Daily Inspiration: “Legacy is not a guarantee!”

“Legacy is not a guarantee!” – Futurist  Jim Carroll

Too may people, and too many organizations, think that their past glories will guarantee future success.
They won’t.
@NASA has had me in twice for keynotes on this theme – once for a room full of astronauts, launch directors, mission controllers and senior executives; and the other for a senior leadership team @nasagoddard . It remains as one of the highlights of my career – but also had me speaking to one of my most important messages. Consider their realty. It used to be that only the USA, the Russians, and the Chinese were in the ‘space industry.’ Today, that has changed in a significant way with all kinds of private companies, entrepreneurs and startups redefining the boundaries of what is possible. We’ve got the audacity of @SpaceX who have figured out how to launch a rocket and land it upright, on a ship, in the middle of the ocean.
@NASA knew that its business model was changing, and that it had to ensure that its people realized that.  Hubris is a killer; a belief that what you have done in the past will work for you in the future is failure. Don’t ever fall for the trap. History is littered with the wreckage of failed organizations who didn’t appreciate that their time was up – and that they needed to pursue dramatic change. Is your time up? Do you become complacent with your success? Don’t! Never stop working hard; never stop reinventing yourself; never stop pursuing new ideas. Never think that you ‘have it nailed.’ Not even with your golf game! Days after going out and having my best round ever, my round blew up – and I realized I failed to appreciate my own insight.