And what about you, the individual?

We think the forces of change that we have described up to now are going to be so profound that their impact will be felt well beyond the corporate orbit. “But what about me?” we hear you cry. We’ve talked about the changes the corporation will be undergoing, but so far neglected the impacts on the individual. Those impacts are largely very positive, if you keep your wits about you and exploit your real talents to the full in the Brave New World. But in this Darwinian regime, you will need to network, know your value and be prepared bargain with it, and shy away from being one of life’s plodders.

And what about the employment contracts of tomorrow? We expect diminution of job security to accelerate in the future. After all, one of the defining features of the atomic corporation is its adaptability and this is not compatible with rigid workforces. Life-long employment with one or two corporations is over, even if some quarters of Europe and Asia have not realised it yet.

Our atomic model predicts that corporations will fragment into lots of different pieces, from ‘smart companies’ consisting of a handful of creative engineers and designers to ‘asset platforms’ involving global operations and billions of dollars of capital. These ‘atomic’ structures will be bound together by webspinners whose role is to connect many commercial partners together into infinitely variable value networks. The atomic model strongly reflects corporate competencies such as product design, customer management, deal-making and operational support. One size does not fit all, and companies will need to select a specific area of competence or focus if they are to develop a valuable role in the connected economy. The same arguments could be applied to the individual, who is the most vital and flexible atomic component of any economic system.

The most important thing, if you face corporate atomisation, is to work out what combination of skills you excel in: are you an innovator by nature, or do you prefer to follow well-established paths? Do you excel at delivering processes and managing assets, or would you say that building and maintaining relationships is your key skill? Answering these questions will direct you to the resulting atoms you will be happiest in. This then is individual atomisation, the personal counterpart to the corporate phenomenon.

Scary as all this might sound, this is a good thing if you have any entrepreneurial spirit. The atomic corporation will generously reward you if it can understand how and where you fit into the new business world. Our real incomes are already at least double those of our parents and the prospect of a million-dollar salary is not unrealistic for anyone reading our book.

In fact, we think a more appropriate name for the new Millennium would be the 'Trillennium' because we predict that within the next ten years the world will see its first Trillionaire. It won't be Bill Gates or Larry Ellison. In fact, it won't be anyone featured on the pages of today's Fortune magazine, the Financial Times, or Wall Street Journal. Instead, we think our first trillionaire is still at high school, still blissfully unaware of his or her brilliant prospects. We are living in a world of increasing returns based on the exploitation of relationships, and these could be literally boundless as network connections reach near infinite proportions.