Book excerpt: We are leaving the Information Age and transitioning into the Shift Age, a time of transformation and change that offers both great risk and incredible opportunity. In Entering the Shift Age, David Houle identifies and explains the dynamics and forces that have shaped our world and will continue to reshape our world for the next 20 years. He shows how the Shift Age means a world fully global yet focused on the individual, where the speed of change is so fast that change itself is the new norm. He also comments from the front lines of the Shift Age on issues and topics that affect our lives, from business and technology to environment, media and global culture. The Welcome to the Shift Age ebook serves as an introduction to the concept of the Shift Age: how we got here, what is changing, and where we are going.