How to see clearly now the boundaries are blurred

CHANGE, the consultants are always telling us, is not only constant, but getting faster all the time. So far, though, they have not been too forthcoming on how to deal with it - other than to use more of their services, of course.

Into this breach step Stan Davis and Chris Meyer, who - despite being consultants at Ernst & Young's business innovation centre in Massachusetts - have a lot to say, not just about what is happening and what it means, but also how to profit from it. The most useful chapter in their soon- to-be-published book Blur (Capstone, pounds 16.99) is the last, entitled "50 ways to blur your business and 10 ways to blur yourself".

Many of the ideas will be familiar to those up to speed with the digital age, but it is still helpful to have an instruction to "Be able to do anything at any time" sitting alongside "Build product into every service" and "put service into every product". And it is even more useful to be told to abandon many of the bedrock maxims of business economics, such as the law of diminishing returns and the notion that competition gives way to consolidation and oligopoly. Any follower of the controversy over the rise of Microsoft and, to a lesser extent, Intel will be aware that, in the sort of business where dominance can be converted into obsolescence in a flash, the existing rules do not appear to be working.

On the personal side, the authors go beyond reminding the reader that "we are all knowledge workers now" to point out that the value of this commodity depends on its being shared rather than hoarded. As they say: "Spread it, get credit for having known it early, become known as the source of interesting ideas, whether they're original or secondhand. If you don't, your friends will hear it from someone else. Velocity of knowledge is crucial to your success. The more you give away, the more you'll get back."

Much of what they say is deliberately provocative. Mr Davis, whose previous book, Future Perfect, was named book of the decade by Tom Peters, said on a visit to Britain last week that change is a threat to some and an opportunity to others. There will be many who do not like the sound - or the increasing actuality - of blurring the boundary between office and home, while others - those with young children, say, or outside interests and a self-discipline that enables them to work when others are not - will welcome it.

Similarly, those who want a quiet life of regular pay rises and promotions will not like the blurring of the ties between employer and employee. But those can serve more than one master will enjoy "really a mind-set change", becoming a free agent while still on the payroll. "Even though you're on somebody's payroll, think of yourself as self-employed and currently under contract to one team. You may stay with that team forever, or you may move on every season," they add, exploiting a sporting metaphor.

The challenge lies in the ability of organisations and those working in, with, and for them to realise that the old economic model is no longer appropriate. Rather, as Mr Davis says, we are about halfway through the information age, an era that he says will be followed from about 2020 by a biological infrastructure.

And, by explaining that we are not alone in struggling with a world of blurred boundaries - between nations, industries and competitors, to name but three - the authors perform a useful function. As British business is in the main more sceptical about change, the acclaim that has greeted the book in the US will probably not be repeated here. But UK organisations of all sizes that take note of its messages will have an edge, and a much better chance of competing on what is an increasingly international stage.