Daily Inspiration: Are You Fred, or George?

“Are you Fred or George? Wilma or Jane?” – #Futurist Jim Carroll

Your answer probably matters. Are you stuck in the past when the future is hurtling at us with staggering speed?

If you follow me, you’ll know I often tell the story of the time that the Jetsons met the Flintstones. That cartoon scene defines much of the world today. On stage, its’ a significant challenge!

Today I’m speaking at a dealer meeting for a comply in the transportation space. I know I’ve got a lot of folks in the room who won’t like the inevitable trends I will talk about – #selfdrivingcars, #autonomousvehicles, #electricvehicles and more.

They won’t like it because the future represents a threat to what they sell; it involves change; it takes them out of their comfort zone. That’s a natural human reaction to change.

Some of the folks in the room will have an open mind, and will be of a mindset that they need to start aligning themselves to future opportunities.

Yet others won’t – they’ll view my message with hostility, anger, negativity. The interesting thing is that the future is going to happen to them, regardless.

I spoke about this challenge when interviewed by the Las Vegas Business Press after speaking at an economic development conference:

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“We’re going to get to the 22nd century,” Carroll said. “We’re not going back to the 1950s. There are those who say, let’s focus on coal and wave a magic wand and bring back these manufacturing jobs, which are dead gone and not going to happen. If we look at the world of manufacturing, it’s all about robotics and 3-D printing. It’s all about mass customization and about the ability to design products faster and get them to market faster and highly intelligent connected products.”

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What is your choice?

Will you hang out with Fred Flintstone while he toils away in a future based upon coal, or are you George Jetson, firmly aligned to a future that involves wind, solar, renewables, microgrid, electric vehicles?

Your answer matters!