Turning the Future Into Revenue: What Business and Individuals Need to Know to Shape Their Futures (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "Demography is destiny..." (more)
Key Phrases: United States, Social Security, Three-Cone Model (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

“It was clear, well-written, and the points followed logically from each other.” (Long Rang Planning, July 2007)

"...clear, well written...we can thoroughly recommend the book as it covers an important topic in an informed way." (Long Range Planning, 40/2007)

“We can thoroughly recommend the book as it covers an important topic in an informed way”. (Long Range Planning , March 2008)

Product Description

DISCOVER THE FUTURE OF BUSINESS

In Turning the Future into Revenue, Glen Hiemstra, founder of Futurist.com and noted expert on emerging business opportunities, explores how our changing world will transform private enterprise and public policy. From shifting demographics to global warming to new energy policies, change is coming. Turning the Future into Revenue shows how these new realities can be turned into profitable new ventures.

Some of the topics Hiemstra discusses include:

• Five long-term trends you should be prepared for
• Global warming and the urgent need for green business
• Profiting from technology and energy trends
• Predicting the future of your business or career
• Hedging your bets on future business
• Ten key practices of the future-oriented enterprise
• Future planning exercises, tools, and activities
• Tactics for forecasting the future
• Shaping your career for future success

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Wiley (July 28, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471792934
• ISBN-13: 978-0471792932
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #298,884 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars On the Future, August 19, 2006

By	M. Safford (Rhode Island, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

There are actually three different but interrelated stories woven together in Glen Hiemstra's very topical "Turning the Future into Revenue: what Businesses and Individuals Need to Know to Shape Their Futures". The first story explains how an organization - be it a company, government agency or non-profit - can do a better job of positioning itself to manage successfully whatever future world may occur by applying several carefully crafted tools and methods. The second story offers similar advice to individuals to apply these same tools and methods to preparing themselves personally for the future. In reality, the key to both of these approaches is the realization that through our own actions and choices we are constantly all creating the future, so we might as well do so in a positive and insightful manner rather than randomly.

The third story offers Glen's own personal perspective on the primary events, developments and trends (or EDTs) that will shape all of our futures, and how to start adapting today to take advantage of them. In particular, two concepts stand out. The first concept is the very real threat that global warming and pollution pose to the environmental balance of the planet and why reversing this threat now will both help us survive as a species and provide remarkable business opportunities as well. The second concept is the importance of equity; of sharing the abundance of income, goods and services, education and information that our modern high-tech global economy can generate more widely across the world's populations. Doing so successfully will defuse many potential friction points before they have a chance to emerge and create even greater problems for the world, particularly if this resentment feeds into fundamentalist movements of any ideology. Glen ends his volume with a stirring cry that we "start the twenty-first century all over again" (p. 210) and return to a spirit of optimism that can make a better future for the entire planet. After all, "[t]he future is something we do." (p. 211)

I highly recommend this volume to anyone who is curious about the future and how to prepare for it both personally and for the organizations to which they belong. I recommend it even more emphatically to those who do not now think about the future; after reading this book they will quickly realize how vital it is to do so. It is definitely worth the time.

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing paradigm shift, October 11, 2007

By	K. Okazaki - See all my reviews

I can't stop thinking about this book! It's readable, entertaining, and brimming with incredibly astute insights and ideas. Overall, I had an amazing paradigm shift because of it.

As a future expert, Hiemstra describes both obvious and unobvious features of the future - like the population, oil, aging, nanotechnology, etc. That part of the book is fascinating and a great read in itself. But instead of just describing possibilities and probabilities, he explains how we create the future, and how the future in turn creates the present. That's where it really gets interesting. He even explains how to "be your own futurist," and how to create your career based on where the future is. It's truly inspiring. I was one of those people who never bothered to think about 15 or 20 years down the road, but now I realize that I MUST think about it. Honestly, this book changed my life. Very exciting!

Definitely check out this book. Even though the title is about profiting from the future, this book isn't just about profit, it's really about creating the world we want for ourselves (and creating some wealth while we're at it) - as individuals, and as a society. Highly recommended.

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A "Must Have" For Leaders, November 16, 2006

By	Mark C. Howell (Southern California) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is a GREAT book! While Part One is both interesting and helpful, Part Two is fantastic and totally relevant for all of us. The detailed explanation of a three-stage process for preferred future planning is absolutely worth the price of the book! There is a diagram in chapter 5 that will definitely become a permanent fixture in my white board planning exercises. Anyone leading an organization into the future will benefit from the ideas here. Turning the Future Into Revenue will help you learn to develop foresight, choose a future direction, and then decide on strategy. Fantastic!