Flip Read Free

for tomorrow. If you learn to flip, however, you will future-proof your organisation and your career.

1 THE FOUR FORCES OF CHANGE
    That the world is changing is no secret to anyone (I hope). Pundits in every field talk incessantly about the constant change we are experiencing, to the point that 'change agen?' has become one of the biggest clichés of our time. But what specifically is changing? And why does it feel so pervasive?
    Allow me to introduce you to the four forces of change completely redefining the way you compete in the marketplace, attract and reward staff, and even live your life. And then, through a series of flips, allow me to help you deal with these four forces of change. (The latter being more important.) This is not a book about the fact of change, it is a book about how to handle and profit from change. First, however, it is essential that we identify succinctly what is changing, because only then can we get more specific about what to do about it.
    Here are the four forces of change I will be referring to throughout the book:
    1. increasing compression of time and space
    2. increasing complexity
    3. increasing transparency and accountability
    4. increasing expectations on the part of everyone for everything.
    These forces are squeezing organisations and individuals alike. You can see them as enemies, the four horsemen of the Apocalypse that are ending business as you know it. Or you can welcome them as allies that are indeed changing the nature of business in challenging ways, but that can also accelerate your success and help you achieve competitive advantage.
    None of the four forces is new. They've been around in one form or another at least as long as human beings have been creating complex societies. But there has been a dramatic shift in how the four forces affect our daily lives. They've never been in such a tight, immediate feedback loop as they are today. That's why the pundits can't stop talking about change and change agents. That's why organisations and enterprises all over the world are freaking out about these shifts. And that's why if you and your company get on the front foot and learn to ride the wave of change, you stand to reap massive windfalls. Just think of Toyota and the car industry–shifting Prius, or Apple and iTunes leading to the phenomenal sales of the iPod. Let's have a look at these four forces.
    1. INCREASING COMPRESSION OF TIME AND SPACE
    Outside of science fiction and the thought experiments of theoretical physicists, it is not actually possible to compress time or space. However, our perceptions of both are certainly malleable.
    COMPRESSION OF TIME
    Human beings have always been impatient. Today we count on things happening faster than ever before. And not just a little bit faster, but over the last few years a lot faster. The quicker something can be done, the quicker we expect it to happen, whether it's the movement of goods by overnight courier companies such as DHL, FedEx and UPS, the movement of people on flights from one side of the world to the other, or the movement of digital information from anywhere to anywhere via broadband internet (something that merits fuller discussion below). They all feed our insatiable need for speed.
    Staffan B. Linder's book The Harried Leisure Class notes that as economic growth and affluence increase, 'the pace is quickening, and our lives are in fact becoming steadily more hectic'. This has formed the basis of a commonly discussed sociological concept: as affluence increases, so does pressure around time. Ask yourself, are you feeling a little bit of pressure around time? Consider the following example.
    I was discussing this idea of compression around time with the partners of one of New Zealand's leading law firms. Afterwards the CEO told me how only a decade or so ago as a young lawyer, he typically spent an hour dictating a letter to a client. Then he figured on half a day for the letter to be typed and returned to his