It is common knowledge that only about 20 percent of an iceberg floats above the waterline. Yet, if you are a ship captain, you need to concern yourself with the remaining 80 percent. If you don’t, you could end up sharing a fate similar to that of Edward John Smith, the captain of the Titanic.

This "iceberg principle" does not, however, just apply to the shipping industry. In many scientific and technical fields, information is doubling at an astounding rate — approximately every seven years. This means that by the year 2015 everything we know today about a field such as biology or physics will represent just half of our future knowledge; and in 14 years time, what we know today will represent a mere 25 percent. This vast assortment of new future knowledge will likely rip apart certain industries and businesses with the same effectiveness of the iceberg that sliced through the Titanic and dropped it to the floor of the Atlantic Ocean.

If you hope to survive, one thing likely to help you is to unlearn the habit of focusing on that portion of the "iceberg" which is above the waterline and start concerning yourself more with what you don’t know today — but will need to know in the future.