Futurist Keynote Speaker Jim Carroll: Disruptive Trend & Innovation Expert

Futurist Keynote Speaker,  Author, Innovation Expert. 

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Archives for November 2008

“Competing with analytics” – “the next billion dollar industry”

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2008analytics.jpgLast November, I released my “What Comes Next” trends perspective, outlining some of the significant trends that I believed would have the most impact in our longer term future. It’s still worth a read, and I don’t think the economic turmoil has changed anything written there.

So I admit I was surprised, given the massive quantity of doom-and-gloom thinking which is smothering creativity everywhere, when I came across this advertisement, offering a 3-day executive level course on ‘Competing with Analytics.” And right there, they’ve quoted my “What Comes Next” document, which was re-printed in Toronto, Canada’s Globe and Mail earlier in January of this year: “Analytics is hot….it’s where the next-billion dollar industries will be born.”

I don’t disagree with that assessment, and neither does IBM CEO Sam Palmisano.

As quoted widely, and from an article in eWeek, in early November he made a speech in which he “called on the next administration to invest more money in refurbishing the electronic grid system to reduce the amount of energy required to power it, make better use of information technology to reinvent the way healthcare is provided and green technology investments that would enhance traffic and mass transit systems to make everybody who depends on these systems more efficient.”

Which, if you study it, revolves around analytics, linked to infrastructure. Where’s the growth? We all know where it is!

Obviously Sam is a bit self-serving with his call to action, but the truth is IBM is one of many companies that is at the forefront of smart infrastructure development.

There’s lots of growth out there. Innovators stay focused on opportunity, the future, and educating themselves on the trends that are going to have real impact in the future. Ten years back, you’ll look at this advertisement and think — “man, those guys were on to something.”

I think I’ll write the folks running the 3-day course and see if they will give me a complimentary admission. (-;

  • “What Comes Next: A Trends Perspective for the Future” adobe.gif
  • Competing with Analytics course Web site
  • Time for a new digital deal – eWeek

CEO insight: “We’ve got the survival thing down. Now we’re into phase two.”

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08CEOGrowth.jpgI was in a conference call yesterday with the CEO of a global organization; I’ll be doing a leadership session with them this winter. It’s one of several pre-planning calls that I’ll do with this client as I shape my remarks for their meeting.

I love the clarity of the CEO mind. At one point early in the call, he stated how quickly they’re transitioning through fast-paced economic events.

“We established three strategic priorities. Number one, survive. Number two, innovate. Number three, grow. We’ve got the survival thing down. Now we’re into phase two.”

Phase two is the reason why they are having this leadership meeting, which has just been pulled together over the last several weeks. My role is that I’ll provide them with an overview of key trends to think about; how I see other organizations dealing with fast paced economic change, not to mention my fundamental insight on “innovating in the high velocity economy.”

The comments of this particular CEO certainly outlines the stark reality of the speed of the global economic pullback.

Yet, it also offers up some evidence to my theory that some organizations are going to come out of “this thing” quicker than most people think. Organizations that focus on innovation can act faster than they did in previous recessions. They’ve learned how to be more collaborative; they can share ideas and insight faster; they can react and re-react based on fast paced trends. The result is that they can try out a variety of strategies to re-align their business for new realities.

Innovation, the auto industry and the new reality

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I’ve been talking to my clients for years about the problems with the auto industry manufacturing model, comparing the slow, ponderous mass-manufacturing techniques of Detroit to the faster, more nimble overseas competitors.

I dug this clip out from my July 2008 keynote in Sydney, Australia — it’s a good, quick hit on the different approaches to innovation in manufacturing.

Way back in 2003, I started talking about the “car company of the future,” in the context of a “Google car.” The clip seems timely now, as does a posting in July related to the video clip.

It’s January 15, 2020: What Have We Learned About Healthcare in the Last Decade?

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futuremedicine.jpg

On December 8th, the 4th annual World HealthCare Innovation and Technology Conference 2008 will open in Washington, DC. The afternoon keynote address, by Newt Gingrich, former Speaker, U.S. House of Representatives, is built on the theme of “Innovation, Technology and Competition: Transitioning to a 21st Century Intelligent Health System.”

I’m quite certain that Mr. Gingrich will offer some compelling thoughts on how to fix health care. And yet I’m certain that the prescription he offers will be much of the same old thinking that seems to dominate the health care agenda.

I’m the closing keynote speaker, on Wednesday, December 10th. I’m honored to speak at an event that includes Mr. Gingrich and other luminaries such as Scott McNealy, Chairman and Co-Founder, Sun Microsystems and Colin Angle, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, iRobot.

What am I focussing on? My keynote will stress that right now is the time for big, bold, transformative thinking in the world of health care. We’re on the edge of something pretty big, both in terms of the depths of the challenge, and yet with the scope of the innovative solutions and thinking that are coming to the marketplace.

That’s an important message, because it’s hard to be an innovator right now anywhere, particularly within the health care industry.

Part of my job is to transform ideas — so I just wrote an entry for the blog for this global conference, writing from the year 2020, looking back at what we learned in the previous twelve years.
Here’s what I wrote in 2020 about why the mindset of 2008 made for difficulties with innovative thinking:

At the time, the economic malaise that was settling in had caused most innovators to shrink away, convinced their ideas for the future had no place and time for consideration. Fear, mediocrity and staid thinking ruled the health care agenda; everyone spoke of applying the same old band-aid solutions in a different way to the same problems, with no obvious results in sight.

But where did we really end up with health care by 2020? Take a look and read the blog.

 

What’s next with financial, insurance and banking services?

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08NextGenCustomer.jpgThis dude to the right? He’s about to inherit a whole whack of money.

Indeed, before the financial meltdown in the last month, the slides I used at a wide variety of financial, banking and insurance conferences noted that the issue of inter-generatlonal wealth transfer is a huge challenge and opportunity. Estimates suggest that we’ll see $12 to $18 trillion in money moving from one generation to another in the next 12 years ….. put that up against US GDP of $12 trillion. Cut in half for the stock market crash, and it is still a staggering number!

By 2053, the number will total $130 trillion – and the funds will move to a far more independent, financially savvy, technically sophisticated generation.

How do you maintain your relevance to this next generation customer? Through innovation.

Here’s something of interest: despite the caustic conditions throughout the global banking and insurance industry, there are still a huge number of senior executives who are focused on the key trends that will impact them in the future. They do know the one thing that I know to be true: one day the volatility in the banking and insurance sector will have gone away. Things will have calmed down, and we’ll have a banking, insurance and financial sector that is “back to normal.” Or, at least, a “new normal.”

And we also do know this: once we come out of “this thing,” organizations will be back to the old-fashioned, pre-hedge-fund-derivative-fuelled ways of making money: by coming up with innovative new financial products and services that solve the problems of customers; by excelling at customer service; by launching and nurturing innovative new brands that resonate with customers; through deep, fast and transformative marketing campaigns that form unique relationships with customers. In other words, innovation will be the most critical measure of future success in the banking and insurance sector.

So how do we get there? I’ve had a few leadership retreats in the last two months with a number of global and national financial groups who are already thinking about these issues; they’ve asked me in for my thoughts on linking future trends to an innovation agenda as part of a leadership offsite. (Obviously, given fast paced trends, I’m not going into a list of companies. Suffice it to say, there are some senior leadership teams who are busy ensuring that their companies are ready for the next phase in financial services.)

What am I speaking about? Grabbing bullets from a few of the slides that I used:

Agility defines capability

  • success is defined by ability to respond to rapidly changing products, markets, business models, rapid economic trends, competitive moves, skills issues
  • innovation moves from more than just “products” to process, ad analytics, methodology, structure, capabilities, scalability, collaborative ability …. productivity

It’s about staying out in front of client / broker expectations. That’s why you need to be able to

  • scale faster
  • deploy faster
  • focus narrower

Certainties we know going forward: we’ll be in an era in which we have to constantly rebalance strategy, because of certain certainties five years out:

  • business models will be continually redefined
  • category dynamics and distribution models will be transformed and subject to external pressure
  • products will be re-invented at a more rapid pace, particularly with fast changing actuarial assumptions
  • brand perceptions will shift quicker, particular as new “influencers” in branding come to be more prevalent (Web 2.0 etc)
  • target customers will be more challenging and far less loyal

What do you do about this? One of my closing slides had this to say: “To grow in fast paced, volatile markets, focus on strength through partnership..” That will get you there quicker.

Key point: financial services, banking and insurance innovation hasn’t gone away. It’s going to come back with a roar, and the leaders in this industry are positioning themselves now.

“I’ll pay you a premium if you can save me money!”

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08MoneyBag.jpgThat’s the new value proposition for today, and you’ll do well to think about the phrase as you look to grow or maintain your top line.

The number one concern for many organizations today (beyond mere survival for some) is cost reduction.

If you can give them the chance to do this quickly, they’ll be willing to pay you a premium to do so.

This line of thinking came to line when I spent time two weeks ago in Silicon Vally. I was there to speak to a group of CIO’s from throughout the hi-tech industry.

I met a client from a few years back in the hotel lobby while checking in. He’s now involved in a different IT venture. While catching up on things, I realized that this was the exact value proposition that his new organization was selling.

They’ve got a solution that, when implemented, can help organizations save quite a bit of money on their overall technology spending. Given the scope of the potential savings, and the fact that this company has maintained growth despite economic turmoil, they’ve got a key innovation strategy nailed.

You can learn from this line of thinking. The key things to think about:

  • how can you partner up with your customers to help them achieve cost savings with what they do?
  • how can you help them quickly achieve those cost savings : faster, say, than in the alternate economy of a few months past? Remember, faster is better.
  • are there changes that you might make to your product/service line that can help to accelerate cost savings?
  • can you innovate like mad — thinking about what you do and how you do it — to generate cost savings for those who rely upon you?
    you do it — to generate cost savings for those who rely upon you?

Think about it in the context of any industry. If you are in travel/hospitality, and you offer cost savings with what you are selling, you’ve got a leg up on the competition. If you are selling a service, get the potential cost savings that the service provides out front, and clearly defined — highlight them. If you are selling an industry solution, re-examine the cost savings that your solution provides — and see what you can do to make them bigger.

Think about the phrase, and look for opportunity in it.

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THE FUTURE BELONGS TO THOSE WHO ARE FAST features the best of the insight from Jim Carroll’s blog, in which he
covers issues related to creativity, innovation and future trends.

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