Daily Inspiration: “The acceleration gap is real, it’s growing, and your inability to narrow it will increasingly impact your future!”

“The acceleration gap is real, it’s growing, and your inability to narrow it will increasingly impact your future!” – Futurist Jim Carroll

It needs to be put into stark terms – the future used to be fast; now it’s faster, and you are falling behind all the time. Are you prepared to do the hard work, the heavy lifting, and the necessary effort to bridge the gap?

That’s the premise of a keynote topic that came out of a discussion with a client, as they came to the realization that while they were working to provide for agility and flexibility in their leadership team, the pandemic has meant that they need to accelerate these efforts. What used to be fast is now crazy fast. Are you dealing with the reality of the acceleration gap? I hit the virtual studio to explain your challenge.

History tells us that every global crisis shifts the axis of the future of our universe, and every crisis offers an opportunity to improve. In the harsh reality of our post-pandemic world, leadership strategies that worked yesterday are exposed as being irrelevant tomorrow even while they are being actively considered today.

Pre-pandemic, CEOs and organizations were dealing with a world of business model disruption, the acceleration of technology, the faster evolution of key skills, and other critical issues. Now, in the harsh light of our new world, one thing is clear – the future is even more complex than it was before. And a simple fact has emerged – there is a massive and growing gap between the speed of change and the ability of organizations to keep up. Bridging this gap is critical to future success – and the significance of your inability to bridge the gap is even bigger than it was before.

This playlist outlines your reality: the nature of the gap; the impact of being slow; and the key capabilities mastered by those who have bridged the gap.!

The challenges exist in stark terms. Medical knowledge is now doubling every 78 days, compared to 8 years a decade ago, rendering irrelevant previous healthcare industry strategies. We’ve gone from a world of just-in-time to just-in-case supply chain concepts because of a world of broken globalization and sudden volatility. 68% percent of organizations have said that global pandemic has forced them to adapt and change their business models – what was disruptive before is even more so today. Old methods of public relations fail faster in an era in which a Tik-Tok teenager with an effective message can change the entire course of human history. Regulatory bodies can barely keep up with the pace of fast science, as seen with the disconnect between the fast arrival of Covid-19 vaccines. An electrical grid infrastructure designed for the era of carbon vehicles is clearly unable to support today’s rush to battery-focused electric vehicles. These are but a few examples of how the ‘acceleration gap’ is affecting every aspect of our world today.

Bridge the gap! What worked yesterday will not work tomorrow! You are on a guaranteed path to failure if you don’t align with our new reality – by mastering the disconnect between speed and structure. The acceleration gap is very real, and it’s growing larger all the time. Successful organizations will be those who can shrink the gap, minimize its impact, and turn it into an opportunity rather than a threat.

Bridge the gap!