Archives for October 2018

“Every day, you have a chance to make your own opportunities!” – Futurist  Jim Carroll

It’s all up to you, and not anyone else. So what are you going to do today?

That’s the mindset that you need to be in, and its the perspective I provide to my clients from the stage. Consider 3D printing, for example, which is seen in this photo from a manufacturing event that I headlined.

The acceleration of this technology means that we can now flip the traditional process of product design and development on its head. No longer do we need to design and commit to a massive production run; instead, we can design, prototype, test, redesign, and test again. The new methodology of iterative product design and development, which completely changes the way that we might think about the opportunity in front of us with a new product.

You can do the same thing with your approach to opportunity throughout the day. With the right mindset, you can try one idea, and if it doesn’t fly, try another. Iterate, redo and do it again.

“Think about what makes you most comfortable in your routine. Stop doing it!” – Futurist  Jim Carroll

There’s a lot of shared insight between the time I spend on the stage and the investment that I make at the gym. While this quote is often the focus of the message I deliver while working on the former, it actually came to me during a workout at the latter.

With that, I often drive my trainer crazy. In this case, she was trying to get me to work on one particular movement as we transition the exercise routine from the past season of golf to the upcoming ski season. It seems to be all about agility, balance, flexibility and fast response to changing conditions – hey, and that’s often the main message for my clients!

But I digress. So she had me working on something on a balance board, and I fell into a routine that seemed to be pretty comfortable. But wait – I thought – it’s too comfortable! So I changed it up a bit to make it more challenging, finished the set, grabbed my iPhone, and typed in this quote which came to my mind.

Organizations wallow in routine, and smother themselves in the predictable. The world around them doesn’t match that level of sameness. That’s why the ones that shake up their routine on a regular basis are those who survive – and thrive.

It’s Monday. Be different today!

“Be extraordinary!” – Dorothy Jean Carroll Andrews

We celebrate the life of my older-sister by 2 years this morning at a funeral in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

If you could define your life by the enthusiasm you could fire up from the first 3-chords of “Start Me Up” by the Rolling Stones, that was Dorothy. She had an infectious joy, an overwhelming compassion, relentless kindness, and a dance move that was, well, unique to say the least. Her zest for the moment was a spirit that impacted every single person that she knew.

Her determination through this year knew no end. She made it to the wedding date of her son before giving in to the pancreactic cancer that took her. This photos captures the essence of her soul and her purpose in life.

It’s pretty hard to define someone who lived such a life. Rest in peace, Dot.

“It’s now a new era of volatility – and flexibility should be your focus!” – Futurist  Jim Carroll

18 months before the economic meltdown that really went full speed ahead in October 2008 with the collapse of Lehman Brothers, I began speaking on stage about the necessity to develop an innovation and future strategy for recessionary times.

Take for example, this post I wrote in March of 2008: “Leading in Turbulent Times: How to Innovate During the Recession.” I wrote that based on material I was using on stage from February of 2007.

Hey, guess what’s happening right now! If you think everything is rosy, well, I love your optimism. I’m paid to be an optimist always. My optimism is now focused on strategies to get me through the next recession I’m getting pretty good at it – I think this will be my 8th one!

Why so glum,chum? Because markets hate uncertainty, and there is way too much of it right now. Too many signals from too many directions – and the market psychology that everything will continue going up has been irreparably damaged has come to an end.

What’s next? We’ll have some type of trigger, and that uncertainty will bubble over with the froth that came together in October 2008.

And remember this fact as I say this – I am paid to be an optimist. Right now, I’m not.

So given that, I’ve already moved on and am digging out my materials from 2008 – strategic planning documents I wrote for clients, innovation insight for recessionary times, video clips. I’m ready to go – are you?

When volatility strikes, you need to have a lot of flexibility with your structure, plans, strategies, actions and core capabilities. Looking back, In can already spot how that flexibility worked for some of my clients from 2008-2009 as they rode out the wave of challenge.

And so in the weeks and months to come, I’ll have the flexibility to share with you the insight you will need to develop your own recession flexibility.

Maybe I won’t have to – but I doubt it!

 

“Don’t just stay one step ahead – make it a few years instead!” – Futurist  Jim Carroll

After all, the odds are pretty good that is where you will spend quite a bit of time.

After many of my keynotes, I’m approached by people as I leave the stage – “how do you figure out what is coming next? How do you make your predictions?” A lot of them are based on common sense; casting forward existing trends; by listening to other people who are smarter than me; by spending an incessant amount of time thinking about what comes next; and by doing a tremendous amount of research.

Plus, I’m weird. I might often have very bad spatial awareness about something gone on within a few feet of me right now while I order what this situation might look like in 2025. I will forget something I need to do in the next 10 minutes while pondering what this day might look like in 50 years. I’m often accused of forgetting about what is important *right now* as opposed to what is important *tomorrow*. Its a mindset.

It’s also a pretty poor excuse at trying to get out of vacuuming. Trust me, I’ve tried.

You should be your own futurist. This doesn’t mean that you need to jump full speed ahead into studying trends in depth. It just means you should develop a finally tuned trends radar that gives you some insight into things that might impact you.

Spend a bit more time thinking about a current reality, and cast it into a new realty.

The goal will be to have a better understanding of how to adapt and align to the change that will inevitability come about.