Cycles: How We Will Live, Work, and Buy (Hardcover)

by Maddy Dychtwald (Author) "We are at the dawn of a LifeCycle revolution..." (more)
Key Phrases: cyclic careers, cyclic society, more cyclic approach, United States, Social Security, San Francisco (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Dychtwald runs Age Wave, a consulting firm specializing in teaching clients how to sell to baby boomers and mature adults, two rapidly merging categories. As life expectancies continue to grow, boomers are staying active and, Dychtwald argues, rapidly replacing the 18-to-34 demographic as the prime force driving the economy. She shows how they're defying conventional wisdom about growing old in the arenas of work and leisure, as well as with relationships and the concept of retirement. Although her cultural references are up-to-date, her conclusions seem at least five years behind the times, e.g., her idea that people are getting remarried and starting second families is already a cliche. People who worked for dot-coms in the mid-'90s or found themselves out of a dot-com job by 2001 already know the importance of developing new skills to shift to a second or third career. Likewise, the "self-responsibility and empowerment" trend she sees in Americans' personal health regimes should come as no surprise to anyone familiar with the increased interest in everything from yoga to gingko pills. Boil it all down, and here's what you've got: previous generations had a "midlife crisis," but boomers have put a positive spin on the process and "reinvent" themselves. It's no wonder Dychtwald finds herself repeatedly defending the "Me Generation" against the specter of narcissism. The book sets itself up as a successor to Gail Sheehy's "important but increasingly obsolete" Passages, but it is already behind the times itself.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review
Jeffrey J. Fox Author of How to Become CEO If the success of your business depends on getting and keeping the best employees, you must read this book. -- Review

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Free Press (February 4, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743226143
• ISBN-13: 978-0743226141
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #974,324 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 From an Ageless Perspective, February 14, 2003

By A Customer

Maddy Dychtwald has written a powerful and insightful analysis of modern American lifestyles that turns many of our traditional assumptions about successful marketing upside down. In Cycles, her comparison between the "linear" view of life from our grandparents' generation and the new "cyclic" patterns of life today profoundly changes how we view business decisions as well as our own lives. I found her chapter on emerging workforce trends particularly fascinating, with its provocative forecasts for free agent labor and cyclic careers. And her argument is convincing! The old attachments and expectations about life at a certain age are out. What is in? A spirit for personal reinvention at every age and unexpected business opportunities a thousand times over in the second half of life.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Cyclic Lifestyle Provides Exciting Opportunites, February 13, 2003

By	Sandra Dorman (Oakland Ca United States) - See all my reviews

"Cycles", is an enticing, informative book with a positive message for an aging population.The book provides the Baby Boom generation with insight on leading a cyclic lifestyle instead of the linear one of past generations. This new lifestyle approach provides Boomers with a plethora of opportunites for living, working, and buying. Ms. Dychtwald assures us that we are living longer and healthier and that we can continue to have challenges, adventures and interesting career opportunites throughout our lives.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars An optimistic view of a changing society, August 24, 2004

By	Winston Kotzan (Chicago) - See all my reviews

"Cycles" is about how newer generations of Americans are living a different pattern of life than their parents. In contrast to the linear life pattern of education first, followed by marriage, career, and retirement, newer generations are juggling this process by restarting their life cycle at later ages. This cyclic pattern of life enables people to experience new ideas and interests. College education is no longer just for people in their late teens and early twenties, more people wed several times in their life, and no longer is retirement permanent. This redefinition of life affects the way people structure their families and purchase services.

This book is interesting because is provides a unique thesis of its kind. Although much of the information is derived from demographics, the reader is not bombarded with meaningless statistical numbers.

However, this book has some major flaws. I feel that it is too optimistic about the cyclic life pattern. It does not investigate problems associated with this radical lifestyle, such as the impact divorce has children. At times it makes changing careers sound quite simple. Most importantly, each chapter has a segment on "Buying Implications." Many of the ideas presented align very well with the cyclic lifestyle, but I feel few of the ideas present potential long lasting, stable industries.

The focus is almost exclusively for the Baby Boomer generation, which would probably make it an interesting read for any Baby Boomer. It does provide some food for thought on future buying trends. Best of all, reading this book may even help you out of a midlife crisis!