The 500-Year Delta: What Happens After What Comes Next [Hardcover]

James Taylor (Author), Howard Means (Author), Watts Wacker (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1997

The future is already prologue. Were in the midst of a sea of change in human history "The Five-Hundred-Year Delta" is a point in time when the three great rivers of thought that have shaped our culture (Reason, Market Economy, and Social Organization) converge as they come to their ends. This watershed period heralds a time of change so swift, so massive, that by century's end it will have swept away nearly the entire underpinnings of modern life. We will shift from a Reason-based mode of thought to a Chaos-based one; Producer-controlled markets will collapse into Demand-controlled ones; and our social, political, and economic organization will fracture.

Here to guide us through this turbulent time are futurist extraordinaire Watts Wacker and Jim Taylor. In The Five-Hundred-Year Delta, they share their insights and predictions about the coming Age of Possibility to help readers make the shifts in perception they need to make in order to survive and to give them the practical tools they need to stay one step ahead of everyone else. The book that will carry us into the next millennium, The Five-Hundred-Year Delta is mandatory reading for entrepreneurs, innovators, business professionals, and anyone else who doesn't want to merely live in the future, but wants to own it.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

As the Age of Reason nears its 500-year anniversary, the authors of The 500-Year Delta argue that our world is on the precipice of massive change. The authors, businessmen Jim Taylor and Watts Wacker, believe this transformation will manifest itself as a shift from reason-based to chaos-based logic; the collapse of producer-controlled consumer markets; and a splintering of social, political, and economic organization. In pithy phrases and thought-provoking chapters, they outline strategies to help companies and individuals succeed in the increasingly unpredictable future they describe. Taylor and Wacker are skilled at incorporating historical facts to support their ideas of how corporate societies and world communities will evolve. The book is designed to help business owners and private citizens understand every element of their complex world so that they can excel in a future the authors term the "Age of Possibility."

From Library Journal

With the new millennium nigh, futuristic books, even those for a business audience, are gaining in popularity. Like Walker J. Smith and Ann Clurman (Rocking the Ages, LJ 4/15/97), both Taylor and Wacker were staffers at the Yankelovich Monitor, though both have moved on, respectively, to a computer manufacturer and a think tank. In their own prophetic take, the authors follow the paths trodden by John Naisbitt, Patricia Aburdene, and Faith Popcorn, with some insights and twists that are distinctly their own. For example, they have constructed several unique models, including the Buddhist-based Four Noble Truths and Eightfold Path. Errors occur, such as a confusion between metaphysics and epistemology, but they are inconsequential. If nothing else, this work is an outstanding presentation and analysis of contemporary business situations. Offering a wealth of information with wit and style, it will appeal both to general readers and those focused on business.?Steven Silkunas, Southeastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority, Philadelphia
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Harperbusiness; 1st edition (June 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0887308384
• ISBN-13: 978-0887308383
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,905,732 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Well-intentioned, occasionally useful, but..., June 9, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (Sodom-on-the-Bay, California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The 500 Year Delta: What Happens After What Comes Next (Paperback)

You really have to approach this book with your baloney detectors on 'High.' There's a lot of excellent, insightful analysis on what's going on with the change 'jerk' (where 'jerk' is defined as the rate of change of the rate of change -- the acceleration of acceleration) of recent years, where changes in technology drive societal changes at an expanding pace. There's also a whole lot of unfocused hogwash and one-true-wayism; these kids take themselves quite seriously, in that bedrock way that people who think they *don't* take themselves too seriously sometimes do. You can sift through the bullpuckey to find a good haul of useful nuggetry, but if you swallow this book whole, you'll find that the sharp corners don't go down so easy.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting and insightful but overly wordy, April 12, 2001

By 

John K. Reed (Harrisburg, PA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The 500 Year Delta: What Happens After What Comes Next (Paperback)

In short the book could have been about 60% shorter. At times the hypothesis drawn are illuminating but very often the authors are spending entirely too much time to support their insights. My feeling is that anyone reading a book such as this doesn't necessarily need a whole lot of convincing as long as there is some sound rationale and telling examples to support the theories.

Having just completed the book I would recommend that anyone interested in picking up the book just look at the last 15 pages to get a sense of the nature of the book where the authors make predictions regarding the next 500 months and the next 500 years.

There are however some very keen insights on the power and use of technology (connectivity), tribalism, the role of corporations and government, business and social constructs, the importance of constant education, the nature of chaos, the power of the consumer... and almost all of this is addressed from primarily a marketing perspective.

There was very little that was written that I disagreed with but I feel like the same thing could have been said in many fewer words.

20 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Baloney warning, September 3, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The 500 Year Delta: What Happens After What Comes Next (Paperback)

I couldn't agree more with the reviewer from "Sodom-on-the-Bay." Beware authors whose self-esteem rests so strongly on their image as iconoclasts. Beware them particularly when they resort to "paradox" as an explanation for any line of reasoning that leaves them painted into a corner. On the other hand, these guys are trying to take a fresh look at business and marketing conundrums, and their stories often yield interesting insights which, unfortunately, they're not so great at articulating or generalizing from. Instead, they opt for sounding "deep" by claiming that the stories defy traditional analysis. A useful rule of thumb might be to skim any paragraph that deals in abstracts (high balderdash quotient there) and pay more attention to the anecdotes.