Book Review: The Power of Pull

Written by the co-chairmen of the Deloitte Center for the Edge, an organization that helps senior executives make sense of and profit from emerging opportunities on the edge of business and technology.  John Hagel the third, John Seely Brown, and Lang Davison authored ‘The Power of Pull’ to talk about a shift in dynamics based on accurate forecasting and predictable market dynamics to transforming corporations from a leadership position on the edge.

The two competing forces in the book are, as you might expect, Push and Pull.  Push is the ‘old’ way, the way our educational institutions, corporations, and even governments are used to operating. Pull is a vision for how leaders and innovators will (and are) putting change into action. In the authors’ words:

At the most basic level, pull helps us to find and access people and resources when we need them. At a second level, pull is the ability to attract people and resources to you that are relevant and valuable, even if you were not even aware before that they existed. Think here of serendipity rather than search. (p. 9)

Push operates on a key assumption – that it is possible to forecast or anticipate demand. Based on this assumption, push works mightily to ensure that the right people and resources are delivered at the right place and the right time to serve the anticipated demand. (p. 34)