Customer Reviews

Navigating the Badlands: Thriving in the Decade of Radical Transformation

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Every few hundred years, the Western world takes itself apart and puts itself together again. Peter Drucker observed that this process of dissolution and reconstitution occurs so decisively that, afterward, people who live in the new world cannot even imagine the world of their parents or grandparents. Author Mary O'Hara-Devereaux believes that we are about three-quarters through a 75-year period of such disruptive innovation. She calls the transition "the Badlands." Like the barren Dakota Badlands of the Old West, they are a painful trial that makes or breaks people, and either way leaves them with a new sense of identity. The author identifies several distinct transitional pains for which she prescribes an equal number of palliatives. Her analyses and prescriptions can be thought provoking, though they are seldom trail blazing. While the book may be more smoke than fire, we find that smoke signals can be useful for the long-range vistas in the Badlands. (And, by the way, the author includes a chapter on China that seems almost as parenthetical as this sentence, though interesting enough. In reality, China looks like the pivot point of Badlands transitions, and how it comes through may affect how your neighborhood comes through, as well.)

I have tracked the global environment for over twelve years and have learned much more about this environment by reading Mary O'Hara-Devereaux's book. In my opinion, it's a must read for educators and business professionals.

Wow! I just discovered this book today. After downloading a sample to my Kindle, I found myself highlighting so many sentences that I immediately stopped and purchased the complete book. This issues and transformational strategies articulated in this book are still timely and perhaps more relevant than ever given the increasing volatility of global markets, rapid technological change, increasing globalization, high unemployment, political unrest, etc. I highly recommend.