From Push to Pull: How to Navigate the 'Big Shift' Reshaping the World

There is a big shift happening right now that's reshaping the business landscape, and the companies that identify it and act accordingly will be the big winners in a world of rapidly declining return on assets. Thought leaders at Deloitte's Center for the Edge, which is tasked with identifying and defining emerging opportunities on the edge of business and technology, have encapsulated thoughts on this shift in the book The Power of Pull: How Small Moves, Smartly Made, Can Set Big Things in Motion . Authors John Hagel, co-chairman of the Center for the Edge, John Seely Brown, independent co-chairman of the Center, and Lang Davison, executive director of the Center, lay out how to take advantage of new forces to unlock individual and institutional potential. Hagel recently sat down with Consulting to discuss The Power of Pull.

Consulting: Can you tell me a little bit about your work at the Deloitte Center for the Edge and how this book came about?

Hagel: The book represents about three years of research that we've been pursuing at Deloitte's Center for the Edge. Our mission is to identify emerging business opportunities that should be on the CEO's agenda and are not, and then do the research that shows why they should be on the agenda. About three years ago, John Seely Brown and I were recruited to serve as co-chairman for the new research center, and we've been pursuing research initiatives that focused on both specific opportunities that were emerging for businesses, as well as developing an integrated point of view about how the business landscape is changing. That's how the book came about.