Vinnie Mirchandani, who goes by the moniker of "Deal Architect," coaches enterprises on how to exploit disruptive technology trends. His firm has been recognized in The Black Book of Outsourcing as a top advisory boutique. He is also a prolific blogger, writing about technology-enabled innovation on his "New Florence, New Renaissance" blog and about waste in technology on his "Deal Architect" blog. Earlier in his career, he was a respected analyst at Gartner, the technology research firm, and handled numerous international assignments at PwC Consulting. He has keynoted at many business and technology conferences and has been quoted in the Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek, The Financial Times, CIO Magazine, and other executive and technology publications.

• Foreword xviiPreface xxiAcknowledgments xxxiiiPrologue: The Field of Polymath Dreams xxxviiPART I SPREZZATURA: THE ART OF MAKING THE COMPLEX LOOK EASY 1CHAPTER 1 The New Polymath: In an Age of "Wicked Problems" and Technology Abundance 3CHAPTER 2 Modern-Day Dark Ages: So Much Stagnation 17CHAPTER 3 Polymath Profile #1: General Electric 31PART II THE R-E-N-A-I-S-S-A-N-C-E FRAMEWORK: BUILDING BLOCKS FOR THE NEW POLYMATH 51CHAPTER 4 Residence: Better Technologically Equipped Than the Offi ce 53CHAPTER 5 Exotics: Innovation from Left Field 67CHAPTER 6 Polymath Profile #2: Cognizant 81CHAPTER 7 Networks: Bluetooth to Broadband 89CHAPTER 8 Polymath Profile #3: Plantronics 107CHAPTER 9 Arsonists: And Other Disruptors 113CHAPTER 10 Polymath Profile #4: W. R. Hambrecht 129CHAPTER 11 Interfaces: For All Our Senses 137CHAPTER 12 Sustainability: Delivering to Both the Green and Gold Agendas 151CHAPTER 13 Polymath Profile #5: Kleiner Perkins Cleantech 165CHAPTER 14 Singularity: Human–Machine Convergence 175CHAPTER 15 Analytics: Spreadsheets, Search, and Semantics 191CHAPTER 16 Polymath Profile #6: National Hurricane Center 205CHAPTER 17 Networks Again: Communities, Crowds, Contracts, and Collaboration 213CHAPTER 18 Clouds: Technology-as-a-Service 233CHAPTER 19 Polymath Profile #7: salesforce.com 251CHAPTER 20 Ethics: In an Age of Cyberwar and Cloning 257PART III GROOMING YOUR OWN NEW POLYMATH 275CHAPTER 21 Polymath Profile #8: BP CTO 277CHAPTER 22 Moon Shots for Budding Polymaths 295Epilogue: The Beginner's Mind 303Notes 307About the Author 325Index 327

Vinnie Mirchandani, who goes by the moniker of "Deal Architect," coaches enterprises on how to exploit disruptive technology trends. His firm has been recognized in The Black Book of Outsourcing as a top advisory boutique. He is also a prolific blogger, writing about technology-enabled innovation on his "New Florence, New Renaissance" blog and about waste in technology on his "Deal Architect" blog. Earlier in his career, he was a respected analyst at Gartner, the technology research firm, and handled numerous international assignments at PwC Consulting. He has keynoted at many business and technology conferences and has been quoted in the Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek, The Financial Times, CIO Magazine, and other executive and technology publications.

• Foreword xviiPreface xxiAcknowledgments xxxiiiPrologue: The Field of Polymath Dreams xxxviiPART I SPREZZATURA: THE ART OF MAKING THE COMPLEX LOOK EASY 1CHAPTER 1 The New Polymath: In an Age of "Wicked Problems" and Technology Abundance 3CHAPTER 2 Modern-Day Dark Ages: So Much Stagnation 17CHAPTER 3 Polymath Profile #1: General Electric 31PART II THE R-E-N-A-I-S-S-A-N-C-E FRAMEWORK: BUILDING BLOCKS FOR THE NEW POLYMATH 51CHAPTER 4 Residence: Better Technologically Equipped Than the Offi ce 53CHAPTER 5 Exotics: Innovation from Left Field 67CHAPTER 6 Polymath Profile #2: Cognizant 81CHAPTER 7 Networks: Bluetooth to Broadband 89CHAPTER 8 Polymath Profile #3: Plantronics 107CHAPTER 9 Arsonists: And Other Disruptors 113CHAPTER 10 Polymath Profile #4: W. R. Hambrecht 129CHAPTER 11 Interfaces: For All Our Senses 137CHAPTER 12 Sustainability: Delivering to Both the Green and Gold Agendas 151CHAPTER 13 Polymath Profile #5: Kleiner Perkins Cleantech 165CHAPTER 14 Singularity: Human–Machine Convergence 175CHAPTER 15 Analytics: Spreadsheets, Search, and Semantics 191CHAPTER 16 Polymath Profile #6: National Hurricane Center 205CHAPTER 17 Networks Again: Communities, Crowds, Contracts, and Collaboration 213CHAPTER 18 Clouds: Technology-as-a-Service 233CHAPTER 19 Polymath Profile #7: salesforce.com 251CHAPTER 20 Ethics: In an Age of Cyberwar and Cloning 257PART III GROOMING YOUR OWN NEW POLYMATH 275CHAPTER 21 Polymath Profile #8: BP CTO 277CHAPTER 22 Moon Shots for Budding Polymaths 295Epilogue: The Beginner's Mind 303Notes 307About the Author 325Index 327

Vinnie Mirchandani, who goes by the moniker of "Deal Architect," coaches enterprises on how to exploit disruptive technology trends. His firm has been recognized in The Black Book of Outsourcing as a top advisory boutique. He is also a prolific blogger, writing about technology-enabled innovation on his "New Florence, New Renaissance" blog and about waste in technology on his "Deal Architect" blog. Earlier in his career, he was a respected analyst at Gartner, the technology research firm, and handled numerous international assignments at PwC Consulting. He has keynoted at many business and technology conferences and has been quoted in the Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek, The Financial Times, CIO Magazine, and other executive and technology publications.

• Foreword xviiPreface xxiAcknowledgments xxxiiiPrologue: The Field of Polymath Dreams xxxviiPART I SPREZZATURA: THE ART OF MAKING THE COMPLEX LOOK EASY 1CHAPTER 1 The New Polymath: In an Age of "Wicked Problems" and Technology Abundance 3CHAPTER 2 Modern-Day Dark Ages: So Much Stagnation 17CHAPTER 3 Polymath Profile #1: General Electric 31PART II THE R-E-N-A-I-S-S-A-N-C-E FRAMEWORK: BUILDING BLOCKS FOR THE NEW POLYMATH 51CHAPTER 4 Residence: Better Technologically Equipped Than the Offi ce 53CHAPTER 5 Exotics: Innovation from Left Field 67CHAPTER 6 Polymath Profile #2: Cognizant 81CHAPTER 7 Networks: Bluetooth to Broadband 89CHAPTER 8 Polymath Profile #3: Plantronics 107CHAPTER 9 Arsonists: And Other Disruptors 113CHAPTER 10 Polymath Profile #4: W. R. Hambrecht 129CHAPTER 11 Interfaces: For All Our Senses 137CHAPTER 12 Sustainability: Delivering to Both the Green and Gold Agendas 151CHAPTER 13 Polymath Profile #5: Kleiner Perkins Cleantech 165CHAPTER 14 Singularity: Human–Machine Convergence 175CHAPTER 15 Analytics: Spreadsheets, Search, and Semantics 191CHAPTER 16 Polymath Profile #6: National Hurricane Center 205CHAPTER 17 Networks Again: Communities, Crowds, Contracts, and Collaboration 213CHAPTER 18 Clouds: Technology-as-a-Service 233CHAPTER 19 Polymath Profile #7: salesforce.com 251CHAPTER 20 Ethics: In an Age of Cyberwar and Cloning 257PART III GROOMING YOUR OWN NEW POLYMATH 275CHAPTER 21 Polymath Profile #8: BP CTO 277CHAPTER 22 Moon Shots for Budding Polymaths 295Epilogue: The Beginner's Mind 303Notes 307About the Author 325Index 327