Beating the Global Odds: Successful Decision–making in a Confused and Troubled World

PRAISE FOR BEATING THE GLOBAL ODDS

"As countries, companies, and individuals seek to solve the calculus for sustainable growth, this brisk and compelling volume by one of the world′s foremost business strategists couldn′t have come at a better time."
Muhtar Kent, Chairman and CEO, The Coca–Cola Company

"A tour de force. Great leaders, and those who aspire to leadership, should focus on and absorb the important lessons of Beating the Global Odds."
Klaus Schwab, Executive Chairman and founder, World Economic Forum

"By drawing on a huge diversity of sources, by encouraging us all to become ′discerning omnivores,′ and by applying the sum of his own peerless experience, Paul Laudicina helps us understand not just what needs to be done but also how to do it."
Sir Martin Sorrell, CEO, WPP

"Laudicina blends ... the insights he gained from successfully turning around one of the most respected consulting firms with the best lessons management theorists and social scientists have to offer ... an indispensable book crisp, original, easy to read, practical, and inspirational all at the same time."
Moisés Naím, Senior Associate, Carnegie Endowment; author, The End of Power: Why It′s Easier to Get, Harder to Use, and Nearly Impossible to Keep

"Beating the Global Odds shows us how to turn the desire to win into action through concrete, pragmatic, realistic advice."
Kevin Roberts, CEO Worldwide, Saatchi & Saatchi

"A concise and gripping breviary for the knowledge economy of the twenty–first century the distilled wisdom of a thinker and a doer, a rare breed in the boardrooms of the world."
Josef Joffe, Editor, Die Zeit, Hamburg; Senior Fellow, Stanford University

"Beating the Global Odds is a timely wake–up call for today′s CEOs, who must work harder than ever to seize the opportunities and manage the acute risks."
John Quelch, Dean, China Europe International Business School (CEIBS), Shanghai

Foreword xi

Introduction Seizing the Future Is (Fortunately) Not a Game of Chance 1

Chapter 1 Global Brain Freeze 13

Nonstop Overstimulation Brings Disorientation

Chapter 2 Fast and Fickle 27

The Ever–Shorter Half–Life of Everything

Chapter 3 Rudderless World 45

Angry Populism, Incapacitated Government, and Stray Capitalism

Chapter 4 Lighten the Load and Make

It Sesame Street Simple 73

Chapter 5 Repair Your Social Fabric 87

Why Relationships Always Trump Transactions

Chapter 6 Don t Wait for the Next Big Thing 101

Chapter 7 Open the Aperture 125

Widen Your Lens, But Do So with Discernment

Chapter 8 Turning Pixels into a Clearer Picture 147

Applying Scenario Thinking to Make a Better Future Possible

Epilogue: The Next Chapter 177

Afterword 181

Selected Bibliography 187

Acknowledgments 191

About the Author 195

Index 197

Paul A. Laudicina is the CEO, chairman of the board, and managing partner at global management consulting firm A.T. Kearney, and the founder and chairman of the firm′s Global Business Policy Council. With over forty years of professional experience in government, research, business, and at the United Nations, he has worked with leaders from all backgrounds across a broad range of strategic, corporate, and public policy issues. The author of World Out of Balance, one of the top business books of 2005, Laudicina was named to Consulting magazine′s annual ranking of the "Top 25 Most Influential Consultants" in 2005 and 2007.