leading from the Middle
* Spirituality in Business
* The Values-Driven Consumer
* The Wave of Conscious Solutions
* The Socially Responsible Investment Boom
Along the way, Aburdene offers many intimate portraits of the people behind the spiritual evolution in business, from meditating CEOs to value-driven consumers and socially responsible investment counselors. In “Leading from the Middle,” Aburdene suggests that conscious capitalism will spell an end to the era of high-profile CEOs who are outrageously overpaid not only to provide symbolic leadership of corporations, but to take virtually all the credit and blame for their companies’ fortunes.
The question is what this and all the other “conscious capitalism” trends really portend for the future of American commerce. To Patricia Aburdene, this future will be one in which “the spiritual transformation of capitalism” will shift the American way of doing business “from greed to enlightened self-interest, from elitism to economic democracy, from the fundamentalist doctrine of `profit at any cost’ to the conscious ideology that espouses both money and morals.” If the author is overly optimistic, one hopes that she’s not too far off the mark. In a time when natural disasters and accelerating environmental decline are colluding with exceptional political ineptitude to stress the great American experiment as never before, it might just be the approaching enlightenment of capitalism that illuminates a sane, sustainable path ahead for us all. — From the Fearless Spotlight Review by D. Patrick Miller
I’ve been a fan of the MegaTrend series since the beginning.. but was apprehensive when I saw that John Naisbitt was not involved in this book.
Even while reading, I kept thinking.. this isn’t what I expect from a Megatrends book.
Despite this disconnect.. and especially upon further reflection, I’ve found that MegaTrend 2010 has indeed followed the major trends and is very appropriate for today.
Amazing research is sited showing that more and more people are expecting good corporate citizenship. Aburdene tells us this proves Milton Friedman wrong “A corporation exists for the benefit of it’s shareholders”… though I’d compromise and say that now “A corporation exists to benefit it’s shareholder according to their current values”
Besides, several examples are cited where a corporation doing the right thing MAKE MORE PROFIT. That’s got to benefit the shareholders.
This is one of the trends. Thought provoking, important issues for our time, and great for planning ahead.
If you’re going to be around for a few years… read this book.
An informative and inspiring read overall. As the extended title states, the book traces the rise of trends in workplace, lifestyle and relationship to investments that promise to align the world closer to “spirit”. The author cites numerous examples of the trends and quotes leaders in the emerging movements, both from their writings and from personal interviews. This is a very well researched book and the author makes full use of her level of access to make leaders and experts come across intimately.
The tone is at times too colloquial and it detracts a little from what is being discussed, however, the general effect is still convincing. I should mention that I had just read Naomi Klein’s No Logo before picking up Megatrends 2010. I’d have to contrast the two by saying that the Klein book hit like a ton of bricks and was very tightly crafted but left me feeling numb and powerless while I took Megatrends lightly at first, it pushed me further into believing in social change through business and wanting to take part in it. A valid critique of Megatrends is that it does not expose and confront the dark side of capitalism, or, more generically the world, but rather seems to dance around it a bit.
The power of this book and its contribution will truly be reflected in the changes and actions it will inspire in the readers. In addition to talks with visionary CEO’s and founders, Patricia emphasizes the quiet leadership and influence that middle managers and everyday consumers can have over even our global economy. After finishing it, you will know that it is ok to dream of a better world and that there are facts also on the side of your faith. No entrepreneur or manager who stands up for what they believe is right will feel that they are standing alone.