Because if you don’t fail, you aren’t learning!
Here’s some inspiration to get you going. I seem to write about beneficial failure a lot in my Daily Inspiration posts!
The specified slider does not exist.
by JimCarroll
Because if you don’t fail, you aren’t learning!
Here’s some inspiration to get you going. I seem to write about beneficial failure a lot in my Daily Inspiration posts!
The specified slider does not exist.
by JimCarroll
“It’s the mistakes you make when it doesn’t matter that matter the most when you don’t repeat them when it actually matters!” – Futurist Jim Carroll
I hope I made my observation pretty clear! (Since I write this post every morning while I am starting my day, I had to let my coffee kick in and read it a few times to make sure I had it right!)
Can you find the flaws in this studio image? I can! There are two tripod legs appearing in the shot over to the right. Barely noticeable in this shot, they’d have the potential to mess up a bunch of other scenes if I didn’t notice them before doing an actual show. This particular shot came from a little clip I filmed yesterday while setting up for a show I will do later this morning.
Make the mistakes before they matter!
There a gazillion details to track in the studio before I go live with an event. Plus, a gazillion more! I’m usually pretty good at doing a quick scene check before I go live because any carelessness can get in the way of my success. But that’s why I force myself to go “LIVE” on a regular basis. It’s by going through that process that I can perfect my skill, practice my craft, engineer my process. (I accidentally moved the Mac that had the Facetime camera that was used for this moment, so that it was capturing the tripod leg!)
The fun thing is that on the floor just below the tripod leg are two books that raise the angle of that particular light – and the top one is one of my favorite’s, “Failure is Not an Option” by Gene Kranz.
Oh, that book!
I’ve actually had the absolute joy of being on the same agenda as Gene several times over my 25-year career. The top-tier of the global speaking industry can be a small and familiar place, and many of us seem to cross paths over time.
The most recent event was in Las Vegas in 2018 – he and Astronaut Jim Lovell of the Apollo 13 mission were speaking later that evening. BLISS! Sadly, due to another commitment, I had to get to Chicago for another event and wasn’t able to stay to see them. SADNESS!
Failure? We only managed to get to the moon by testing, simulating, training, trying – and failing. And learning from those failures so as to mitigate them and not do them again – or learning how to recover quickly when things go bad!
For Apollo 13, that moment came when the explosion happened (“Houston, we’ve got a problem!”) and they were able to jury rig a solution. Much of that came about because Gene walked through the process, worked the checklist, studied the alternatives, tested the solutions. He could only do that because they had simulated potential mistakes so many times.
Harrowing!
Practice makes perfect? No – failure makes for perfect!
For me, that moment of potential failure provides me the same degree of in-mission thrills. A few weeks back, I realized the battery pack on my lavalier mic was dead – one minute before I was scheduled to go on air. I kept calm, walked through the steps, lined up my alternate – and made it, with 10 seconds to spare.
Equally harrowing! My Gene Kranz moment!
So I try to make my failures at the moment it doesn’t matter so that I can manage or avoid them when it does matter!
by JimCarroll
Screen Thoughts!
A short daily email from Futurist Jim Carroll on trends and other stuff.
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Have you seen something unique that has caught your interest that you think Jim should share with this list? Send it to screenthoughts@jimcarroll.com
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Moment of Zen
(This John Lennon classic reworked is all of us right now)
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by JimCarroll
“Have you ever noticed you are surrounded by people who are willing to set the bar consistently lower?” – Futurist Jim Carroll
Apparently, space-based lasers that start forest fires in California are now a thing. From a future trends perspective, it’s pretty certain that future economic success will come to other nations that display a closer relationship to reality and sanity. But I digress.
What’s your focus on quality? The value of your product or service? Are you willing to compromise or do you choose to stick to your worth?
A key point to consider today is this: companies and leaders that have succeeded at innovation have often refused to dilute the value of their brand, the quality of their product, the perspective of what it is they provide. Apple is the study – it is a brand with a foundation in quality and worth.
It is a difficult decision to stand your ground – but this is not a new issue. Through the last few decades, organizations have had to deal with the commoditization of their product or service – everyone at some point or other has to make a decision on whether they will join the so-called ‘rush to the bottom’ when it comes to price.
In my own industry, the same trend has played out through the last year in a major way. In the early days of the pandemic, many topic experts and speakers panicked and reduced their fee to a significant degree for the virtual world. Not only that, but they did little to improve their product offering, validating their mediocrity. Many are still offering up the same old, tired bookshelf backdrop, with a Powerpoint with small fonts squished onto the screen, convinced they will soon be back on a stage at a conference somewhere. Why put in the effort when you don’t need to?
it looks cheap and it is cheap.
In my own case, I initially considered dropping my fee – but then decided I wouldn’t join this race to the bottom.
Instead, I would focus on building a top-notch product that would continue to be premium priced, and that would be sustainable for the long term. If a hybrid conference is to emerge – a combination of live, in-person events married with a virtual product., I was going to have the best darn product in the world.
My view? I’d continue to work to provide a high-end BMW while everyone else was rushing around figuring out their broken down, slightly used Ford Focus.
I think I did the right thing. The evidence is right here.
by JimCarroll
I’m working on my new book – “Now What? Reinvention and the Role of Optimism in Our Post-Covid World.”
As an active part of that process, I’m doing a series of interviews from my virtual broadcast studio with people who are busy on their reinvention path – or have already been on this path for quite some time. I’m seeking to learn from them more about their thought process, mindset, initiative, and actions. Each interview becomes material for the book.
Yesterday, I interviewed a fireman – a good friend that I have golfed with for a time. I have always been intrigued by his story, and so he was a natural to bringon to my show.
Phil DeWolf started out his career with a degree in finance, pursuing a career as an accountant. Within a year, he knew he needed to do something different – and pursued a career as a fireman. Years later, he’s become an Emergency Management Specialist with a real estate firm, having earned a Master’s degree in the field of Crisis/Emergency/Disaster Management, while still actively fighting fires.
A remarkable story of reinvention and opportunity!
by JimCarroll
Screen Thoughts!
A short daily email from Futurist Jim Carroll on trends and other stuff.
Please feel free to share this newsletter with your friends and encourage them to sign up!
Subscribe options at the bottom!
Have you seen something unique that has caught your interest that you think Jim should share with this list? Send it to screenthoughts@jimcarroll.com
Have things you think I should see? Contact me on Twitter as @jimcarroll, or email me.
Want to subscribe? Click here.
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