Adventures of an Optimist: A Progress Report on the 400 Year Project to Help You Improve 20 Times Faster

In 1995, Donald Mitchell began an audacious task: Demonstrate ways for the whole world to make 400 years worth of normal improvements in the 20 years between 2015 and 2035, a task he calls the 400 Year Project. The results could be as dramatic for humanity as going from sending smoke signals to watching videos sent via cell phones and email had been for extending communications. With guidance from management guru Peter Drucker, direction from clients, and assistance from talented colleagues and students, the project has identified many breakthrough solutions which meet the project’s goals. Mitchell describes the roots of his practical optimism, identifies how he organized the project, shares what he learned from pursuing this investigation into untapped breakthroughs, and spells out the focus needed to accelerate global improvements by 20 times from 2015 to 2035. Mitchell also summarizes the books he’s coauthored on creating accelerated breakthroughs as part of the 400 Year Project. This is the 2012 revised edition of the 2007 book.