Breakpoint and Beyond

by George Land and Beth Jarman
Hennepin County Library hardcover 225
published in 1992
genre: non-fiction, change, trends

I wish I had kept track of who recommended this book! It's definitely geared to business, but at 20+ years old, a lot of what they write about is history. I kept renewing it and not reading it, so I'm just going to return it to the library. It would help me a lot to know which context I wanted it for when I requested it.

From the introduction: "The science of natural change and growth shows that at critical points in the development of anything the rules shift." This makes me think of the joke about PRMS - Perpetually Reinventing Middle School. That's certainly how it feels!

Again, written in the early 90s, it has a dated feel to it. I loved this quote from William Glasser, though. "So quickly that few have recognized what is happening, a society that lasted for ten thousand years has begun to dissolve. In its place a new society has been growing up, one in which the mores, habits, and goals of a hundred centuries are being profoundly altered. Some might take longer than others to recognize this colossal reorientation; many will undoubtedly spend the rest of their lives resisting the new direction of humanity. But it is real."

I have no desire to read this book in its entirety. It's about change and the inevitability of it. It compares change in nature to change in society and organizations. It defines breakpoints and patterns of change. Enough said.