Standing on the Sun: How the Explosion of Capitalism Abroad Will Change Business Everywhere Hardcover – February 7, 2012

Some years ago, I was waxing poetic after a hunting expedition in Upstate New York. It happened to be a beautiful, cold, snowy day and I just happen to be very conscious of how the woods in which I was hunting looked so different each time I move slowly and quietly a few feet to a different tree and stood still watching for game. So I wrote a poem, titled Still Hunting in which I pointed out how we have to be willing to change our point of view if we really want to find a new perspective or understand another person's perspective.

Standing on the Sun is a whole book, rather than the simple a poem I penned, to make the same point. The title is derived from the comment made to Meyer by Richard Morely who stated that "In order to see the solar system as it is, Copernicus had to be standing on the sun." What he was stating is that one needs to take a new perspective in order to break out of the old model, the old way of doing and seeing things. And indeed, Meyer delivers on the promise of the title in this well written and entertaining book.

Meyer makes the case for how capitalism evolves and is evolving into something new. He then goes about explaining how it is evolving and gives hints as to where it might be going. The reader is challenged to make the difficult mind shift of "standing on the sun" at the end of each chapter to see how a new perspective gives insight into how and why capitalism is changing because of the growing global economy and cultural effects on business.

He points out that there are three current developments that have the power to accelerate evolution of capitalism; cloud computing, mobile devices and the "internet of things." When it comes to cloud computing, Meyer claims two subtle affects: cloud computing lowers barriers to innovation and it provides real "Web 2.0" value to applications. Mobile internet devices are important because they represent a tipping point in the world's access to shared information. The "internet of things" is important because the networking of appliances, the use of RFID tags and other sensors, inanimate become collectors and distributors of data.

Regardless of how we might feel about the "evolution of capitalism," Meyers makes the case that it is in fact a reality that capitalism is evolving due to exposure to so many different cultures. As Meyer states, "If the leaders of China are ready to see what works, to call it communism, and move on, the West should be equally wise. The world economy is going to be less about competition, more about innovation, less about individual people or companies, more about groups and ecologies, and less about concentration of power and wealth and more about sustainable social systems. This is hard to see on the ground, but quite evident on the sun. Capitalism will adapt, with us or without us. Whatever works, let's call it capitalism and move on."

If we want to be ready to innovate our products and our business models, then we have to acknowledge that things are evolving and be ready to "Stand on the Sun."

My apologies if the heading looks like a tagline to a self-help book. However, the most important element to this book is perspective. Many of the themes described by authors do explain changes in the economy that I could not understand until I "stood on the sun" with the Chris and Julia. I read this book over the past winter and enjoyed it. Let me explain why I still like this book over the other economic books and blog sites I have been reading.

First, I should explain my motives. I am simply a lower level manager in a large multi-national US based company with 3 sons who will soon graduate from college. Over the past 12 years I have watched globalization change my company, our clients, our competitors, our industry and even other industries. Some have thrived during this change, while others failed and no longer exist, but most of us just seem to "react to the change" and manage to survive. For nearly a decade, I have been reading books, news stories, or blogs with globalization as the subject, but I could not figure out what was driving these changes. So, that left me reacting to globalization without understanding -- and just surviving like almost everyone else, but still concerned about how to prepare my sons for the future global economy.

This book has distinct sections to describe characteristics of capitalism and others on capitalism as implemented in other parts of the world. At the start, the authors metaphorically use environmental impact on biological systems to explain changes in capitalism. In the other sections, they describe capitalism as implemented in 4 emerging economies around the globe. The authors executed this very well in their writing style and their content. While I disagree on some minor points, the rest of the authors' material does help me understand the future of capitalism. So, I strongly recommend this book, even if it is just to explain to your kids what to expect when they join the workforce with us.

This book is excellent. It is full of big, challenging ideas and the thought, research, and evidence to back them up. It will keep you thinking about what the future looks like for capitalism in the USA and everywhere else in the world. I recommend it. It can be heavy lifting in some spots, and the authors explain it coherently, but the concepts are deeper and require more thought than the average biz book. It is well worth the effort to digest and ponder. This is the first time I leveraged the power of the Kindle version, too, and loved that I could highlight a passage and then share it on Twitter or Facebook easily.

This is the most complete and creative book I know on how the world economy is changing and what it means for the strategies and tactics that leaders all over the world need to implement. Reading the book is a fascinating and instructive journey, as Meyer and Kirby first explain the key features of the new capitalism that is emerging around the world and then provide advice for businesses and leaders in this new world. Note: This is the upshot of a longer I review on my blog Work Matters, which is at [...]

Extremely well written and original observations.

Class textbook - was better to tread than most and provided material in a relatable way.

Chris and Julia gather in site evidences on how capitalism is moving and adapting to and within emerging economies.
The book is written in such a way to construct their point of view as building blocks making the reading so natural.
Such a pleasant reading. Thanks and congratulations to the authors.