JimCarroll

“Abandon your legacy!” – Futurist Jim Carroll

Too many people and organizations work too hard on trying to build a legacy they can be proud of – and in doing so, stop looking forward. Eventually, the future catches up to them, tarnishing the very legacy they are trying to create!

You can always enjoy all the success in the world – but you should never become complacent. Every business model changes, and you need to align yourself to that reality, reinventing your pathway forward. Don’t count on your legacy as a guarantee!

Legacy is not a guarantee.

One of my major keynote themes that have attracted my list of global clients is the issue of “What Do World Class Innovators Do That Others Don’t Do.” It’s a compendium of insight that I’ve built up through 28 years on stage, observing what some organizations are doing to win in the high-velocity economy while others have seemed doomed to fail (and many have).

What Do World Class Innovators Do That Others Don’t Do?

 

Read the list here:

https://worldclassinnovators.jimcarroll.com

One thing world-class innovators definitely don’t do is cling to their legacy as a useful strategy for going forward. They know that their past success is no guarantee for surviving and thriving with what comes next. In fact, they know that legacy can be toxic. Certain things about the future are certain: it’s going to twist and turn, throw you unexpected curveballs, and show up with a series of continual surprises. It’s relentless in its ability to confuse, dogged in its determination to challenge you, and in the era of acceleration, will require that you change faster than ever before.

That’s why clinging to your legacy is a guaranteed recipe for failure, not a strategy for success. Abandon it – otherwise, it holds you back! Business model disruptors ride the uncertainty of the future, making big bets on what they hope might be, not what is. Some of them will succeed while others will fail. But they are out there circling around you, looking for signs of weakness.

And at the first sight of blood in the water, they’ll attack with a vengeance. What good is your legacy at that point in time?

What do world-class innovators do when confronted with disruptive reality? As I write in my list, “They know that right now is a great time to make bold decisions and to take decisive advantage to forge aggressive new paths against their competitors.”

They aren’t focused on avoiding drowning with a life preserver of legacy – they’ve already found a bigger boat!

“The most important skill you should develop is the ability to continually master new skills!” – Futurist Jim Carroll

I spoke to several hundred CIOs – Chief Information Officers – for community colleges at a dinner talk last night. The goal was to cover the future of education – but I didn’t talk about that! I spoke instead about the future of careers and knowledge – because that will define the future of education!

And to get into that, I started out by posing the question — “what is the nature of the world our children will graduate into?”

That’s the key question that I think about when I prepare for a keynote to a group of educators and teachers — “what will the world be like for our current generation of students, and what do we need to do as educators to prepare them for the challenging realities that they will face?”

You can do this by thinking about what they are faced with:

• Rapid knowledge growth

As of late, I’ve been speaking of “ever-growing sapiential circles” as the core trend that is driving rapid knowledge growth, and which is having the biggest impact on education.

The phrase comes from Warren Bennis, a distinguished professor, at Southern California’s Marshall School of Business — he was referring to how the knowledge of a group tended to increase exponentially as new members were added to the group. What we are witnessing in the world today is a dramatic increase in our own human sapiential circles as a result of global connectivity.

Quite simply, we have connected the minds of people around the world who share an interest in a topic or issue — they become a sapiential circle. And the result is dramatic — for example, the amount of medical knowledge doubles every 78 days; it is said that half of what an engineering student learns in their first year is obsolete or revised by the time they graduate.

As such, there are some fascinating issues at work here, with the key point being that teachers need to not only teach children knowledge, but they need to teach young people how they can continue to absorb new knowledge in the future.

In other words, we need to teach them how to learn. That’s why one of my favorite phrases continues to be “learning is what most adults will do for a living in the 21st century.“

• Rapid career change

The rapid rate of knowledge growth is leading to a rapid career change – – hence, the Australian observation that “65% of children in pre-school will be employed in roles and jobs that don’t exist today.” Given my understanding of change, I’d happen to believe that to be true.

I often work to ensure that educators understand that we must be prepared to engender in students a mindset that involves adaptability, and flexibility; a mindset that embraces and does not fear constant change; a mindset in which they will view a future of constant change with wonder and awe, rather than concern.

Here’s an interesting statistic — a survey of consulting engineering students revealed that most of them thought a long-term career was one that lasted from 2 to 5 years….! The kids are already thinking about this — we can instill in them our wisdom and guidance as teachers in order that they can do it right.

• Career extinction

“Workers of the future will change jobs 19 times during their lives — and parallel careers become the norm as people extract themselves from professions that are becoming extinct.” That’s from the Daily Telegraph — and I think I’m already witnessing career extinction occurring all around me.

Educators need to know what is happening; how careers go extinct; how people survive extinction; and how they use extinction to thrive. Knowing this will once again help them in preparing young people to cope and thrive in a world of constant, relentless change.

• Just in time knowledge

Related to this — I’ve often explained that the incredible challenges young people will face come from the rapid rate of change that envelopes us — and with so much change, we need to be prepared to learn darned quickly. Hence, we need to provide the skill of “just-in-time” knowledge” — I explain what it is, why it will be so critical … and what the elements of “just in time knowledge” are, and how we can bring this idea into the classroom.

An attitude for going forward is the key!

Yet change is inevitable, and I can certainly incorporate a good bit of discussion on attitudes to change, how to deal with change, and how to turn change into an opportunity.

“Fierce determination: Be resolute in your actions, focused on your mission, and relentless in your efforts – these are the very things that should define your success!” – Futurist Jim Carroll

They climbed the ski hill!

Tom in his suit, Kim in her wedding dress – my son and his new wife shared the joy of their most wondrous day with beautiful weather, a loving family, and a spectacular view!

It’s about a 900-foot climb for a spectacular view looking out over Georgian Bay – an iconic view for them since so much of their relationship over the past 12-year years evolved on the slopes. My son and his new wife were determined to do it, and succeeded, with their intrepid photographer Sam Gaetz of Gaetz Photography – a childhood friend, and in the small world department, the daughter of someone I went to high school with so many years ago.

My wife and I were asked to welcome the bride into our family, and in my remarks, I used 3 words that define my new daughter-in-law Kim as I have watched her grow over the years from a young teenager into the young woman that she is today:

• fierce determination
• staggering creativity
• deep love and caring for all who are around her

Even before they began their trek up the hill – she holding her veil in her arms as they progressed – I had realized that Kim defines herself by her determination to get something done. She has made the trek up the hill many times through our winters and summers at the club – it is a wonderful aerobic workout, and the hill is often busy with many who have made the trek. I understand that it was her goal on her wedding day to do the same, regardless of her attire. The weather cooperated in spectacular fashion, and many of us watched from far below on the deck of the lodge as they made their progress up the hill.

What a goal – and what determination!

Our motivation for innovation, creativity, and the future need not always come from the business world – it can be derived from the moments of beauty and inspiration we see in the world around us. For me and for so many others at the wedding, watching this new young husband and wife make their way slowly up the dirt track up the ‘mountain’ was a powerful motivational moment.

In my mind, the phrase ‘fierce determination’ remained in my head and never left.

 

“If you can only imagine your goal, you will forever regret your inaction!” – Futurist Jim Carroll

Tomorrow is a special day – a wedding!

For quite some time, I have been watching with fascination and delight a young imagination come to life through the determination of action. The youngest of my two sons gets married tomorrow – and my wife and I will welcome our new daughter-in-law Kim into our family. My oldest son gets married next year, and we will be have the opportunity to welcome Laura into our life as well. We are wonderfully blessed!

The wedding will be at the base of our ski club, the view of our small Ontario as the backdrop. It’s a wonderful location for this wedding – Tom and Kim saw their lives grow together there over many winters. Over time, I’ve watched Kim perform a mighty effort in enhancing and developing her snowboarding skills, in order to keep up with the man who would become her husband. She is determined, strong, goal oriented – and extremely creative!

We will see that tomorrow as the imaginative design in her mind becomes the setting for the most joyous day of her life. The ceremony, dinner and dance will feature the idea that she has developed in her mind ever since Tom proposed to her at the start of the pandemic just over two years ago. Our home, and theirs, has been chock full of the work-in-progress of  of her creative genius. It’s been magical to watch as she has mastered the art of turning her imagination into action; the design is beautiful, the product of a mind that doesn’t just know how to think of something, but how to see it through to completion.

THIS is a special skill – it is one I have always truly lacked. I am forever in awe of those who have the ability to not only imagine something, but who can see it come alive.

Next to your imagination, action is your most powerful skill. Learn to nurture it, enhance it, and grow it. Act upon your potential for action! Too many great ideas are lost to the destructive force of inaction. That’s why it’s one thing to have an idea – it’s a whole other skill level to bring it to life!

Christa and I are overjoyed; our hearts are full; our lives are immeasurably blessed.