Leadership in The Digital Age

Chapter 1

The Accelerating Pace of Change

Change before you have to.

—Jack Welch,American business leader (1935 to 2020)

With Industrialization Came Standardization

For the industrialization phase, commencing in the later part of the 19th century, to at all take off, mass production enabled by standardization was a necessity. It was accompanied by polished marketing campaigns (for the time) that titillated the demand for products that consumers often did not know existed or that they actually had any genuine need for. It was an enormous success, fueling economic growth that provided purchasing power to both a spiraling working class and an emerging middle class, rising from hordes of farm hands and kitchen maids. It was the first time in history ...