---
title: "Daily Inspiration: “People fear what they don’t understand. Make it your job to provide them the courage of insight!”"
canonical: https://jimcarroll.com/2022/01/daily-inspiration-people-fear-what-they-dont-understand-make-it-your-job-to-provide-them-the-courage-of-insight/
updated: 2022-04-01T12:54:52+00:00
---

# Daily Inspiration: “People fear what they don’t understand. Make it your job to provide them the courage of insight!”

*“People fear what they don’t understand. Make it your job to provide them the courage of insight!”* – Futurist Jim Carroll

![](https://jimcarroll.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/People-Fear-What-They-Dont-Understand.jpg)

To be a futurist is to be in a career in which you regularly confront people with the things that might make them uncomfortable. That’s because the future involves change. Since there’s a lot of change going on, and most people hate change, so organizations have a bit of a conundrum to solve!

But consider this – much of the change aversion usually comes about because people are ill-informed as to what’s really going on and its implications. The key then is communication. But if you are going to try to push through their change-resistance barrier, you’d better know what you are up against.

Those who fear the future through a lack of understanding fall into several traps which:

- **Inertia is easy**: when confronted by change, many people react by …. doing nothing. Battle back with insight!

- **It’s easy to avoid tough decisions**:  The future often involves tough decisions – but every difficult decision can be made easier with clarity.

- **An unwillingness to confront the truth**: When fearful, people paint a reality that is not quite right. Give them an honest reality check, and use that as a catalyst for action.

- **A short-term focus**: most people don’t think in time spans longer than three months or a year, and so they can’t see the scope of change. By taking them further into the realm of change, you can ensure they are operating with full insight.

- **A lack of appreciation for the extent of disruption that is underway**: most industries and business models won’t be the same in 5 or 10 years. That’s a threat – but also an opportunity, ad that needs to be clearly communicated.

- **A culture that is risk-averse**: people survive through cautious, careful maneuvers. Yet the fast rate of change goes against that mindset. The best way to shift in innovation-focused risk is by outlining the nature of what comes next, in order to spur some thinking as to what to do about it!

- **Paralyzed by the fear of failure**: people fear the future because they fear they will fail once it arrives. But that need not be the case – by outlining a path forward, you can ease many concerns.

- **A refusal or unwillingness to adapt to new ideas**: people become stuck – because new ideas are often considered to be ‘dumb ideas.’ Make those ideas into smart ideas through knowledge, and things might turn around.

- **A loss of confidence**: change can challenge our certainty of success – most people aren’t certain they can compete, adapt and change. Perhaps this is the biggest challenge of all to overcome — but you can only overcome it through insight.

- **Fear of the unknown in times of uncertainty**: far too many people go into a ‘wait-and-see’ mode when they aren’t sure as to what comes next. Decisions are being deferred at a furious pace. The result is that uncertainty drives the agenda. Shift into certainty through clarity!

Bill Gates once observed “*We always overestimate the change that will occur in the next two years and underestimate the change that **will occur in the next ten. Don’t let yourself be lulled into inaction*.” The key opportunity to eliminate that underestimation is through knowledge, information, and insight!