Life is no longer as simple as it once was: You had a cause which was followed by an effect. If you planned for one, you could count on the other to follow. The new way of doing business and of thinking, is to regard cause and effect each as a multitude of interconnected events. Let's say you purchase a computer. The manufacturer of the computer no longer makes their own parts. Individual items are produced by a large number of manufacturers throughout the world. Then you need software, a printer, a modem, you need a telephone connection, a digital supply line, etc. But with the new computer you can do your own banking and the bank can reduce its teller staff, you can type your own letters or use e-mail, and you can do without a typist and the postal service will need to raise the postage in order to break even. The bank teller and the typist will need to learn new skills and do so online; that has an impact on educational institutions, etc.

All of a sudden, the fact that you bought a computer has turned into a network of causes and effects and each of these new events becomes the center point for new networks.  Thinking in straight lines is no longer viable in modern life: we need to learn to think in networks - and this book will teach you how to do it.