153
Conclusion
Think back to the era of lifetime employment. Al-
though that model lacked the fl exibility to adapt to our
networked age, it did encourage long- term thinking.
During the 1950s and 1960s, we invested heavily in the
future and developed the technologies that drove the
Information Age.
The free-agency-style era that followed, and in
which we’re still living, leads us away from long- term
investment and to a shortsighted focus on instant
gratifi cation. Remember: a business without loyalty
is a business without long- term thinking. A business
without long- term thinking is a business that’s unable
to invest in the future. And a business that isn’t invest-
ing in tomorrow’s opportunities and technologies is a
company alread