Future Books

Future MD is probably the best medical school admissions book I've read. I liked the fact that medical students wrote it and they answered a lot of my questions. I really appreciated the chapter desciribing what it's like to be a medical student. Overall, this book is a great buy!

Future MD is probably the best medical school admissions book I've read. I really liked that medical students wrote it and it answered a lot of my questions. I strongly recommend this book to anyone wanting to go to medical school.

Future MD is a great read. It's nice to get advice from people who know what it's like to be in our position. I really appreciated the chapter desciribing what it's like to be a medical student. Overall, this book is a great buy!

This book is a comprehensive look at the relationship of Western and Eastern medicine. It describes clearly and effectively the healing art of Chinese medicine with its herbs and acupuncture. It also explores the history and underlying ideas of Western medicine.

Today, there is growing interest in ancient healing arts like Chinese medicine. The reason for this, shows the author, is the growing knowledge that mind and body are intimately related, that many diseases can effectively be prevented and that we are about to embark on a new era of "energy" healing. In this, there are many paralells between East and West.

In the tradition of Fritjof Capra's The Tao of Physics, The Future of Healing is destined to be a classic and will interest anyone interested in more than just medicine, but in the essence of health and healing.

This book explores the amazing similarities, connections, and commonalities shared by Western science and Eastern mysticism. Milburn distills the knowledge of the ancient Chinese philosophers and reviews the discoveries of both the pioneers of twentieth century physics and the cutting edge contemporary scientists of the "new biology". Striking parallels emerge from this discussion and exciting ideas for a new approach to medicine are presented.
The intellectual triumph and popular appeal of this book are a product of the author's treatment of two seemingly opposite, but equally expansive and difficult, subjects; Eastern and Western medicine. Topics as diverse as the mysteries of Qi and field theory are deftly explained, losing none of the inherent complexity while still easily comprehended by the reader.
For anyone interested in health, on a personal or societal level, "The Future of Healing" is a must. Avenues of thought are available here which can be found nowhere else in such a succinct and entertaing format.

As the review above suggests, this important new book should be compared with The Tao of Physics and read by anyone interested in the future of medicine, either western or Oriental. Milburn's synthesis of the two different systems is clearly laid out, and can serve as a review for those already familiar with some of the concepts. Recommended!

The book was interesting and easy to read. Anyone who uses or has ever used technology should buy this book.

I thought this book was really thought provoking. I was surprised to learn that other countries, like Korea, are actually more technologically evolved than the United States. The book was both intelligent and easy to read, and even had a few humorous notes. Well worth the price.

Book Review: The Future of Less
Reviewed by Rob Logan
[..]

In his new book, technologist and Rollins College professor Allen Kupetz foresees the consequences of the United States entering a new wireless--and paperless--age.

Communicating using the popular new wave of Internet-compatible smartphones may be cutting edge for us, but it's just the beginning of a wireless trend that will change our daily lives, according to business technology expert Allen H. Kupetz and his thought-provoking new book, "The Future of Less: What the Wireless, Paperless, and Cashless Revolution Means to You."

If you think the iPhone is cool, pay attention to wireless technology in Asia. After living in South Korea for a number of years, Kupetz (who is currently executive-in-residence at Rollins' Crummer Graduate School of Business) observes that the United States is about five years behind. "South Koreans are early adopters of new technologies and quickly weed out those that provide little value," he says. "After this informal testing period, the surviving technology goes global, and we get to use it here in the United States."

In South Korea and Japan, the average citizen uses smartphones to perform out-of-office work, stream TV, read news, make purchases, pay the check at a restaurant and transfer data at speeds faster than a DSL-wired Internet connection. Mobile devices are such a major part of life in these countries that Kupetz foresees significant changes in the consumer landscape once high-speed wireless becomes commonplace in the United States in the next few years. "[The mobile phone] will be the Swiss Army knife of our life," Kupetz says. "It will replace our wallet, MP3 player, camera, video camera, wrist watch and GPS receiver. We'll watch television on it when we can't find a larger screen."

One effect of efficient wireless data transmission and storage is less demand for printed material, which Kupetz says may ultimately have beneficial environmental effects, as fewer trees are needed for paper. He also foresees a considerable change for the kind of paper we carry in our wallets. "Stored-value mobile wallets will eventually become popular in the United States once merchant acceptance grows, especially in the youth and other underserved segments with less access to traditional bank cards," he argues, based on similar trends already occurring in Japan, where millions already use e-wallet functionality that allows their mobile phone to replace an ATM card.

All of this wireless bliss comes at a price, of course. The primary hurdle, as Kupetz points out, is our current cellular network, which is poorly suited for the needed bandwidth and already lags under the weight of millions of American teenagers texting their "BFFs" (best friends forever). Shall we continue building more cellular towers, the book questions--expanding our now frumpy 20th century cell networks to handle the increasing bandwidth demands? Or shall we spend billions migrating to hot new peer-to-peer networks that are better at supporting the high data rates?

While "The Future of Less" (which practices what it preaches and will be available as a downloadable Kindle book soon) provides convincing evidence that we indeed must face this culture changing decision, there are still unknowns in our wireless future. Kupetz's crystal ball provides a tantalizing glimpse of how things will be, but becomes cloudy on how we should get there, suggesting that even South Korea doesn't provide a ready-made answer for us.

As a college student and aspiring civil servant, I definitely recommend this title to all young people who are interested in the nonprofit world. Dr. Raymond's explanations are clear, understandible, and precise. Even in the community work I do as an extra-curricular activity, I have seen the beginnings of some of the trends Dr. Raymond outlines. A friend even used this book as a reference for a sociology paper.

For any young person who hopes to spend part of their professional life in nonprofits, this book is a great introduction to the field. You really get a sense of the kinds of issues that will be faced by organizations in the next 10 years.

This book should be read by anyone who is interested in the future of philanthropy. The author shows how economic trends will affect donors and recipients alike, and points out the challenges -- from ethics to fiscal responsibility -- that nonprofits will increasingly face. The style is refreshing and the scholarship superb.

As usual, Dr. Raymond excels at asking the tough questions, even if easy or pat answers are not available. She realizes that nonprofit status - that philanthropy itself - is a grant made on the public commons and that therefore, nonprofits and those that support them must hold themselves to a higher standard. I've been reading her newsletters forever. Get this book!

Great read, couldn't put it down. This book covered all corners of the earth and took you from the depths of the ocean to the limits of the sky. Many preconceptions as you read are proved false with concise reasoning as to why. A great book if your imagination can handle the unexpected.

This is a great read for anyone, not just sci fi lovers. I enjoyed the book and the many twists to the story line. It always kept me interested in what the next page would bring.

The pacing on this book never lets up. A remarkable thing considering the many settings that the reader passes through. One knows they are in for something unusual when this apparent Western starts off from the vantage point of a satellite in 1868. From there the memory challenged protagonist is frequently startled when mental images of airplanes and cell phones intrude. A compelling puzzle that leads the hero and the reader inexorably onward. Suffice it to say, however, that this isn't the only surprise nor even the biggest in store. There's always something on the next page worth learning. Its difficult not to keep reading to find out.

'Future Savvy; Identifying Trends to Make Better Decisions, Manage Uncertainty, & Profit from Change', by Adam Gordon;

While reviewing this book, my curious mind somehow retrogresses to the early eighties, which had given me my first exciting encounter with strategic management, more specifically, the domain of planning & forecasting.

I was then involved in corporate planning & research of a Malaysian conglomerate based in Singapore.

I recall my first introductory book, among a few others (including George Steiner's 'Strategic Planning'), to help me understand & appreciate the basics of horizontal scanning, was actually Francis Aguilar's 'Scanning the Business Environment'. It was in fact my excellent field guide for many years.

Since then, I had become very fascinated by the subject of planning & forecasting, venturing into new ancillary fields like futurology or future studies, trend tracking, even after I had left the corporate world in the early nineties.

I had even joined the World Future Society & other learned institutions to gain more access to available resources.

From that subsequent period onward, all the way right up to even today, as part of my own strategy consulting as well as personal development, I began to develop a deep interest in state-of-the-art stuff like anticipatory management & developing strategic foresight.

Over the ensuing years, I have amassed, read & digested a whole gamut of good books as well as interesting articles, including watching webcasts & listening to podcasts.

It has never dawn on me that all the books on exploring the future & intelligence gathering, which I have now acquired in my personal library, could be placed on a continuum, just for the purpose of seeing where all the books stand syntopically, until recently:

- at one end, I have acquired the books that pertain to the broader methodologies of "exploring the future & scanning the horizon", e.g. 'The Art of the Long View' (Peter Schwartz), 'Strategic Foresight: Standing in the Future' (Nick Marsh), 'Futuring: The Exploration of the Future' (Edward Cornish), 'Thinking about the Future' (Peter Bishop), & including the works of Alvin Toffler, John Naisbitt, James Canton, Kees van der Heijden, Edie Weiner & Arnold Brown, Richard Slaughter, Peter Drucker, Joel Arthur Barker, Jennifer James, Margot Cairnes, Chantell Ilbury & Clem Sunter, just to name a few;

- at the other end, I have acquired the books that pertain to the tools of "sculpting information into informed decisions, & in turn, shaping the latter into incisive actions, with the effective use of technology", e.g. 'Information Management for the Intelligent Organisation' (Chun Wei Choo), 'InfoThink' (Mary Park), 'Info-Sense' (Keith Devlin), 'The Warning Solution' (Kristan Wheaton), 'Inside Information' (DVL Smith), 'Hearing the Voice of the Market' (Vincent Barabba), & including the works of Benjamin Gilad, George Day, Paul Schoemaker, Bob Johansen, Alain Martin, Frederick Timmerman, Thomas Buckholtz, just to name a few;

Standing back, with 'Future Savvy' right in front of me, I somehow feel very strongly that the author, Adam Gordon, has done a great job of more or less plugging the imaginary gap between the two perceived extremes, & thus pulling & tugging the twain together, resulting in an offering with the best of both worlds, so to speak.

More signifcantly, the author has provided us with a deliberate & disciplined critical thinking routine for coping with a rapidly-changing world.

I have really enjoyed perusing 'Future Savvy', especially for its battery of critical tests to evaluate the validity - also, exercise quality control & ensure 'future-fit' (between our strategic initiatives & the world out there) - of information from the torrential myriad of sources, like newspapers, economic insights from TV stations, conference presentations, industry papers, etc.

For me, I have found my favourite chapters to be those towards the second half of the book, from chapter 7 to 11.

As a matter of fact, I reckon that the last chapter, Chapter 11, offering the well-thought 'forecast filtering' checklist, together with the preceding chapter, Chapter 10, covering many case examples of application, is actually worth the price of the entire book.

I also appreciate the author's many fine distinctions, e.g. future-aligning vs future-influencing forecasting, point forecasts vs multiple scenarios, the dynamics of system variables in a forecast, maintaining a wise balance between uncertainty/complexity & quantitative modeling, etc.

In a nut shell, the author has shown in great detail how to come up with realistic predictive statements, so as to dovetail or resonate in some way with our particular circumstances, fortuitous timing & even good fortune, which often play into eventual outcomes.

The book is almost written like a scholarly exposition, but the author, fortunately, doesn't bother the reader with historical facts & theoretical perspectives often found in forecasting books.

With succinctness & clarity, he goes straight into the jugular to help readers to identify the factors that most often derail the potentially good predictive process.

His principal premise is very clear from the start: "Forecasts are a crucial decision-making success resource . . . but these forecasts are often badly done or done with a purpose to influence the future (i.e. not to neutrally predict it.) . . ."

He argues that, as decision-makers, we "need to be able to judge how good a forecast is - so as to know how to or whether to factor it into our world view".

Also, again as decision makers, we "need to be able to critically judge which predictive statements are worth planning for & investing in".

To end this review, I must qualify that this book does not supercede or diminish the importance of all the other book resources I have highlighted earlier. Those mentioned books are worth pursuing on their own, especially if you are like me, always wanting to have a clearer view of the future.

To take a creative cue from creativity guru Michael Hewitt-Gleeson from Down Under, a BVS (better view of the situation) > (greater than; which is measured as a ten times by this author;) CVS (current view of the situation).

From my perspective, both as a consumer & a practitioner, Adam Gordon's 'Future Savvy' is definitely a highly useful & much-needed addition to the strategy repertoire of a 21st century manager.

[Incidentally, more information about Adam Gordon & his work can be found at his weblog on Amazon.

Also, very interestingly, he has acknowledged in his book that Peter Bishop, author of 'Thinking about the Future: Guidelines for Strategic Foresight', another wonderful book from my perspective, especially for its 115 superb guidelines, as his teacher & mentor for many years.]

Reviewed by Lee Say Keng, Knowledge Adventurer & Technology Explorer, November 2008

Adam Gordon explains how to "identify trends to make better decisions, manage uncertainty, and profit from change." To the extent possible, he presents the material in layman's terms so that it is accessible to those who have only recently begun a career in business as well as to C-level executives. It will hardly be an "easy read" for the former, to be sure, but he patiently explains the fundamentals (including nomenclature) of forecasting. The audience he has in mind includes decision makers in commercial, policy, and nonprofit sectors but also "ordinary people" in daily life; in fact, he hopes that his book will help almost everyone "to make better judgments about predictions they read and hear, so they can appropriately plan for an profit from the future." Given recent developments in the US economy and their implications and probable impact insofar as the global economy is concerned, the publication of this book is indeed timely.

As Gordon explains, he follows a middle course "between an uncritical reliance on prediction and overcynical dismissal of it" as he examines subjects that include the broad categories of forecasts, evaluation of the forecast information and data, forces "that drive and block change...and how forecasts deal with them," the role of value (or "utility") when determining the direction of and timing of future outcomes, potential problems with trend-based forecasting, issues related to complexity (e.g. the interconnectedness of all elements of the world, how the change of one can affect all others), themes that illuminate the uses and limitations of quantitative forecasting, and approaches to forecasting based on development of alternative futures and scenarios. In Chapter 10, Gordon provides illustrations of the processes of forecast filtering by apply it to sample forecasts that decision makers in business and policy areas might interact with in negotiating the future. "The aim is to demonstrate how examples of real-world foresight may be probed following the principles developed in previous chapters. Then in the next and final chapter, Gordon notes that forecasts "are an indispensable but highly patchy guide to the world of tomorrow" and, for that reason, offers a series of questions (with annotations) that should be asked of any forecast.

For me, some of the most valuable material is provided in Chapter 8. Gordon acknowledges that there is no perfect tool for approaching high complexity, high-uncertainty situations. However, systems dynamics "does tackle complex situations head-on and gives us some advantages in anticipating `archetypal' change situations, thus alerting us to forecast errors." He explains how systems are modeled, why reinforcing loops can be either "vicious" or "virtuous" cycles, why balancing loops are "the change dampers," how to chart multiple simultaneous causes and effects, why causal loops are nonpredictive, how to anticipate systemic effects on personal behavior, how to anticipate critical mass and "tipping points," how to anticipate forecasts designed to stimulate a virtuous cycle, how to anticipate S-curves and the limits of change, how to anticipate accelerations or delays, how to anticipate oscillations and pendulum swings, and how to question the "exponential change view." In fact, Gordon asserts that the exponential change view is invalid and why forecasts based on this view will overestimate change.

As I read the material in this chapter, I was reminded of a Hebrew aphorism that suggests that man plans and then God laughs. Gordon seems to agree, suggesting that any forecast is (at best) only a "best guess" at what could happen in "the world of tomorrow." Hence the importance of possessing sufficient and current information. Also the importance of rigorous and redundant verification so that the information is updated in a timely manner. And the importance of challenging all assumptions and premises. Gordon also points out that good forecasting "is as much about seeing what won't change in the future. Even in fast-moving situations, not everything will change. In fact, many human and social needs and aspirations are timeless." True, this is not an "easy read" but Gordon refuses to dumb-down the material and I appreciate that. Also, the fact that he is not infatuated (obsessed?) with any one system or methodology, although he obviously has his preferences and valid reasons for them.

Those who read this book and then wish to read more about the subject are urged to check out the "Further Reading" section. More a quibble than a complaint, I wish Gordon had provided some annotations with the sources he recommends or had at least identified those he believes would be of greatest interest and value to those such as I who have a significant knowledge gap to fill. That said, this book is a brilliant achievement for which I congratulate him.

You will not find a better book than Future Savvy on how to cultivate a forecasting mindset. I teach futuring workshops for mid-career professionals. I have just adopted Future Savvy as a textbook for my graduate students. Why? Future Savvy is accessible. It contains a wealth of managerial wisdom about bias traps, perceptive frameworks, change drivers and change blockers. You may know your industry, but Future Savvy will help you think beyond the limits of trend extrapolation to analyze your changing macro context. It will teach you how to define a cone of uncertainty for your division or product line, and weigh the likelihood of alternatives disrupting your business. Finally, you will take away questions to ask any business or government forecast, to separate the wheat from the chaff.

Yes, you could find a more technical book on forecasting methods. You could get a more detailed book on short-term operational business forecasting. You could even buy a more entertaining book on erroneous predictions. But you will not find a better book to under gird both sense making and decision making in an organizational context. Unlike a lot of futurist fluff out there, this book delivers on its promise.

Having reviewed every book in the area of human performance I still go back to Future Training as the source reference for every decision I make with respect to advancing human performance within organizations. Jim is truly a pioneer in the field of High Performance Work Systems and his experience is practical, not academic. If ever you needed to be convinced of the need for Training to move to a performance focus, do yourself a favor and take the requisite time to study Jim's learnings in Future Training.

The book addresses the need for and the understanding of how to maximize the human dimension within the enterprise. It brings clarity to issues that go beyond the typical training function and shows the need for a focused interrelationship between management's strategic planning and training's tactical approaches to achieve the business' goals. The book brings together the understanding for the natural integration of work systems and human systems to foster business productivity optimization. A MUST read for those interested in developing a high performance enterprise!

The author has taken a complex subject and codified the material into a few succint models and hierarchys. This book is the primary reference for the development of the Performance Consulting role within Economic Development for the state of Georgia. The Humaneering process is an excellent communication tool for clarifying analysis and diagnosis with clients. The models presented allow me to move to a higher level of professional practice.

Gerry Anderson's shows have spectacular vehicles and production values. Mike Trim's contributions to these shows are documented in this book, filled with rare color behind the scenes photos and his artwork. His design of the Mobile from UFO has always been my favorite vehicle. Along with Derek Medding's 21st Century Visions, a must have for fans of Anderson's shows. Give me more.

This book is long over due - It is well written - Covers the involvement of Mike Trim with Gerry Anderson, etc. The book covers many facts of how mike Trim made the props, with many photos of high quality. I was not aware of Mikes involve with Gerry andersons projects until I read this book. If you are a fan of Gerry Anderson, and or his projects (which where many) Then this book is a perfect complaint to have.Anthony Taylor did a great job of research.

This book is well researched and written and has full colour photos throughout. For obvious reasons, it focuses heavily on his time working on the Gerry Anderson shows from Thunderbirds to UFO. Reading the book really gave me an appreciation for the work Mike Trim did and especially his contribution to the Anderson universe. Not only did he design many known vehicles, he was also a model builder and much more.

However, it is Mike's artwork that really stands out in this book. Over and over, he clearly went to great lengths to create realistic and believable vehicles, which went a long way to the general feel of the shows.

A nice easy read with lots of info. Like another reviewer mentioned, this goes well with the hard-to-find Derek Meddings book. If you like Gerry Anderson shows, you will love this book.

I just finished reading one of Kevin Dockery last works, Future Weapons.
I haven't words to describe this book such was the surprise when I finally got it in my hands.

It's no manual at all, not in the classic way, but a book bred and true on the history and technical aspect of modern (and not so modern) firearms but is so well written I just devoured it in little more than a week and you must consider that I'm not an English speaker so reading a book in a foreign language is a little tiring, you know.

Well, this one wasn't tiring at all; is pleasant even knowing that it's a "techbook" of sort; the author deals with each and every subject in a very interesting way: from the little narratives opening each main chapter of the book to the single entries, all the themes are met with historical and technical notes without getting boring even for a novice or for a casual reader.

Last but not least, the appendixes are marvellously done even for a gun geek like me, the data on the pieces described in the main text are exactly what I expected from the author of the immortal "The Armory" of many years ago, even better than those on the more famous (and my opinion, not so well done) Jane's Infantry Weapons.

I liked this book so much that I've ordered for my personal collection another hardbound copy, so I just hope you'll like it as well.

Kevin Dockery has written a number of histories of the US Navy SEALs.
He has also authored two other reference works on SEAL weapons and equipment.

Future Weapons is his latest update of weapons. It's both readable and a good reference. The narrative portions are well written and researched.
I especially enjoyed his historical overview of each class of weapon.

FUTURE WEAPONS comes from a former military sniper who offers an eye-opening viewpoint of advanced technology and military might, combining a history of technology and its military applications with an examination of the present and future of modern combat technology. Military libraries as well as general-interest collections will find it an intriguing, top pick examining all facets of weaponry use, ethics, and technological applications, peppered with black and white photos and including discussions of past and modern experimentation.

Futuristic Leadership A-Z
Ever since I had read the book, 'G-Forces: The 35 Global Forces Restructuring Our Future' by Frank Feather during the early nineties, I had been impressed by the work of this author.

What I liked most about this wonderful book was the author's ingenuity of using the alphabet system to illustrate twenty six key action steps to help one prepare for the future. 'To prepare' means to 'see' & 'map' the future.

I may not have agreed with his selection: for example, instead of 'Justify' & 'Uplift' I would have preferred 'Juxtapose' & 'Understand', which make more sense, if one is ready to anticipate the future. Nevertheless, I had found all the author's illustrations of the twenty six action steps to be highly illuminating & personally meaningful.

I reckon, the best way for readers to get a glimpse of the intellectual relevancy, is for me to take the liberty of reproducing the author's preface of the book here:

"Futuristic leaders ACHIEVE results because they truly BELIEVE a different future is possible. They CHANGE their own and their organiza­tion's behavior, habits, and culture, in order to obtain their collective DREAM.

Futuristic leaders fully EXPECT to reach their goal -- and also fully "expect the unexpected" along the way -- because they unswervingly FOCUS on that goal.

Aware that reaching the future requires that they and their organizations GROW -- both mentally and spiritually -- futuristic leaders HEAR things: they listen intently for clues and pieces of vital information that will guide them in that growth.

Futuristic leaders vividly IMAGINE what the future will be like, what needs to change to get there, and how the charted course might need to vary along the route.

They JUSTIFY their mission, not only based on profitable returns, but in the proper ethics and values that will bring it to fruition.

Futuristic leaders KNOW both what they know and what they don't know, and what more they and their teams will still need to know in the future. They const­antly LEARN, day by day, decision by decision, as they move forward.

Futuristic leaders MOTIVATE themselves, and inspire those around them to do the same, to adventurously NAVIGATE previously uncharted territory. They ORGANIZE and optimize every available capacity and resource to help them PERSEVERE until every part of the mission is accomplished.

Futuristic leaders always QUESTION their advisors, their information, and themselves. Then they can best RESPOND to challenges and opport­unities in ways that STRATEGIZE the most responsible and best possible future outcomes.

Futuristic leaders TEACH everything they know to the highest-qualified teams of individuals. They UPLIFT them to VISUALIZE and drive towards their collective future.

As well, in today's "webolutionary" Internet Age, futuristic leaders encourage their teams to literally WEBIFY their organizations into value-creating networks, or "biznets."

Futuristic leaders also XEROGRAPH themselves: they "clone" or duplicate their own abilities and processes in others, to ensure ongoing growth and continuity through yet another generation of futuristic leaders.

Finally, futuristic leaders repeatedly YIELD consistent and spectacular results, and ZOOM their organizations speedily to ever-succeeding peaks of success."

I am always fascinated by the subject of futuristic leadership, especially at the personal level.

To explore, anticipate & prepare for your future, this book is a really good field guide. There are only twenty six steps, but you have to put them to work.

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Every once in a while a book comes along that presents a subject in a completely new way that takes the topic to a new level. This is such a book.
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The material is so simply structured that any serious student of management will immediately view leadership in a different way than before. Rather than trotting out well-worn leadership traits, the author looks at leadership through a futuristic lens. He explains how leadership in uncertain times demands new action-oriented characteristics that constantly focus on the future.
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While some might think the A-Z treatment of the 26 characteristics to be a tad corny, the chosen 26 verbs flow naturally and are treated brilliantly. He redefines each of the 26 words, explaining in a few cryptic sentences exactly what they do and don't mean for furturistic leadership. Then he presents a page full of quotes from world-recognized leaders and spells out the basic principle of the particular word under review. Each word is then examined in detail by referring to exemplars of that word (either well-known individuals or organizations) and describes how the characteristic should be applied.
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All of this is accomplished astonishingly well in only 4 pages per word, and concludes with provocative questions to ask yourself about this verb. The author concludes by recommending that you "take one verb daily" by reading up on it before you start your daily routine.
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All in all, this is a truly remarkable little book which will have a big impact on all who read it.
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Psychologists tell us that most people either believe that the future is out of their control . . . or that they can make a positive future occur. I've seen that division in practice at a college reunion where half of a group sat around waiting for someone to save them while the others were out figuring out how to save the world. That's fine as far as it goes, but what about people who want to go from passive to active. What can they do?

My suggestion is that they get a copy of Futuristic Leadership A-Z and begin studying the 26 verb lessons in this book. With enough repetition, I think many people will find themselves understanding the frame of mind that creates positive results due to intention and action. Think of Futuristic Leadership as a more practical version of that classic, Think and Grow Rich, that has guided so many people.

Frank Feather picks up on the famous Peter Drucker quote in his introduction:

"You can't manage change. You can only be ahead of it." Feather's comment is that "You can only manage 'what hasn't happened yet.'" He's right.

Most of the 26 sections in this book are four pages long. You can read them in a few minutes . . . and learn from them for a lifetime.

Let me give you an example.

T stands for "Teach" in Futuristic Leadership. He refines the word into its futuristic meaning: "To impressively impart future-relevant skills or knowledge to others." He then provides synonyms (such as counsel, coach, instruct, inform . . . .) and opposites (ignore, leave to founder, confuse . . . . ). That's followed by a page of inspiring quotations. My favorite is "I talk in order to understand; I teach in order to learn." Robert Frost is credited with that fine wisdom. Then there's a futuristic leadership principle: "Teach that which supports your goals; eliminate what hinders your progress." Then there's a page-long example. In this case, the example is built around mentoring someone, harking back to the Greek counselor, Mentor. Peter Drucker is also used as an example. The example ends with the observation that we tend to model ourselves after those we admire. "The key is to emulate not imitate, by remaining true to yourself." The section ends with questions to ask. My favorite question in this section is "With whom should I share the knowledge I have gained over the years?"

As you can see, this is a book of highly distilled wisdom that draws on centuries of human progress, many different cultures, and adds many helpful perspectives. It's a book so heavy in wisdom, it'll keep you from being blown away by the winds of fashion. Yet it's so light that you'll feel comfortable keeping it with you for daily inspiration.

Go ahead: Create the future!