Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Flash Foresight offers seven radical principles you need to transform your business today. From internationally renowned technology forecaster Daniel Burrus--a leading consultant to Google, Proctor & Gamble, IBM, and many other Fortune 500 firms--with John David Mann, co-author of the Wall Street Journal bestseller The Go-Giver, comes this systematic, easy-to-implement method for identifying new business opportunities and solving difficult problems in the twenty-first century marketplace.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• Introduction (p. xi)
• 1 Start With Certainty (p. 1)
• 2 Anticipate (p. 40)
• 3 Transform (p. 73)
• 4 Take Your Biggest Problem-and Skip It (p. 110)
• 5 Go Opposite (p. 144)
• 6 Redefine and Reinvent (p. 177)
• 7 Direct Your Future (p. 217)
• Epilogue: An Expriment (p. 250)
• Acknowledgments (p. 265)
• Notes (p. 267)
• Index (p. 269)

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Publishers Weekly Review

Burrus (Technotrends) has made a career of predicting the future of technological change, and in his latest work, he maintains that you too can develop "flash foresight"-a "burst of insight about the future that produces a new and radically different way of doing something that will open up invisible opportunities and solve seemingly impossible problems." Burrus argues that we can enhance our intuitive sixth sense through systematic processes used by educators, scientists, governments, and companies like Crocs, Starbucks, and Amazon. "It's not guesswork or psychic ability," writes Burrus. "It's purely a question of knowing how and where to look, and taking the time to do the looking." Case studies bring the idea of flash foresight to life, such as how Netflix redefined the home movie industry or how Singapore envisioned its future and transformed itself from a tiny city with no natural resources into a sleek center of global commerce. The ability to see trends and identify future opportunities is a skill anyone can benefit from-and Burrus's latest work is a valuable introduction to the fundamentals. (Jan.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Kirkus Book Review

Burrus (Technotrends: How to Use Technology to Go Beyond Your Competition, 1993) anticipates a technology-driven recovery for the U.S. economy that will overshadow the transformations of the past 25 years.The author makes the counterintuitive argument that, with the proper perspective and a "willingness to get down on your hands and knees and look at things from a fresh point of view," the current recession can become a time of opportunity. By relying on intuition coupled with informed judgment"flash foresight"Burrus contends that even in hard times it is possible to "open up invisible opportunities and solve seemingly impossible problems before they happen." Drawing on the lessons culled from a 30-year career as a consultant to Fortune 500 companiesMicrosoft, Toshiba, GE, etc.the author has developed a seven-step method to guide corporate management in competitively positioning their firms. The first step involves establishing "hard trends"e.g., the aging of the U.S. population. Based on this certainty, it is possible to "anticipate" the direction of future technology based on the development of diagnostics that can monitor the health of seniors with chronic conditions while allowing them to maintain independence. This is the point at which it is necessary to unleash individual creativity and foster a team effort in order to "transform" technological advances. The remaining four steps"Take your biggest problem and skip it" temporarily; "Go opposite," i.e., strike out in a new direction; "redefine and reinvent"; and"Direct your future"are more broadly applicable to individual as well as corporate situations such as job loss, retirement or the development of a new career. In addition to legendary success stories such as Amazon.com, Burrus also artfully weaves in his own experiences, including his most recent start-up venture, a smartphone application that will enable potential homebuyers to access information about foreclosures.A welcome jolt of optimism.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.