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A Good Disruption: Redefining Growth in the Twenty-First Century
Disruptive technology is one of the defining economic trends of our age, transforming one major industry after another. But what is the true impact of such disruption on the world's economies, and does it really have the potential to solve global problems such as low growth, inequality and environmental degradation? The provocative answer is that such disruption could indeed solve many of these issues, but that it won't... at least, not on its current trajectory.
A Good Disruption highlights some of the huge costs that are at stake, and argues that managing such disruption will be the defining business challenge of the next decade. In order for us to meet that challenge, the book sets out a bold and inspirational vision for a more robust and sustainable economic model.
Rich in relevant case studies, and incorporating industry examples from around the world, A Good Disruption accomplishes the remarkable feat of synthesizing key contemporary trends into a coherent world view of how to seize the potential of our collective futures. This is essential reading for policy makers, politicians, business executives and social scientists, as well as anyone who wants a deeper understanding of the impact of disruptive technology and how it can be transformed into a major force for the global good.
A Good Disruption highlights some of the huge costs that are at stake, and argues that managing such disruption will be the defining business challenge of the next decade. In order for us to meet that challenge, the book sets out a bold and inspirational vision for a more robust and sustainable economic model.
Rich in relevant case studies, and incorporating industry examples from around the world, A Good Disruption accomplishes the remarkable feat of synthesizing key contemporary trends into a coherent world view of how to seize the potential of our collective futures. This is essential reading for policy makers, politicians, business executives and social scientists, as well as anyone who wants a deeper understanding of the impact of disruptive technology and how it can be transformed into a major force for the global good.
- GenresEconomicsSustainability
400 pages, Hardcover
Published January 12, 2017
19 people are currently reading
126 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
July 30, 2017
One of the most important books I have read this year, and in my opinion, a must read for everyone involved in business, politics or other societal impacting sectors.
What you get here is authors that fully grasp the severity of the current system crisis and the trajectory we're on, and at the same time sees that aiming for a de-growth or zero-growth economy is just very unlikely to take root. Instead, they propose a solution that is both visionary, attractive and feasible. The solution is largely based on the enormous wins that could be realized by making our systems, rather than products, more efficient. For example, the car is on average utilized to 2% of its resources.
Read it and get enlightened on the enormous possibilities that await for creating net-positive business!
What you get here is authors that fully grasp the severity of the current system crisis and the trajectory we're on, and at the same time sees that aiming for a de-growth or zero-growth economy is just very unlikely to take root. Instead, they propose a solution that is both visionary, attractive and feasible. The solution is largely based on the enormous wins that could be realized by making our systems, rather than products, more efficient. For example, the car is on average utilized to 2% of its resources.
Read it and get enlightened on the enormous possibilities that await for creating net-positive business!
July 29, 2023
An optimist’s guide to a circular economy
February 23, 2018
The book has a somewhat academic style but succeeds in catching your interest by a very good and well documented introduction. By putting one concept central ("accretiveness") the authors show that if used consequently in every aspect of our human endeavors (material production as well as service centered actions) we might just turn the world around in the good direction faster than we can currently imagine. Putting the adage "less bad isn't good enough" is the only thing we need to put the world back on the right track and that is something that needs a mind shift resulting in a world wide paradigm shift. Once this is realized, which won't be easy, things can move faster than we imagine.
This positive message is well researched and supported by literature and calculations. This is also the downside of the book. After a time it gets a bit boring. Not only that, it also doesn't really give concrete handles on how you, as an organization, business or individual, could help realize this so needed mindshift. It won't be by publishing more books like this for sure. You could of course argue that by reading the book, you get a new tool in your vocabulary to convince others that accretive production is the way to go, but in my opinion the "accretive" concept is a bit to exotic to be convincing to the general public. A term like "regenerative design" (in line with the cradle-to-cradle movement) does perhaps a better job in that context.
Anyhow, the book is worth a read but it won't on itself realize the so much envisioned turnaround the authors are anticipating. If you haven't got the time to read the whole book, reading the introduction is a good way to get a thorough idea of the concepts introduced. The good thing about the introduction is that it is freely available.
This positive message is well researched and supported by literature and calculations. This is also the downside of the book. After a time it gets a bit boring. Not only that, it also doesn't really give concrete handles on how you, as an organization, business or individual, could help realize this so needed mindshift. It won't be by publishing more books like this for sure. You could of course argue that by reading the book, you get a new tool in your vocabulary to convince others that accretive production is the way to go, but in my opinion the "accretive" concept is a bit to exotic to be convincing to the general public. A term like "regenerative design" (in line with the cradle-to-cradle movement) does perhaps a better job in that context.
Anyhow, the book is worth a read but it won't on itself realize the so much envisioned turnaround the authors are anticipating. If you haven't got the time to read the whole book, reading the introduction is a good way to get a thorough idea of the concepts introduced. The good thing about the introduction is that it is freely available.
May 19, 2020
I think this book covers a wide range of topics in a very comprehensive way. It is a good starting point for someone to go into deeper reading about ecology.
December 30, 2022
Bók sem einn kennarinn mældi með. Mjög áhugaverð og þrátt fyrir að vera academic þó er hún samt fyndin og kemur skilgreiningum og dæmum frá sér á mjög skemmtilegan máta!
January 30, 2017
Excellent book. Well formulated. A must read for those interested in sustainable development. It gives a good overview of practical options.
One thing I miss however is why the described system would be net-positive. It is clear that it would be far less negative, but no argumentation can be found why it would be net-positive. A circle economy can go far, but I'm afraid not all the way to make the human species live only from existing stock. New materials will be discovered, poor will become more affluent and ecological networks (and therefore ecological resilience) disturbed by the growing human stain. Although mentioned briefly, world population's size and spread are some of the main threats to the ecosystem. Although mentioned several times that "doing less bad is not good enough", the good disruption will do just that. But still, it is the way to go, and let's hope the best of it. Given time, population size most likely will decrease significantly and with technology this gives the option to live sustainably without the need to fight over natural resource and / or space.
One thing I miss however is why the described system would be net-positive. It is clear that it would be far less negative, but no argumentation can be found why it would be net-positive. A circle economy can go far, but I'm afraid not all the way to make the human species live only from existing stock. New materials will be discovered, poor will become more affluent and ecological networks (and therefore ecological resilience) disturbed by the growing human stain. Although mentioned briefly, world population's size and spread are some of the main threats to the ecosystem. Although mentioned several times that "doing less bad is not good enough", the good disruption will do just that. But still, it is the way to go, and let's hope the best of it. Given time, population size most likely will decrease significantly and with technology this gives the option to live sustainably without the need to fight over natural resource and / or space.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews