Access in an Unpredictable World

The Power of Pull, written by John Hagel III, John Seely Brown, and Lang Davison, all of the Deloitte Center for the Edge, is a seven-chapter book published by Basic Books/Perseus Books Group. The subtitle is: How Smart Moves, Smartly Made, Can Set Big Things in Motion. Roughly the first half of the book discusses the concept of pull: the ability to harness the power of networks, drawing out people and resources as needed to address opportunities, and participating actively in a flow of knowledge rather than simply possessing knowledge. Pull helps access people and resources when required, attract people and resources that are relevant and valuable, and achieve personal potential more effectively by pulling from within the qualities of performance that success demands. The second part of the book explores how pull can be put into practice at the individual, institutional, and societal levels. Chapter 2 discusses the first level of the concept of pull: access. Access involves the ability to find, learn about, and connect with resources on an as-needed basis to address unanticipated needs. In the past, access to resources was dependent upon "stocks" of knowledge - information known at a point in time. However, an ever-increasing amount of information makes these "stocks" more difficult to keep current and therefore less valuable. Access now requires a different approach utilizing "flows" of knowledge, or interactions that create knowledge or transfer it across individuals.

• Organizational change
• Government policy and regulation
• Economic forecasting
• IT management
• Social media
• Strategy formulation
• Resource allocation
• Psychology and neuroscience
• Organizational behavior