ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Acknowledgements for a book of this type are challenging since it is about my life’s journey as well as research that I have pursued with others over many decades. If I were to acknowledge everyone who contributed to the ideas and insights in this book, that would become a book of its own.

As a result, let me just single out a few people along the way who played a particularly prominent role in shaping my journey. Of course, I would want to start with my mother and father, as well as my sister. We went through so much together, and my path has been significantly influenced by the roles they played in my life. On this front, I would also want to call out my two stepdaughters, Rachel Rosenfelt and Rebecca Rosenfelt, since they played a major role in my life and I learned so much by being able to support their journey.

In my professional life, I have benefited from the support and encouragement of many mentors, but I would single out the following as having played a particularly influential role in shaping my evolving personal narrative: Bruce Henderson at Boston Consulting Group, Carter Bales at McKinsey & Co., and Eric Openshaw at Deloitte.

I have collaborated with many people throughout my career, but perhaps my longest standing and most productive collaboration has been with John Seely Brown. JSB, as he is known, was the head of the Palo Alto Research Center and former Chief Scientist at Xerox. JSB joined me as co-founder and co-chairman of the Center for the Edge research center at Deloitte. We come from very different backgrounds and perspectives, but our collaboration has been instrumental in shaping my view of the Big Shift and the profound impact it is having on institutions around the world.

My assistant, Carrie Howell, has supported me on my journey for decades. Without her, I would have been overwhelmed so many times. Her unrelenting support has helped to motivate me to keep on venturing out onto the edge so that I can continue to have more and more impact. I am so grateful that we connected and have stayed connected for such a long period. I look forward to continuing our collaboration for many years to come.

My agent, Jim Levine, was very helpful in bringing this book to life. I also am indebted to a number of editors, including Amy Li, Arthur Goldwag, and Steve Straus, who helped me to sharpen the text and make it even more readable and compelling. Of course, without the collaboration with McGraw Hill, this book would still be sitting in my computer.

While grateful for the support and stimulation of so many people throughout my life, I must ultimately take full responsibility for the perspectives that I am sharing in this book. There’s a lot of risk in sharing so much personal information and venturing out into uncharted territories, but it is exciting and I have learned so much in the process of writing this book. My perspectives will undoubtedly continue to evolve, but I welcome the opportunity to share with you some of the lessons that I have learned so far. More to come.