There have been many people who have inspired me in the long journey that has led to Future Smart. Teachers, mentors, fellow futurists, entrepreneurs, friends, and fellow explorers into the unknown—I stand upon their shoulders of insight. Rene Dubos, the life sciences biologist; Bucky Fuller, the original systems thinker; Rick Smalley, the Noble winner in nanoscience; Steve Jobs from Apple; and the futurist Alvin Toffler, who got me moving in this direction—game-changers they are all.
I appreciate my clients more than they know. They are varied and range from governments to entrepreneurs to the private sector. My clients were often my inspiration to understand where the future was going and why. Working with them as they each invent the future is still fascinating. What I discovered through my interactions with them around the world gave me deep insights into the trends that would come. Their challenges, which became my challenges to understand changes coming in technology, globalization, medicine, climate, security, and many other areas, expanded my thinking. Thanks to all.
Dealing with my global business and technology clients and understanding their world was very helpful and necessary, to get the ground-truth into my forecasting. One cannot forecast apart from the real world. My clients made this book better by making me understand what was relevant for them today and tomorrow. In many ways this book is for you, the one who will invent the future of your design.
My friends who were willing to share ideas, be supportive, or offer research are very much appreciated. Allan Zimmerman, Jim Giordano, Ken Dychtwald, Al Elkins, Sandy Rosenberg and Bill Moulton stood out.
Thanks to Dan Ambrosio, Senior Editor at Da Capo Press, Perseus Books, who understood the book I wanted to write. And thanks to the whole team at Da Capo Press, Claire Ivett, Cisca Schreefel, Josephine Mariea, my publicity manager, Kate Kazeniac, and marketing folks.
Finally and most important, I want to thank my wife and kids for understanding and supporting my time in writing this book. I get driven when writing and I want to thank them for their patience with my deadlines. My wife gave me plenty of room to write and helped me embrace my mission. For this I am grateful.
My kids were insightful in reminding me that I know so little compared to the teenagers of today. A continual dose of humility they offered was sobering. Their advice into how their generation is evolving is an education not possible to capture fully in any book as yet. They are the Click-Streamers of tomorrow.