The Big Shift

For almost its entire history, Canada has been run by the political, media and business elites of Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal. But in the past few years, these groups have lost their power—and most of them still do not realize it’s gone. The Laurentian Consensus, the term John Ibbitson has coined for the dusty liberal elite, has been replaced by a new, powerful coalition based in the West and supported by immigrant voters in Ontario. How did this happen? Most people are unaware that the keystone economic and political drivers of this country are now Western Canada and immigrants from China, India and other Asian countries. Politicians and businesspeople have underestimated how conservative these newcomers are making our country. Canada, with its ever-evolving economy and fluid demographic base, has become divorced from the traditions of its past and is moving in an entirely new direction. In The Big Shift, Darrell Bricker and John Ibbitson argue that one of the world’s most consensual countries is becoming polarized, exhibiting stark differences between East and West, cities and suburbs, Canadianborn citizens and immigrants. The winners—in both politics and business— will be those who can capitalize on the tremendous changes that the Big Shift will bring.

Marc Freedman, hailed by theNew York Timesas "the voice of aging baby boomers [seeking] meaningful and sustaining work later in life," makes an impassioned call to accept the decades opening up between midlife and anything approximating old age for what they really are -- an entirely new stage of life, which he dubs the encore years. In The Big Shift, Freedman bemoans the fact that the discussion about longer lives in America has been entirely about the staggering economic costs of a dramatically aging society when, in reality, most of the nation's 78 million boomers are not getting old -- at least not yet. The whole 60- to 80-year-old period is simply new territory, he writes, and the people in this period constitute a whole new phenomenon in the 21st century. The Big Shiftis animated by a simple premise: that the challenge of transitioning to and making the most of this new stage -- while deeply personal -- is much more than an individual problem; it's an urgent social imperative, one affecting all generations. By embracing this time as a unique period of life -- and providing guidance, training, education and support to the millions who are in it -- Freedman says that we can make a monument out of what so many think of as the leftover years. The result could be a windfall of talent that will carry us toward a new generation of solutions for growing problems in areas like education, the environment, and health care.

"Demographics determine the direction of your business. Demographic trends can be overwhelming, misleading, confusing, conflicting, and difficult to predict. Not anymore. John Burns and Chris Porter wrote this book to help make demographic trends easier to understand, quantify, and anticipate. Readers of this book will have a huge competitive advantage because they will be making decisions with facts, and they will be better able to adjust their strategies when unanticipated events shift prevailing trends."--book jacket

New York Times bestselling author Ram Charan gives business leaders the guidance they need to succeed in a world in which economic power has shifted. The global tilt is nothing less than an irreversible shift of economic power—jobs, wealth, and market opportunities—from a small part of the world to its entirety. It is improving the lives of millions of people around the world, and while it is creating immense opportunities, it is disrupting the world as you know it with dizzying speed. If you’re an American or European, any assumptions you may have about national and managerial superiority are obsolete. Businesses in China, Singapore, India, Brazil, Malaysia, and other countries on the move have ready access to the capital and expertise they need to grow. Their leaders have just as much knowledge, talent, and drive as you do. And they are unleashing their entrepreneurial verve to scale up fast and grab once-in-a-lifetime opportunities. These businesses will soon be competing with yours, even if you’re not aware of them yet. Finding opportunities of your own requires you to consider vastly different perspectives and to see the new global landscape in its entirety and then change the content of your work to pursue them. In Global Tilt, Ram Charan will show you how to: - Gain an edge by cutting through the complexity of demographics, different forms of government, and even the global financial system, to identify “unstoppable trends” better and sooner than others - Challenge your reliance on core competence and the incremental improvement that results. Instead, look “outside-in” and “future-back,” determine the capabilities you need to build, and muster the psychological fortitude to make occasional strategic bets that can potentially alter the competitive landscape - Develop the soft skills crucial to leading a global organization, including mastering local contexts - Equip the organization to win by facing up to painful but necessary shifts in people assignments, decision-making authority, and resource allocation—even before making structural changes Those who can pursue the opportunities in a tilted world have a remarkably bright future. Ram Charan’s unparalleled experience with global leaders and companies and the unique and powerful insights he brings to this book will light the way for you and your exciting journey.

This book tells the story of our changing world, and explores what it means for our future. It's organized as a narrative about the 83 most significant changes, or shifts, that are now occurring worldwide. But of course the individual shifts aren't nearly as significant as the fact that they're all occurring at the same time. While each one may be disruptive, 83 of them occurring all at once causes massive and unavoidable disruption. In case you haven't noticed, it's chaos out there. And actually it's more than disruption and chaos, it's the total transformation of the economy, society, and of our lives. My goal is to help you understand the emerging future, and how learn how to help your organization survive and thrive amid the chaos of the emerging future.

Future growth will require that all corporations undergo... The Big Shift. This book proposes the unpopular: right size the traditional cultural silo and place multicultural consumers front and center of mainstream marketing to drive growth. The convergence of a changing demography, new technologies and a fragmented media ecosystem has transformed marketing as we know it, yet marketing to Latinos continues to lag significantly, bound by an outdated paradigm and a total market strategy that has failed to address an increasingly diverse marketplace. This book takes a critical look at the past, present and future of marketing to Latinos and advances a strategic framework of how marketers can take their business to new heights in the 21st century.

Longlisted for the National Business Book Award Where will the world go after COVID-19? CEO of Ipsos Public Affairs Darrell Bricker's prescient and timely new book has the insights and the data to understand what we are going through and why, and who we still are despite the disruption. While the world around us has changed, Bricker's extensive research and analysis resonate for the future. In this groundbreaking new book, Bricker, a Canadian expert in what Canadians will want and need, distills the trends based on real and extensive demographic data and dares to forecast what will come next. Why is Harley-Davidson making smaller motorcycles and changing the way they sell their bikes? Should restaurateurs be focusing on vibrant, frenetic restaurants offering the latest food fashion or on open, quieter restaurants that focus on tasty standard fare? What’s the fastest-growing sector in the housing market? Where should companies plan on setting up shop? Why do we face a population crisis? Which provinces will become the haves and which the have-nots? Where will Canadians be emigrating from, and where will they live? Should we be building more hockey arenas or basketball courts, or even cricket pitches? Next is the first book in decades that offers an honest, often provocative prescription for where we will live, what we’ll be buying and who our leaders will be in the decades to come. Filled with stories of Canadians making critical decisions for their businesses and their personal lives, Next will appeal to a wide audience: anyone who is wondering where they should look for their next job or where they might plan on living in retirement—even how they will live in Canada’s ever-changing future.