WorkSpace gets letters. Last week we received a note from one Bernard Painton, who addressed a number of topics and asked many questions, including, “Who’s Watts Wacker? I see this guy quoted everywhere.” Watts Wacker has one of the all-time great job titles: resident futurist. He works for the Silicon Valley firm SRI Consulting and lives in Connecticut, which basically means he does whatever he wants. His job at SRI is to help the company’s high-profile clients, such as Marriott, Viacom and Avis. He’s best known for his mix of observational research and prognosticating.
In an interview with Fast Company earlier this year, Wacker suggested five ways to “stay ahead of the curve:”
1.Learn to be a better listener.
2.Once a week, read a trade magazine from a different industry.
3.Let your kids tutor you in a subject they know more about than you do.
4.Volunteer.
5.Read what has stood the test of time.
Like many such lists, this is a mix of theobvious and the profound. The same can be said of the new book “The 500 Year Delta: What Happens After What Comes Next” (HarperBusiness, $25.00), which lists Wacker as one of three authors, along with Jim Taylor, head of global marketing for Gateway 2000, and Howard Means, senior editor of the Washingtonian. In the book,Wacker and company contend we’re at the end of cycles of historical, economic, political and personal life and the disorientation we feel as a result should be viewed as a tremendous opportunity.
Some of the book’s facts are astonishing–did you know that a 1996 Lincoln Continental has more computing power than a 1985 DEC mainframe? Other times, its assertions get in the way of the evidence–oldies stations are popular because there are more baby boomers than any other demographic group, not because their playlists meet some basic need. On the whole, however, “The 500 Year Delta” is a provocative book, full of colorful examinations of how we got to the point we are and reasoned hunches regarding where we’re going. Like most such tomes, it’s a mix of business text and pop psychology, but there’s a reason it’s racked next to “net gain” and not Barbara DeAngelis. It’s a book that might not help you directly in your business life, but it is fun.
