ABSTRACT
People, products and ideas are starting to move faster and faster in every direction, and society is facing unprecedented challenges. The knowledge society, the emerging technologies and the globalized economy force men and organizations to cope with rapid change, complexity, uncertainty, chaos and paradoxes. The consequences of change impact at a deeper and deeper level. Besides, change itself becomes nonlinear, because it is constantly modified by many factors which operate at different levels, with different objectives, and which are furthermore strongly interconnected. Change is a process that involves every area of our lives, both as individuals and as a community, and concerns groups, companies and institutions at every level. Interconnection, acceleration and discontinuity are the three ingredients of change. Change is accelerating at such a pace that it has become impossible to respond to everything quickly enough.
