JimCarroll

“Become known for what really matters!” – Futurist Jim Carroll

Futurist Jim Carroll is running a series that began November 27, 2023, and will end on January 1, 2024 – ’24 Strategies for 2024.’ Rather than running a trend series for the upcoming year as he has previously, this series will examine a number of his personal beliefs on how to best align yourself with the future. There will be a post each weekday, excluding weekends and holidays, until the series runs its course. You will find it on his blog at https://blog.jimcarroll.com, or on the website https://2024.jimcarroll.com

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Your reputation matters. Your personal brand counts. How others perceive you determines so much of what will drive your success going forward. You will define your tomorrow not only through the hard work you put toward your success but how you do the right thing for others.

All of these reasons and more are why ‘becoming known for what matters’ is strategy #10 of my 24 Strategies for 2024 series.

With that in mind, why not spend a good part of the next year – and beyond – on turning things around and upside down, so that you become known as the person who does the right thing, rather than just someone who does something?

Since I seem to like lists of ‘101 Things,’ here’s my list of 101 things you might try to achieve the goal of becoming known for what matters.

1. Make sure other people don’t see you as a barrier to tomorrow – they should see you as a gateway.
2. Don’t be the person who never has ideas – accelerate your imagination instead.
3. Instead of saying it can’t be done, be the one to suggest how it can be done.
4. Rather than being frustrated at a team that can’t come together, try to be the individual who helps them to find a common cause.
5. Instead of complaining to someone, try to find the thing that can lead you to a compliment.
6. Don’t let the anger inside you get out – take a deep breath and find your better self.
7. Be someone who provides others hope, not doubt.
8. Share your thoughts about possibilities, rather than keeping them to yourself
9. Transform obstacles that are in the way into pathways for success.
10. Be someone who unites, not divides.
11. Give comforting words that heal, not hateful words that wound.
12. Turn your challenges into opportunities for others.
13. Be that someone who can offer a voice of reason amid all the chaos.
14. Encourage, don’t discourage, whenever you can.
15. Try to find the seeds of agreement rather than being the harvester of discord
16. Lead by example, instead of looking to others for guidance
17. Find the opportunities in disruptive trends, instead of focusing on just the threats
18. Become known as someone who embraces creativity, rather than one who actively shuts down ideas
19. Be the person who champions teamwork, not the person who works in isolation.
20. Get a reputation as someone who listens carefully, not the one who shouts everyone down
21. Give praise when warranted rather than criticism when not
22. Actively solicit opinions, instead of being the person who ignores feedback.
23. Be someone who thinks outside the box, not the person who is confined by it
24. Build people up, not the one who tears them down
25. Be the person who spreads creativity, not the person who contains it.
26. Inspire others with hope rather than discouraging them with fear
27. Don’t be known for being average – be seen as the one who pushes beyond limitations
28. Be an engine of offbeat ideas rather than being known as an unimaginative mind
29. Be the person who thinks differently, not the person who follows the crowd.
30. If you have any power in a situation, use it to empower others
31. Be that someone who redefines the future, not the one who dwells on the past.
32. Get known as being the one who champions meaningful change, not the person who resists it
33. Make sure you are known as a thoughtful risk taker rather than a destructive, impulse-oriented taker of risk
34. Make sure your enthusiasm for tomorrow is always alive rather than actively dormant
35. Try to achieve the biggest goals instead of being known as the one who settles for mediocrity.
36. Gain a reputation as being one who constantly improves, not the person who stagnates.
37. Find opportunities in relentless uncertainty rather than bemoaning about the state of regular volatility
38. Be the person who works towards a common vision, not the person who loses sight of the goal.
39. Be the person who is barely noticed but greatly impactful, not the person who seeks the spotlight without impact.
40. Help others unlock their potential rather than undertaking actions that might stifle their growth.
41. Be the person who combines ideas creatively, not the person who keeps ideas separate
42. Be unconventional, not boring
43. Be the person who values team intelligence, not the person who underestimates it.
44. Get recognition for being someone who can translate vision into reality, not the person who loses sight of the vision.
45. Be the person who dreams boldly, not the person who dreams small.
46. Write new stories of success rather than sticking to the old scripts
47. Use your imagination to connect unconnected dots rather than drawing straight lines
48. Build trust instead of eroding it
49. Invest in the potential for unleashed energy, rather than suppressing it
50. Be the person who sees change as progress, not the person who sees it as a threat.
51. Be the person who seeds new worlds, not the person who dwells in the old ones.
52. Find the possibilities rather than obsessing over the impossibilities.
53. Be the person who builds trust, not the person who breeds mistrust.
54. Be the person who creates more leaders, not the person who creates followers.
55. Don’t be that someone who holds up the status quo – break it
56. Don’t settle for the usual results – find the extraordinary ones
57. Be the person who has a disciplined eye, not the person who overlooks details.
58. Be that someone who embraces disruptive ideas rather than running from them
59. Don’t give up on the failed idea 0m use it as the springboard to the next one
60. Get the reputation of being someone who knows how to go through uncertainty, rather than clinging to certainty
61. Be the one who can focus while everyone else is distracted
62. Find the potential in those around you, rather than trying to confine it
63. Be a ray of sunshine on someone’s cloudy day
64. Celebrate the success of others rather than focusing on your own
65. Be able to see beyond the obvious rather than being blinded by the ordinary
66. Chase the new paradigms rather than clinging to the old ideas
67. Become known as the one who can bring ideas to life rather than the one who dismisses them
68. Be the person who brings something new into being, not the person who resists new beginnings.
69. Be known for new ideas, not old ones
70. Be recognized for building up teams rather than tearing them down
71. Get known for embracing innovative ideas, not fighting them
72. can define the trends of tomorrow and what to do about them, rather than suggesting that what worked yesterday
73. Be the reason someone believes in the goodness of people.
74. Be the person who nurtures and enhances, not the person who diminishes and degrades.
75. Establish a goal of leading with inspiration, not fear.
76. Be the tide that lifts  all boats, not the storm that sinks them
77. Be someone people can count on when times are troubled, rather than the person who runs away and hides
78. Cultivate a culture of generosity, not selfishness.
79. Be an architect of dreams, not a demolisher of hope.
80. Set a mindset in which you will try to spread positivity, not negativity.
81. Be a warrior of kindness, not a soldier of bitterness.
82. Foster understanding, not misunderstanding.
83. Be a beacon of inspiration, not desperation.
84. Make it your mission to promote healing, not hurting.
85. Be the person who reflects quality leadership, not the person who neglects responsibility.
86. Encourage laughter, not tears.
87. Be the person who achieves uncommon results, not the person who settles for the ordinary.
88. Be the person who sees the future, not the person who is stuck in the past.
89. At any given moment of difficulty, try to offer hope, not despair.
90. Be a builder of bridges, not walls.
91. Be a creator of opportunities, not a creator of obstacles.
92. When it comes to knowledge and exploration of new things, encourage growth, not stagnation.
93. Be the person who thinks ‘we’, not the person who thinks ‘I’.
94. In the face of relentless change, encourage resilience, not resignation
95. Be a champion of the possible, not a critic of the impossible.
96. When confusion abounds, be that someone who is a beacon of clarity, not ambiguity.
97. Be a beacon of optimism, not pessimism.
98. Encourage enthusiasm, not lethargy.
99. Be a source of vitality, not fatigue.
100. Offer a smile, not a frown
101. Be that one who, in 2024, takes the initiative to be a better version of your better self.

Be a person who matters for who you are.

If you can do only a few of these things in 2024, you are going to have a fantastic year!

 

“Study more science” – Futurist Jim Carroll

Futurist Jim Carroll is running a series that began November 27, 2023, and will end on January 1, 2024 – ’24 Strategies for 2024.’ Rather than running a trend series for the upcoming year as he has previously, this series will examine a number of his personal beliefs on how to best align yourself with the future. There will be a post each weekday, excluding weekends and holidays, until the series runs its course. You will find it on his blog at https://blog.jimcarroll.com, or on the website https://2024.jimcarroll.com

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If science is going to define much of your tomorrow, wouldn’t it make sense to know more about it?

By the time you read this post, I will be undergoing what is known as a Photorefractive Keratectomy (PRK) surgery on my right at the world-renowned Herzig Eye Institute in downtown Toronto. It’s a relatively minor procedure for a small eyesight correction; it’s an update to the original vision improvement that I saw from a Refractive Lens Exchange surgery back in 2013. That permitted me to finally abandon contact lenses after 34 years of use. Along the way, there have been a couple of Lasik touchups to that procedure, plus another small procedure to deal with a bit of Posterior Capsule Opacification!

That’s a lot of vision correction procedures, but Herzig stands behind their lifetime guarantee of quality vision.

Yes, for some people it can take a lot to trust the science of this type of surgical eye care – I know MANY people who have been very nervous about LASIK or other procedures, and who later confess to me that they should never have waited so long. Yet in my case, I have complete trust in Sheldon Herzig, the surgeon who will undertake the procedure tomorrow. That’s because I live a life in which I trust science, and I try to immerse myself in science as much as I can. 

I was thinking about all this in the context of my day job – I study tomorrow and interpret that for other people. And so for me, science isn’t just something that involves a matter of trust – I also know that science defines the future of just about everything. With that in mind, I spend a lot of time studying a LOT of science for the many keynotes I undertake. Science helps me to interpret the trends of our fast-moving world. That matters.

Maybe you should also consider studying more science to better deal with your fast-moving world, both personally and professionally. It will inform your ability to make the decisions that are necessary along the way, whether for your business, industry, career, or personal life.

That’s why this is strategy number 9 of my 24 Strategies for 2024 series.

In my case, the deep study of scientific literature and trends informs many of my keynotes, with several recent deep dives involving a wide variety of disparate topics.

These have included:

• research into trends involving pharmaceutical development and clinical trials;

• the transition of ammonia into a potential energy source involving what is referred to as ‘blue ammonia’ and ‘green ammonia’, and the transitional steps on this particular scientific voyage;

• the acceleration and transition of battery science and the impact not only on the vehicle industry but also on the utility and energy supply industry;

• artificial intelligence (of course); the acceleration of genomic medicine and the impact on personalized medicine concepts;

• the decline of the traditional carbon economy and opportunities for innovation in the petrochemical sector;

• new materials that allow for the creation of solar cells that permit plants to grow underneath, providing for dual-purpose energy/food farms;

• new scientific materials that permit new advances with 3d printing; and so much more.

That’s a lot of science!

The fact is, it used to be extremely difficult to do this type of research, but it is becoming easier with more sophisticated knowledge research tools becoming available all the time. In my case, it’s not uncommon for me to use my various research tools to grab several hundred, if not thousands, of articles on a particular topic that I am immersed in. I don’t consider it my job to walk on stage and give fluffy, generic keynotes full of fluffy thoughts; it’s my job to immerse myself in the trends and issues that the client has engaged me for and to do that, I study the science. It’s my job to give hard data based on well-researched conclusions and basic facts, promulgated into specific probable trends.

You don’t have to go that far, but wouldn’t it make a lot of sense to go further with the science in your life to better understand what is going on all around you?

The challenge today, of course, is there is a lot more science happening at a far faster pace. According to a study published in Nature, the overall annual growth rate of science amounts to 4.10% with a doubling time of 17.3 years; another study indicates a growth rate of about 5.6% per year and a doubling time of 13 years. That’s a lot of new science. Think about how much new science there is by considering some older data. Years ago, I put into perspective the reality of the acceleration of scientific information, by outlining the acceleration of medical knowledge and research into just one field of medical science: heart disease. Simple fact: there were 3,672 scholarly articles about adult coronary heart disease in 2004. If a doctor or medical professional spent 15 minutes per article, it would take about 115 eight-hour days to read them all. Now think about the fact that back then, coronary artery disease was but one of 12,000 “known diseases.”

The thing — all this new knowledge leads to a new and different future, full of discovery and opportunity. When doing a healthcare or pharma industry keynote, for example, I will often note that we live in an era that is seeing an acceleration of medical procedures and treatments, the emergence of pharmaceuticals and bio-materials, fascinating new medical technologies and devices, as well as the discovery of new diagnostics and methodologies for treatment. To name but a few areas!

In that context, think about your world – your job, career, profession, company, or industry. What new ideas, products, services, and disruptive trends should you be aware of that are emerging at a fast pace? Study the science – take on the job of tracking more science as it unfolds.

Becoming a science tracker. That’s a key strategy for 2024.

Why does scientific insight – even if you are not a scientist – matter? Because it informs you on what comes next, and what you might do about it. It helps you better interpret and understand the trends around you. It helps you to assess the ongoing flood of new information that crosses through your life every day. It helps you to cut through to the real trends, balancing reality against the hype. It helps you stay on top of a world that is otherwise overwhelming.

It helps you to determine what to do next!

“Basically, be boring” – Futurist Jim Carroll

Futurist Jim Carroll is running a series that began November 27, 2023, and will end on January 1, 2024 – ’24 Strategies for 2024.’ Rather than running a trend series for the upcoming year as he has previously, this series will examine a number of his personal beliefs on how to best align yourself with the future. There will be a post each weekday, excluding weekends and holidays, until the series runs its course. You will find it on his blog at https://blog.jimcarroll.com, or on the website https://2024.jimcarroll.com

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Sometimes, you need to be boring.

That time is right now. Boring is often better – you know, boring stuff like real business strategy.

Are you getting caught up in the hype, or the reality? Our world today is full of grandiose statements. “If your company doesn’t have an AI strategy, it won’t exist in 5 years.” “If you don’t adapt to AI at this very moment in time, your career will be at risk.” “Millions of jobs are going to disappear in the next year because of AI.” 

This is all a bit of hogwash, and those of us who have been here before know better. We went through the early days of the Web, the arrival of the dot.com opportunities, the emergence of social media, and countless other trends. Every time, the hype machine geared up, people and companies were told that if they did not fully immerse themself in the trend right away, they were doomed.

Right.

We were boring because we told the truth – the future takes hard work.

So sorry, but let me be boring by going back to that boring thing – business strategy.

My operative phase with any new technology has long been that ‘we tend to overestimate the rate of change on a two-year basis, and underestimate the rate of change on a ten-year basis.’ That’s what’s happening right now with AI – something profound is happening, and yet, it is very early days – and if we don’t stick to the strategy, it’s pretty likely we’ll go off the rails.

With that in mind, let me walk you through a series of slides I used in the latter part of my keynote yesterday for the East Penn Manufacturing Company. You’ve likely never heard of them – they like it that way. And yet, there is a good chance that the batteries that you use in your everyday life – in your car, lawn mower, or other small home, factory, or workplace machine were made by them. They’re a pretty massive organization.

East Penn was hosting a two-day meeting of their entire leadership team – from Board members down through every functional department – and needed a realistic overview of what is going on with AI and manufacturing. Not the hype, not the extremely unrealistic promise, not the science-fiction crazy stuff. Real insight, real trends, real strategy. You know. the boring stuff – the type of stuff that would help them to ground both short-term actions and long-term strategies into realistic opportunities.

Somehow, they found me, and my AI for Leadership Teams overview caught their interest. It’s drawing a lot of interest these days, actually, indicating a real need in the market.

 

While my keynote was pretty darned exciting – I love a great stage! – some of the insight I offered to them consisted of this ‘boring’ business stately stuff. You know, business strategy.

And that made me realize that this is a key strategy we should take with us into 2024. We should be more boring!

With that in mind, let me walk you through a series of slides I used yesterday.

First, I like to explain that Innovation can be considered in two ways – the invention of cool new stuff (that’s exciting!), or the ‘boring’ stuff of introducing new ideas, new ways of working, and new ways of doing things.

What matters right now is the ‘boring’ stuff – thinking strategically.

All of this goes back to an appearance years ago when I was on CNBC – observing that innovation is so much more than just the development and introduction of new products. Often, it’s just basically boring business ideas.

What is that boring stuff? For close to 40 years, I’ve been stressing that any innovation strategy must fit into one of four key strategies: how can we use this new idea or ‘thing’ to help us run the business better, grow the business, transform the business, or maybe help us invent a new business.

If a technology or idea doesn’t fit one of those boxes, then it shouldn’t be pursued. What is happening right now is that many companies and individuals are chasing corporate AI projects without really thinking through this strategic purpose, and that’s where things go off the rails. They are too focused on the hype, the excitement, and the exciting stuff.

They’ve forgotten that boring is better.

Running the business better? Right now, there are a lot of strategic opportunities with AI, such as building custom AI-based support bots to answer customer service questions or let them search product manuals; streamlining day-to-day workflow to shave costs and introduce efficiency, or implementing a private corporate ChatGPT-like system for internal knowledge access. There are many other such activities already in place in many industries; for example, in the insurance industry, there is a lot of AI-based fraud detection happening.

Growing the business? This involves the analytical and data-mining capabilities of AI, with such things as insight into sales trends and customer activities and sentiments. To a degree, these strategic opportunities have been available to us for quite some time in the guise of ‘big data,’  and really won’t go anywhere unless you’ve got easy access to the data in the first place. For many organizations, that is a project in and of itself.

The potentially exciting stuff comes with transforming the business – how can we embed AI in an existing product to redefine its function, purpose, role, and value? I spoke about that yesterday in the context of the idea of a ‘smart battery’.’ Basically, a device that is fundamentally changed by giving information about its operation, health, performance, and more – exactly like my Tesla does. This can include building in ‘real-time prognostic diagnostics’ – that’s a mouthful, but it involves building into a product the AI-based technology that will predict when it is going to break down, thereby giving the product more overall value. It might involve embedding AI into a personal medical device to let it take on a new and exciting role in personal healthcare. All of which can be pretty exciting to explore, but is far more complex to implement. (Implementation = boring!)

Finally, there is the opportunity for real disruption – inventing a new business or new product altogether based on AI technologies.

This is the exciting stuff that so many seem to be focused on today with the hype machine in overdrive.

This thinking goes to the main point I often make about disruption. (Repeat after me…” Companies that do not yet exist…”)

Boring. It’s better. Because it means you are chasing strategy, not hype!

Sorry to be boring today!