Rating: 
Summary: The Past does not Equal The Future. Know Why!
Review: Definitely coming from the New Sciences breakthrough achievements this book pleasantly takes us to our present 'inner world' and our future world in which this inner world will be expressed. This book builds a strong case for looking at ourselves, our 'now' and our future with the full spectrum of human components in view. And it provides us with interesting views on the translation of 'total human perspective' into society. Yes, this book may stimulate your ability to even capitalize on the 'Dream Society' in business terms. Jensen invites you to jump into his helicopter and take a ride with him to past, present and some possible futures. Join him, and broaden your view of, and your choice in, different 'parallel universes'.
Rating:
Summary: The Past does not Equal The Future. Know Why!
Review: Definitely coming from the New Sciences breakthrough achievements this book pleasantly takes us to our present 'inner world' and our future world in which this inner world will be expressed. This book builds a strong case for looking at ourselves, our 'now' and our future with the full spectrum of human components in view. And it provides us with interesting views on the translation of 'total human perspective' into society. Yes, this book may stimulate your ability to even capitalize on the 'Dream Society' in business terms. Jensen invites you to jump into his helicopter and take a ride with him to past, present and some possible futures. Join him, and broaden your view of, and your choice in, different 'parallel universes'.
Rating: 
Summary: Dream on
Review: Every once in a while, a management guru or academician writes a book so idealistic and simple in its basic premise that it appeals to scholars and businesspeople alike solely for the inherent beauty in its simplicity. Much like the appeal of fairy tales or biographies. No fuss, no complexity, no crooked lines. But whereas this way of storytelling is charming when describing a lifelong career or the fate of princess or princesses, it becomes downright repulsive when applied to modern business and economics. Not only repulsive, but also dangerous. Jensen is learned and a fine raconteur at that, which he uses to his advantage in this book. The basic premise, that corporations of today are selling stories instead of products is intriguing, if not completely original (Pine & Gilmore described the progression of economic offerings towards experience and entertainment in their 1999 book "The Experience Economy"). Had Jensen stayed within the boundaries of a conventional management book, i.e. simplified descriptions and corporate nice-to-know facts, The Dream Society would have been a fair effort, if slightly trivial. The big misstep that Jensen makes is that he, like too many other colleagues, starts to add a philantrophical aspect to his ideas. Not only can the striving towards a dream society be applied to goods and services, but also on the modern family, on the third world, on modern labour, globalization, urbanization etc. In fact, so amazing is Jensens Dream paradigm that there is no area or phenomenon that is left unexplored. Actually, "unexplored" is an inaccurate description. There is no area that Jensen doesn't beleaguer with his newly found buzzword-baby. That's where the book sets off on thin ice. To fully explore a principle, such as "The Dream Society", one must look at its flaws and dangers. The term "fundamentalist" is what we use to describe the people that don't and instead take the written word as the formula to follow. Jensen displays similar dogma and fanaticism in his belief that The Dream Society is our goal and destiny. As he runs astray from the description of economic offerings, he looses the integrity that he displays in the early chapters of the book, his "succesful" attempts to apply the theory to, well, anything become more comical... and questionable.
Rating: 
Summary: Anecdotes on the Future...
Review: I must admit that I am slightly surprised by the glowing reviews on this site. The Dream Society is a quick, easy, and somewhat enjoyable read which presents a good hypothesis and provides interesting examples. It is not however, the be-all and end-all book on the future, nor will it tell you exactly "How the Coming Shift from Information to Imagination Will Transform Your Business". On the positive side, it will certainly give you much fodder for interesting cocktail party conversation and is filled with anecdotes on how companies will have to sell their stories as much as their products. Mr. Jensen is clearly well travelled, multi-talented, and a capable director of the Copenhagen Institute of Future Studies. Read his book if you have the time, but don't count on running your business differently as a result.
Rating:
Summary: Anecdotes on the Future...
Review: I must admit that I am slightly surprised by the glowing reviews on this site. The Dream Society is a quick, easy, and somewhat enjoyable read which presents a good hypothesis and provides interesting examples. It is not however, the be-all and end-all book on the future, nor will it tell you exactly "How the Coming Shift from Information to Imagination Will Transform Your Business". On the positive side, it will certainly give you much fodder for interesting cocktail party conversation and is filled with anecdotes on how companies will have to sell their stories as much as their products. Mr. Jensen is clearly well travelled, multi-talented, and a capable director of the Copenhagen Institute of Future Studies. Read his book if you have the time, but don't count on running your business differently as a result.
Rating:
Summary: Insightful!
Review: Rolf Jensen has written a thoroughly absorbing book about the nature of change. Although it attempts to predict the future, it is not a trend book. Rather, it is an attempt to figure out how society will be organized. Jensen analyzes trends only in the context of determining whether they have a place in the new global business model called the dream society. Anyone with an interest in understanding the personal and business paths that will exist in the future will find this book valuable. Anyone actively engaged in a global business will find this book invaluable in charting 21st century inflection points. We [...] recommend this book to all executives and managers doing business in the global economy.
Rating: 
Summary: Imagine starting a business and a "story" at the same?
Review: Rolf Jensen postulates an age where companies will have to differentiate themselves by creating stories about who they are, what they stand for, and who their customers will be when they become "part" of the story as consumers. Using the trends established by existing, successful organizations like Nike and Disney, Jensen paints a picture of marketing through consumer allegiance by imagination.For would-be futurists, this book is compelling. For ordinary business folk, this book gels all the trends and ideas you've been seeing lately, and makes sense of it all. For the rest of us -- the Dream Society articulates the need we humans have for stories, culture, and acceptance. This is an extraordinarily intriguing book. Even if you don't agree (or are afraid to imagine) the future scenarios Jensen presents, you'll be compelled to admit -- the Dream Society may really be here after all. A must-read!
Rating:
Summary: Imagine starting a business and a "story" at the same?
Review: Rolf Jensen postulates an age where companies will have to differentiate themselves by creating stories about who they are, what they stand for, and who their customers will be when they become "part" of the story as consumers. Using the trends established by existing, successful organizations like Nike and Disney, Jensen paints a picture of marketing through consumer allegiance by imagination. For would-be futurists, this book is compelling. For ordinary business folk, this book gels all the trends and ideas you've been seeing lately, and makes sense of it all. For the rest of us -- the Dream Society articulates the need we humans have for stories, culture, and acceptance. This is an extraordinarily intriguing book. Even if you don't agree (or are afraid to imagine) the future scenarios Jensen presents, you'll be compelled to admit -- the Dream Society may really be here after all. A must-read!
Rating:
Summary: Makes sense and an easy read
Review: The book is the result of 15 yrs work at the Copenhagen Institute for Future Studies. I bought it to read on my holiday but finished it two weeks beforehand! It made some really interesting points: * Man has been around for c.100,000yrs: 90,000 as hunter-gatherer, 10,000 as farmer, 200 in industry and maybe 30 in IT. This book provides a glimpse of what comes next! * We will see a move from the rational to the emotional. 'The successful companies of the twenty-first century...besides meeting the social and emotional needs of employees...will want to cater to consumers' emotional and social needs' [e.g. Shopping Malls as Theme Parks?]. * Current accounting methods measure 'the company's capital at night...when all employees have gone home'. The author discusses Intellectual Capital: salary negotiations as establishing an employee's value as a company asset and the 'real cost of layoffs...just as if tossing computers out the window would destroy physical capital, layoffs involve throwing away human capital. If we are talking top-quality computers with modern software this is a bad idea.' * In a concept that may have significant employee training and development implications, the author quotes Tom Peters: 'Brand yourself' and believes that 'the "branded" employee will triumph over the Brand X employee...increase awareness about your existence and skills...'
Rating:
Summary: Dream Society of the Future ? Its already here!
Review: The concept of psychographic-based products services & offerings are already here both in the consumer marketplace as well as in job marketplace. We have been effectively using EVAL - Economic Value Addition to Lifestlye -- as a measure of the opportunities instead of salary, job content, work hours, work ethics, work environment, leadership & management. The book does a neat job of categorization... but with growing anesthetization of urban sprawl, this book will help define the basis for corporate planning, urban planning, government and the entire information economy where the currency is the *thought* itself. However, someone must write a book about the growing rift among the dreams of the various generational & economic strata of the population.
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