Dixon - The future of (almost) everything: the global changes that will affect every business and all of our lives

Praise for The Future of Almost Everything

Absolutely brilliant. I love this mans exhilarating thinking and writing. Here are fast, far-sighted insights into the tangible and intangible horizons of future change, underpinned by wisdom about its ultimate driving force human nature.

Nigel Nicholson, Professor of Organisational Behaviour, London Business School

A brilliant guide to our future, which should be read by every decision-maker; packed with deep insights on a huge number of trends. Patrick Dixon has a great track record over many years in forecasting opportunities, risks and challenges that will affect us all.

Sir Brian Souter, chairman, Stagecoach Group Plc

Insightful views about the global trends that could shape our future. A thought-provoking tome which should help businesses think differently about the markets of the future.

Linda Yueh, Adjunct Professor of Economics at London Business School; Visiting Professor of Economics at Beijing University

Every leader needs to keep ahead of major trends. Think radically and read this book to keep ahead of the future!

Sinclair Beecham, co-founder, Pret A Manger

Brilliant! Patrick Dixons insights into the future are compelling, engaging and thought provoking. Tomorrow framed by the expert.

Baba Awopetu, group strategy and marketing director, Optegra eye healthcare

Praise for previous books by Patrick Dixon

Futurewise

The best book on future trends I have ever read.

Hans-Dieter Vontobel, chairman, Bank Vontobel

A must-read for anyone keen to understand what the future holds for them.

Lynda Gratton, associate professor, London Business School

A momentous achievement.

Zuhayr Mikdashi, professor, School of Business Studies, University of Lausanne

Sustainability

An excellent book that talks about actions and solutions. A good, practical view of future challenges.

Frank Appel, CEO, Deutsche Post DHL

Everyone who worries about how we will be able to afford new, greener, technologies should read this book.

Maud Olofsson, Deputy Prime Minister of Sweden

The missing handbook for life and business in the 21st century; an essential guide that points a clear path to a fantastic future.

Philip DesAutels, director, Microsoft

Every government involved in responding to climate change should read this book.

Valdis Dombrovskis, Prime Minister of Latvia

An optimistic, innovative yet technologically realistic vision of the future, which breaks from the luddites and doom merchants.

Professor Edmund King, president of the Automobile Association

Sustainability will change how you see the future. Every business leader should read it. Full of new ideas, business opportunities, and practical insights about solving many of the worlds greatest challenges in a profitable way.

Sir Peter Vardy, former chairman of Vardy Group Plc

Building a Better Business

One of the most stimulating and challenging reads in this field for a very long time.

Sir Digby Jones, director-general, Confederation of British Industry

A really helpful guide to success. Essential reading for anyone running a business.

Brent Hoberman, co-founder and CEO, Last-Minute.com

Excellent management books should spur you into action. This one does! A thoroughly enjoyable and refreshing read.

Lord Leitch, chairman of the Employment Panel; former CEO of Zurich Financial Services in UK and Asia; former chairman of the Association of British Insurers

Patrick Dixon is first among equals in how-to business writings. This brilliant book reveals how passion for your customers and your mission is vital in developing strong brands.

Professor Liping Cai, director, Purdue Tourism & Hospitality Research Center, Purdue University, USA

A perfect summary of all important factors that contribute to success in business and private life. What a potential for better results and ultimately success!

Robert Salzl, CEO, Arabella Hotel Holding International GmbH and Co.

Reading a book like Building a Better Business can be a little scary. So much of it resonates instantly with ones own personal and business circumstances and experience. It is also comforting to realise that none of us is alone in trying to build better businesses and more particularly, as Patrick Dixon says, a better world.

Paul OToole, chief executive, Tourism Ireland

If you want to be a great leader, you need to read this book. A vital guide to management and business success.

Professor Prabhu Guptara, Director of Executive Learning, Wolfsburg, subsidiary of UBS

A message that every business leader needs to listen to and turn into action.

Professor Derek Abell, president, European School of Management and Technology, Berlin

The global changes that will affect every business and all of our lives

PATRICK DIXON

First published in Great Britain in 2015 by

Profile Books Ltd

3 Holford Yard

Bevin Way

London WC1X 9HD

www.profilebooks.com

Copyright Patrick Dixon 2015

The right of Patrick Dixon to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1998.

All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the publisher of this book.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

eISBN 978 1 78283 181 5

Introduction

The truth about the future

My job is to live in the future and to see tomorrow as history. Global companies use me as a guide to the truth about life in years to come: what to expect, how to respond, how to provoke fresh thinking. Here is what I tell them, about the future of almost everything, about the things that really matter.

We face the greatest threats to survival in human history, while new technologies will give us the greatest opportunities ever known to create a better world. Some decisions made today will affect life on earth for a thousand years.

This is an extraordinary time to be alive. Our world is being shaken by seismic events, which are overtaking governments and corporations. At the same time, many trends are developing relatively slowly, peoples lives are evolving rather gradually, and history shows that the most shocking predictions are usually wrong. So we need to pay close attention to what is most likely and plan for the unexpected.

Either you see the future as something to prepare for, or as a world to shape by your own actions. This book is therefore about being futuristic rather than fatalistic. Take hold of the future or the future will take hold of you.

You may have the greatest strategy on the planet, but if the world changes unexpectedly, you just travel even faster in the wrong direction. As I learned in my first career as a cancer doctor looking after the dying, life is too short to lose a single day