Daily Inspiration: “You’d better hurry up. Tomorrow will be here before you know it!”

“You’d better hurry up. Tomorrow will be here before you know it!” – Futurist  Jim Carroll

I’m in New York City this morning, and in a few years will be on stage, opening the @SAP Financial Services Industry Conference.

Gosh, it’s probably the 30th or 40th time this organization has booked me since 2004 – I guess they like my message! The photo here is from last year, when I keynoted the annual SAP for Utilities conference.

This morning, my audience are a few hundred insurance and banking executives, eager to understand what comes next in the disruption of their industries. I’ll cover that issue, but I’ll also focus on one of the biggest issues and challenges when it comes to the future – timing!

When will things happen? Sometimes, slowly, and then all at once. And if you aren’t ready for that reality, you’ll end up falling behind. And yet if you move too fast, you’ll find yourself to far out in front, running a race all on your own.

This industry has faced predictions of their doom and massive disruption for close to 20 years – I was speaking at insurance industry conferences on the idea of “disintermediation” as far back as 1996. That’s the idea that people won’t use insurance brokers and financial advisors – they will largely do it on their own, online.

Some of that has come about, yet today, the vast majority of insurance is still sold by brokers; the vast majority of people still do their investing and financial management through a professional. The result is that this industry can become a little bit jaded with the potential for disruptive change. The issue of timing is front and centre.

Part of my message this morning is that while we might be uncertain as to when the future will happen – we’d better be ready for it the. It does!