Daily Inspiration: “It’s not just the trends that matter. It’s how you view them that counts!”

“It’s not just the trends that matter. It’s how you view them that counts!” – Futurist Jim Carroll

Note: Posting will be slow this week, as I’m in Hawaii for an event this Friday. The 5-hour time change makes a difference!

The photo in today’s post is from the stage that I’ll be speaking from on Friday – I went in today while they were still setting up, to get the lay of the land.

Friday morning I’ll offer up a closing keynote for this group, known as the Distributors Contractors Association, on the future of the construction industry. Here’s the agenda brochure copy:

This keynote presentation by Jim Carroll will delve deep into technological megatrends such as AI, virtual reality, 3D printing, and drones. Carroll will focus on the current era of acceleration and how these technological advancements are disrupting and transforming businesses. The world is witnessing an unprecedented wave of technological progress, and Carroll will provide insightful ideas and practical strategies on how to adapt to this rapidly changing landscape. Join us for an engaging discussion on how to stay ahead of the curve in a fast-paced world.

Essentially, these folks are the ones who put any type of infrastructure into the ground – pipelines, fiber, telecom, and other stuff. It’s a pretty massive industry, with thousands and thousands of companies and contractors working in a very specialized niche. And I’m there to shake them up, wake them up, and challenge them on the massive number of new technologies, methodologies, ideas, concepts, and new stuff coming into their industry.

The fact is, they are going to see a LOT of change.

One of the most important things any new speaker does is to check out the audience in advance, to get a good idea of who they are, and how they might be thinking. With that in mind – and since it is Hawaii – my wife and I came over early – far earlier than most of my events. We’ve seen these folks out and around the resort – out by the pool, in the bar areas watching the Super Bowl, and today, at their opening reception. I quickly get a sense that these are good, honest, hard-working people who’ve built up a successful business doing good work for quite some time – but who might become quickly overwhelmed by the speed and pace of change coming into their industry.

And the fact is, their industry is going to see a lot of change, and many of them might not be ready for it.

With that in mind, I’m adapting my keynote slide deck on the fly to emphasize a lot more about the HOW of the future – not just the WHAT of the future. It will be more important that I emphasize more that they shouldn’t just be thinking about the complex trends that I will be putting on the table – but the mindset they should have as they think about these trends. I’ll emphasize that they can choose to be overwhelmed by what’s coming and the speed with which it is occurring – or they can work hard to understand it, learn about it, and eventually, embrace it and accept it.

Sometimes, when it comes to tomorrow, it’s more important to be ready for what comes next, not just knowing about what comes next!