Pflogging ... in pursuit of accelerated value creation

A number of years ago, I had the opportunity to attend an excellent lecture by Margaret Thatcher, just after the fall of the Berlin Wall, and the subsequent collapse of the Soviet Union. In it, she indicated that the world was going to be changing radically as a result of those events, and that it was not clear what new direction it would take.

Below is a link to an excellent paper that was presented several weeks ago by Herbert Meyer at a Davos, Switzerland meeting which was attended by most of the CEOs from all the major international corporations. It provides a very good summary of what he considers to be today's key trends, and a number of interesting perspectives that one seldom sees in such analyses.

The author has credibility in being able to critically examine such factors, having served during the Reagan Administration as Special Assistant to the Director of Central Intelligence, and Vice Chairman of the CIA's National Intelligence Council. He is widely credited with being the first senior U.S.Government official to forecast the Soviet Union 's collapse, for which he later was awarded the U.S.National Intelligence Distinguished Service Medal, our intelligence community's highest honor.

The entire article, which is not terribly long, has received considerable attention in a number of blogs, and is very worthwhile reading. It describes four major transformations that are shaping the political, economic and world events which we all are all stakeholders in. Meyer believes these transformations all will have profound implications for businesses, our culture and on our way of life in the future. The transformations are:

1. The war in Iraq
2. The emergence of China
3. Shifting demographics of Western Civilization
4. The restructuring of American Business

I'd encourage all to read this important article, and consider if our own knowledge, depth of analysis, interactions, and level of political discourse on each of these factors is adequate to the task, both publicly and privately. Shouldn't we all be involved in a more serious public consideration about such trends? If not, we are all subject to manipulation, rather than critical thinking.

It's my belief that we all need to be far more educated than we are. I've been reading about each of these issues, and hope to continue to study, learn, and share about them, as this 'new world' continues to unfold.