Daily Inspiration: “Forget your past! Clear your cache!”

“Forget your past! Clear your cache!” – Futurist Jim Carroll

The barrier that exists with many a successful future comes from focusing on where you’ve been, rather than on where you are going. Your biggest problem is that you don’t remember what we told you about your future. Hit the ‘clear cache’ button, OK?

I was reminded of this fact over the weekend while reading about the upcoming car summit – there is a massive shortage of computer chips, and it is having a dramatic impact on automakers. Consider this headline from the Washington Post: “White House to hold another semiconductor summit with industry leaders as chip shortage worsens. (If the supply pinch drags on, the economic impact is likely to grow, as auto factories remain idle, affecting auto suppliers, dealers, and other sectors.)

D’oh – it’s not like we didn’t tell you that the industry was shifting, that cars were becoming computers, hi-tech rolling platforms of intelligent connectivity on wheels. Electric is the new energy, programming is the new skill set, and connectivity is the new horsepower. Just take a look at my automotive trends section: https://automotive.jimcarroll.com.

But it’s not just the auto industry; every industry is becoming a software-driven industry, a high-tech product platform, and your ability to align to this reality defines your future. Over on VentureBeat, they’ve covered this aspect in an article last week: Global chip shortage affects more than cars.

It’s not like we didn’t tell you that your future was technology-based; how can you find yourself in a situation in which you don’t have an adequate pipeline? Heck, way back in 2000, in my book Lightbulbs to Yottabits, I warned that every industry was becoming a technology industry, driven by connectivity, computers, and code. I carried this theme into my disruptive talk – and wrote it into blog posts such as The Reality of Disruption: (24 Reasons Why Your Company Might Die Before You Get Old). Check points 1, 2, and 3…..

There’s a reason you had me in to visit you at Mercedes Benz, Chrysler, Volvo, Magna International … all of these leadership talks included a clear overview of your hi-tech future.

It’s not like you didn’t know this was coming – so why didn’t you do what you needed to do?

I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume it’s a simple memory error.

So clear your cache.

There’s still time to change the road you’re on.