In 1968, Switzerland dominated the world of watchmaking, with over 65% of the unit sales in the world and more than 85% of the profits. They were constant innovators and on the cutting edge of research in all aspects of their watches. By 1980 their world market share had collapsed to less than 10% and 50,000 of the 62,000 watchmakers had lost their jobs. What happened?

Something profound. They had run into a paradigm shift - a change in the fundamental rules of watchmaking. Everything the Swiss were good at - the making of gears and bearings and mainsprings, etc. - was irrelevant to the new way.

The irony was that this disaster was totally avoidable. The Swiss themselves invented the electronic quartz movement at their research institute in Neuchâtel, Switzerland. Yet, when the Swiss researchers presented this revolutionary new idea to the Swiss manufacturers in 1967, it was rejected. It couldn't possibly be the watch of the future! So sure were the manufacturers of that conclusion that they let their researchers showcase their useless invention at the World Watch Congress that year. Seiko took one look, and the rest is history.

1. Any organization must have all of the following to be successful in the future: excellence, innovation, and anticipation (p.11)

2. Organizations also must manage to stay in an advantageous stance relative to paradigm shifts.

• When a paradigm shifts, everyone goes back to zero. The industry leaders under one paradigm can be defeated by new/weaker players who attain a better position under the new paradigm (140)
• New paradigms put everyone practicing the old one at great risk. The higher one's position, the greater the risk. The better you are at your paradigm, the more you have invested in it, the more you have to lose by changing paradigms (69c)
• Those who change to a successful new paradigm gain a new way of seeing the world and new approaches for solving problems as a result of the shift to the new rules. (199)
• You manage within a paradigm. You lead between paradigms. (164)
• A leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn't go by yourself. (163)

3. Paradigms, even as they are successfully solving many problems, always uncover problems that they cannot solve. These problems trigger the search for a new paradigm. (84)

• To help recognize these, ask yourself: In my specialty or business, what are the problems that all my peers/competitors want to solve and we don't have the slightest idea of how to do it? (53)
• Also ask: What is impossible to do, but if it could be done, would fundamentally change my business? (147)

4. Paradigm shifters are almost always outsiders - in that they don't understand the subtleties of the prevailing paradigms and/or have little investment in them (84)

• Because we become so good at using our present paradigms, we resist changing them (199)
• We see best what we are supposed (accustomed) to see. We see poorly, or not at all, that which does not fit into our paradigm. (91)
• How soon can you have a good idea: the first day on the job. When's the latest you can have a great idea: your exit interview (68)
• You cannot know who is going to bring you your future. You cannot qualify them in advance by looking at degrees or experience, or gender or race. You can only listen (70c)
• To increase chances of noticing changes, track: who, outside my company/industry, might be interested in my unsolved problems? (157)
• When someone goes against your paradigm, fight your natural tendency to explain why it is impossible and, instead, say: "I never thought about it that way before; tell me more." Then, be quiet and listen. You'll be surprised at how many good ideas you will hear. (157)

5. You don't have to be a paradigm shifter to get all the advantages. Just being a paradigm pioneer is sufficient (note example of USA and Japan). (78)

• Paradigm pioneers will never have enough proof to make a rational judgment. They will choose to change the paradigm because they trust their intuition (84)

6. It is in the future where our greatest leverage is. Why is that intelligent people with good motives do such a poor job at anticipating the future? As more than one sage has already observed, the future is where you are going to spend the rest of your life. And since that is true, wouldn't it be useful to be able to get to know more about the neighborhood before you move in? You can and should shape your own future. Because, if you don't, someone else surely will. (18-20)