JimCarroll

“‘Begin’ – it’s a great word. Many of us are often in short supply of this precious resource.” – Futurist Jim Carroll

On stage at the Mohegan Sun resort in Connecticut in July 2017, with a talk on the future of manufacturing. It’s an odd industry – I found myself on the very same stage with the very same topic, albeit with a different company, just one week later. Much of my focus in both talks was the need to start aligning to fast-moving trends in the sector – rapid design and fast prototyping, additive manufacturing, IIOT, new material science.

But a key part of my underlying message was that they should start working with the future immediately – as our world accelerates, there is no time for delay!

And yet, most people and the organizations for whom they work excel at delay – indecision and inaction permeate each and every moment. Excuses provide a pathway to defer action, fear of failure freezes motion. We often postpone our actions for a myriad of reasons – and so initiative is often the best resource that we might have going for us.

Begin! Merely starting something – even if you aren’t sure of the path it will lead you on or the outcome that will result – is one of the most important things we can do.

As I would often observe on stage: “we don’t know exactly where we are going but we are making great time!” In a world in which the future – and the trends that define it – are coming at us with staggering speed, it is often best to at least begin the process before knowing what the actual result might be.

 

“Today, start to do the things that people say you won’t be able to do!” – Futurist Jim Carroll

We limit ourselves through the opinions of others; we hold ourselves back because of what they say; we never really manage to start because they have told us we’re finished, even before we begin.

It’s always a lot of fun to prove them wrong!

It’s your life, your future, your opportunity, your potential! Don’t let them tell you what is possible and what is not.

If you never take the time to prove your future reality to yourself, you’ll always be consumed by a nagging doubt in the back of your mind. If you don’t avail yourself of a moment in time to make an even bigger moment in your future time, you’ll always wonder what might have been. In the absence of the action of self-confidence, you’ll build your future on a foundation of doubt.

Don’t live a life of ‘what might have been.’

Don’t leave yourself a legacy of ‘could have been.’

Refuse to become a ‘has-been.’

Instead, take the initiative to construct a different narrative.

It’s yours to build.

Start now.

 

“Canada, eh?” – Futurist Jim Carroll

Eh? Pronounced “ay.” This word is used in everyday Canadian vernacular to indicate that you don’t understand something, can’t believe something is true or want the person you’re speaking with to respond.

Canada is conflicted.

Today, July 1, we celebrate Canada Day, 154 years as a nation. We look forward with anticipation of success from what we have done right; we look back with shame at how we have failed with our historical actions.

We marvel at the reality that we are leading the world in the race to get vaccinated. We are #1 in first shots, rapidly gaining in the percentage of the population with 2nd shots, and still show no signs of broad vaccine hesitancy within the population. The chart demonstrates that we continue to shatter records each and every day in terms of the number of doses administered, and it is showing no signs of slowing down. Just last weekend, in Toronto, Canada, our healthcare heroes established a record for the greatest number of vaccines administered at one location in one day.

On the other hand, recent news around what is known as the ‘residential schools’ system continues to reinforce the fact that as with many nations, we too carry a shameful history with our indigenous population. As more information continues to emerge of mass unmarked graves of young children, casualties of a callous, inhumane, and appalling system that failed in every single way, all of us wonder what we need to do on a personal level to help with a path of healing. Many of us feel out of control – we were not a part of the system that resulted in this horrific situation – and yet, know that we must be a part of the process of moving forward from looking back.

The conflict plays out with my own personal emotions.

As a futurist focused on what comes next through science, I am excited for the potential that our massive vaccine uptake presents.

As a Canadian looking back, I am conflicted in knowing that I was raised a Catholic by the very same religion that has so horrifically failed our indigenous people and our society. I left that religion long ago, and indeed, hold in low regard most forms of organized religion – one must simply look to our southern neighbor to understand that it continues to play a major role in fomenting hate, racism, and death. (Which is why I have found a path to a relationship with my own form of a Higher Power.)

With all this in mind – to my fellow Canadians, Happy Canada Day!

We should be proud of who we are, but cautious in our joy.

As our history shows, we are always only one decision away from following the perilous path of hate that exists in all too many locations in the world today; one demagogue from losing our democracy; one step away from losing the humanity in our soul that makes us special.

Let’s use these unique moments in time to carefully mark our way forward into the future, and learn how not repeat the mistakes of our past.

 

 

“Failure? Take more time to learn from what went right, rather than focusing on what went wrong!” – Futurist Jim Carroll

There’s nothing much better for innovation than successful failure! So with that in mind, fail early, fail fast, fail often!

Failure is often a prerequisite for success. In other words, many times, you can’t there from here, unless you take a diversion to over there…..

That’s an important lesson when it comes to innovation, and it’s always good to keep the idea of failure front and center – as a positive, not a negative.

History is littered with examples of massive failures which later led to astonishing success. Consider, for example, the Apple Newton. I remember being given one at an Apple launch event in 1993. I wish I had kept it!

Thinking back, it was an iPhone/iPad long before its time. Yet the Newton failed miserably: it didn’t work well when it worked at all and was crazy expensive for it’ feature set. Because of its handwriting analysis capabilities — which really did not work well at all  — Newton was fodder for jokes from late-night TV hosts, comic strips, and tech publications. Everyone had a grand old time making fun of the Newton — and of Apple — for bringing to market such a failure!

Years later, Apple would go on to become the world’s largest company with what some might say is the most successful technological invention of all time, the iPhone. Apple positioned itself for success from failure: many of those who originally worked on the Newton went on to develop the iPhone. They learned a lot from their earlier failure, applying those lessons to succeed the next time around.

That wasn’t the only failure in the orbit of companies that surrounded Apple at the time. NeXT Computers, established by Steve Jobs after being unceremoniously dumped from Apple, was but a running joke to many people because it failed in the market in a pretty big way.

But the operating system for NeXT became the foundation for OS/X, the operating system at the heart of Apple’s Mac products today.

It gets better. When Apple went to develop the Newton, it couldn’t find a computer chip with the processing power to do the advanced work required of this first PDA (personal digital assistant – remember that phrase?). The result was that they invested in a small chip company, Advanced RISC Machines —  with a 43% share bought for a $2 million investment.

They sold their share in ARM years later for $800 million. Not a bad return!

And what did they do with that $800 million? It went partway to allowing Apple to buy NeXT from SteveJobs, which led to the reinvention and rebirth of the company. The largest company in the world!

So … Apple failed with Newton. Steve Jobs failed with NeXT. Two failures led to a massive winner.

Failure. We need more of it!

Innovation? Take risks, and be willing to fail!