Jim Carroll: The Futurist Who Knows Your Industry

The Futurist Who Knows Your Industry. 

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Daily Inspiration: “You need to bridge the ‘acceleration gap’ – the disconnect between the velocity of change and your ability to keep up!”

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“You need to bridge the ‘acceleration gap’ – the disconnect between the velocity of change and your ability to keep up!” – Futurist Jim Carroll

It’s big, and it’s growing bigger. And as it expands, the significance of your inability to bridge the gap is even bigger than it was before.

Do you have a strategy to keep up?

Pre-pandemic, CEOs and organizations were dealing with a world of business model disruption, the acceleration of technology, the faster evolution of key skills, and other critical issues. That was the focus of many of the keynotes that they brought me in for. Heck, just before the pandemic hit, Pfizer brought me into a senior leadership meeting in Paris for an overview of the impact of fast change, and how to align to it. They certainly get it!

Now, in the harsh light of our emerging post-pandemic world, one thing is clear – the future is even more complex than it was before. And a simple fact has emerged – there is a massive and growing gap between the speed of change and the ability of organizations to keep up. Bridging this gap is critical to future success.

The expansion of the gap exists in pretty stark terms. Medical knowledge is now doubling every 78 days, compared to 8 years pre-pandemic, rendering irrelevant previous healthcare industry strategies. We’ve gone from a world of just-in-time to just-in-case supply chain concepts because of a world of broken globalization. 68% percent of organizations have said that global pandemic has forced them to adapt and change their business models – what was disruptive before is even more so today.

The gap is growing, and the challenge is that society and organizations are not prepared to deal with the massive disconnect this presents – they are structured for slow in an era of fast That’s the ‘ACCELERATION GAP’ – it’s real, and it’s’ growing. And it’s going to hurt you going forward unless you work to minimize it. Because otherwise, leadership strategies that worked yesterday are exposed as being irrelevant tomorrow even while they are actively considered today.

What worked yesterday will not work tomorrow, and you are on a guaranteed path to failure if you don’t align with our new reality- by mastering the disconnect between speed and structure. The pandemic has changed everything, and future-oriented leadership is more important than ever before.

History tells us that every global crisis shifts the axis of the future of our universe and every crisis offers an opportunity to improve.

Bridge the gap!

 

We Are the Relentless Optimists. These Are Our Core Beliefs. You Might Want to Join Us.

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“The future? It’s better to travel there in hope than to arrive in fear!” – Futurist Jim Carroll

Spock would be pretty confused if he arrived on this otherworldly planet today – people who think science is fake, that deep challenges can just be made to magically disappear, and that every single bit of common sense is but a nefarious plot. On humans, he did comment, “I find their illogic and foolish emotions a constant irritant.”

But I digress.

There is a lot of emotional turmoil out there with the ongoing pandemic, with many careers destroyed, industries in a state of wreckage, and lives upended. Somehow the stock market keeps marching along on its merry way, clearly separated from the underlying reality of our world today. The fact is, those of us who have found our lives turned upside down are living in a different space than those of us with jobs and stability – every day is a scramble to reinvent ourselves, align to a new reality, and put massive effort into an uncertain new future.

We’re reinventing fast, but maybe not fast enough.

And yet, those of us who will be successful in this effort have something unique at the core of our belief system.

Hope. Optimism. Opportunity.

We are the relentless optimists, full of the piss of the vinegar of the belief that we can do something wonderful through our efforts!

We choose to spend our time building a new future, rather than bemoaning the loss of our old one.

We choose to spend time with those who share in our dreams and visions – we aggressively avoid the pessimists.

We carefully filter our information tunnels, seeking to mine the riches of the message of optimism, for we have no time to listen to the failed insight of those who are stuck in the past.

We are not willing to listen to the complaints of the future failures – so busy moaning about the current state of their affairs – because we are heavily invested in a new affair.

We don’t immerse ourselves in fear of the unknown because we are too busy trying to map it out for clarity.

We refuse to abandon ourselves to a future of the darkness of doom because we are spending every waking moment building a different future that involves the bright light of opportunity.

We aren’t stuck in this current moment full of fear – because we are too busy traveling to our future in our ship of hope.

You should join us!

Daily Inspiration: “Maybe the very first thing you should understand about the future is that it will probably happen sooner than you think!”

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“Maybe the very first thing you should understand about the future is that it will probably happen sooner than you think!” – Futurist Jim Carroll

On this day in 2018, I spoke to a few thousand dentists about their future.

I have pictures. Lots of them! And video! I might as well use it, and so in the months to come, you’ll find my Daily Inspiration will make use of stories from my past, providing some context on looking forward by looking back!

The quote is a critical one I would often use on stage as I set up my talk – by referencing the time that NASA invited me in to talk about ‘the future of space.’ It was a wonderful scene – I had a room full of astronauts, launch directors, rocket engineers, mission controllers, and others. It had to be the highlight (so far!) of my speaking career. (My launch was successful; they invited me back in for a second voyage….)

The context was typical of many of my talks through the years. NASA at the time was in the midst of an agonizing and complex future – do they do it on their own, or might the path to space be found in new forms of disruptive, collaborative thinking? I set the stage for my mission by outlining the reality of the era of acceleration – and the fact that what we think is far away is actually closer than we think.

We need to time travel when it comes to the future.

From this point on, that storyline became a critical part of how I would open many of my keynotes around the world – to understand the future, our very first step is to appreciate it is going to be here faster than we think.

After all, look at NASA today – in the context of SpaceX.

What was the context of the storyline within my keynote for these dentists on this day 3 years ago? The acceleration of healthcare, faster medical science, the arrival of bio-engineered body parts, and much, much more. Here’s a highlight clip.

And check this shorter clip – it’s all about the attitude that you carry towards what comes next. Food for thought!

Before I hit the stage, I gave a bit of a brief overview of my context for the talk that would happen soon. I usually did this during ‘stage check’.

And so when it comes to the future, sometimes – we can look forward by looking back!

Keynotes I’ve Delivered: And the 101 Ideas on Disruptive Thinking, Innovation Acceleration and Your Next Future That They Provide

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So – someone asked me if I delivered canned insight.

LOL.

I’ll just give you this playlist to start.

And then, let me share what I really do.

I decided to start listing a few clients with a short overview of the unique keynote titles or topic spin that formed the basis for my keynote or talk for their CEO group or leadership team. Each and every one unique, customized and hitting on some key, core issue.

Consider this: these are my clients, and what I covered – and every single one of these talks has resulted in some unique innovation, disruption, transformation, or trends guidance.

I’m thinking there’s a new book here!

  1. Disney: “Upside down innovation”
  2. Parker Hannifin: “Fast teams”
  3. PGA of America: “Confronting tradition”
  4. NASA: “Reinventing Strategy Through Partnership”
  5. World Bank: “Rethinking The Future of Global Manufacturing”
  6. Mercedes Benz: “Aligning to Disruptive Speed”
  7. Consumer Electronics Association: “CEO Summit: Leadership in the era of accelerated disruption”
  8. Pfizer: “Capturing Fast Science”
  9. Yum Brands: “Maximizing the internal idea factory”
  10. Baker McKenzie: “Rethinking risk”
  11. Volvo: “Maximizing uptime”
  12. Philips Medical: “It’s not a widget anymore!”
  13. Elanco / Microbeef: “Get ahead of the story”
  14. Siemens Energy: “The inevitability of the collapse of carbon”
  15. Cigna: “Exploring the transformation of patient-centered wellness”
  16. BASF: “Transformation and acceleration”
  17. Visa: “The new financial consumer”
  18. Blue Cross Blue Shield: “Bioconnectivtiy and disruptive healthcare”
  19. American Nursery and Landscape Association: “The next generation homeowner”
  20. Burger King: “Rethinking Innovation”
  21. Fairmont: “The Masters in Business Imagination”
  22. FMC: “Chameleon Revenue”
  23. National Australia Bank: “Wealth management in the social media era”
  24. Syngenta: “24 Hour Farming and More”
  25. Godiva: “The Power in Collaboration”
  26. Amsted Rail: “Xbox-room innovation acceleration!”
  27. Canadian Finance and Leasing Association: “Crytpo, Bitcoin and the Big Disruption”
  28. Chemours: “Celebrating breakthroughs”
  29. Worldskills: “Rethinking Skills Acceleration”
  30. Simplot: “The Next Generation Farmer”
  31. Purina: “Rethinking Our Role in the Face of Disruption”
  32. PPG: “Aligning to the New R&D”
  33. Perkin Elmer: “Connectivity is not just a feature”
  34. PracticeMatch: “Recruiting the Next Generation Physician”
  35. Nikon: “Challenging our Assumptions on that Vision Thing”
  36. National Fire Protection Association: “Managing Accelerated Risk”
  37. North American Veterinary Community: “The next generation pet owner”
  38. Magellan Healthcare: “Bio-connectivity and the connected hospital”
  39. LeGrand: “3D printing, fast innovation and the future of manufacturing”
  40. International Roads Union: “Autonomy, acceleration and inevitable disruption”
  41. International Asset Management Council: “The Future of Economic Development”
  42. Gore Financial: “Challenging Our Role As Financial Advisors”
  43. Genentech: “21st-century healthcare, redefined”
  44. Eversheds Sutherland: “The law and legal profession, disrupted”
  45. BlackRock: “The future of infrastructure”
  46. Deltec Bank: “The next trillion-dollar markets”
  47. Kalmar Ottawa: “Batteries, autonomy, and more!”
  48. Itron: “Connected energy”
  49. Whirlpool: “Redefining the product through connectivity”
  50. Dominion Energy: “Bold steps with disruptive change”
  51. DTN Energy: “Redefining the forecourt”
  52. National Safety Council: “Rethinking risk”
  53. Boehringer Ingelheim: “The accelerative disruption of pharmacogenetics”
  54. HMG Strategy: “Agility, flexibility and the real role of IT”
  55. RBC Insurance: “Real-time analytical underwriting”
  56. Stellar Group: “The faster evolution of food trends”
  57. American Association of Orthopaedic Executives: “3D printed body parts, bio-materials, and fast science”
  58. National Council for Prescription Drug Programs” Bio-connectivity and the connected hospital”
  59. American Cotton Shippers Association: “The future of globalization”
  60. Berkshire Partners: “Disruptive trends and new markets”
  61. DePaul University: “Entrepreneurs in the era of fast opportunity”
  62. Schneider Electric: “Energy and the Industrial Internet of Things”
  63. Wenger Group: “Agriculture, food and the future”
  64. HAVI Global: “Faster consumers, faster food”
  65. Purina: “The Amazon effect on the local ag co-op”
  66. Magellan Health: “Bio-connectivity and the connected hospital”
  67. Perkin Elmer: “Reimaging the intelligent medical device”
  68. Nutrien: “Fast science and agriculture”
  69. Trapeze Group: “It’s not your grandfather’s bus!”
  70. Anthem Healthcare: “The future of wellness”
  71. Macquarie: “The future of intelligent infrastructure”
  72. National Mining Association: “The inevitability of renewables and smart grids”
  73. Admiral Beverage: “The impact and opportunity of fast product and consumer change:”
  74. Columbus McKinnon: “Blockchain, manufacturing and product design”
  75. American Residential Service: “The smart home: real opportunity or dumb idea?”
  76. Whirlpool: “Reinvention and the new Maytag repairman”
  77. Arconic: “The impact of faster materials science”
  78. Omnitracs: “The trucking industry: faster, connected, electric”
  79. Kal tire: “The inevitability of autonomy”
  80. Alberici Group: “Construction methodologies, faster and complex”
  81. Henry Schein: “The potential for Amazonian level disruption”
  82. American Concrete Institute: “Rethinking hard stuff”
  83. PPG: “Disrupting R&D by adapting”
  84. New York Life: “Real-time underwriting
  85. McKesson: “Shifting the Role of the Pharmacist”
  86. Sports & Fitness Industry Association: “The Impact of Connected Sports & Fitness:
  87. PG&E: “Could the energy industry be Mp3’d?”
  88. Utah League of Cities and Towns: “Citizen engagement, new expectations, and accelerated delivery”
  89. International Association of Conference Centers: “The impact of just-in-time-knowledge on the event industry”
  90. Deloitte: “What do world-class innovators do that others don’t do?”
  91. US Defense Department: “Hitting the target on logistics”
  92. T. Rowe Price: “Financial services in the era of disruptive thinking”
  93. American Chemistry Council: “Hyper-science and the future”
  94. Godiva Chocolates: “Social medial and the new influencer”:
  95. Pearson Learning: “The future of careers and education”
  96. Lockheed Martin: “
  97. Institute for Credentialing Excellence: “The future of education and skills”
  98. Dupont: “Continual product and revenue reinvention”
  99. Compass Group: “Leadership in the era of economic grief”
  100. Black & Veitch: “The trends redefining big infrastructure”
  101. Sandia National Laboratories: “Rethinking nuclear”

It’s quite the list. And that’s only some of the unique topics I’ve covered!

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THE FUTURE BELONGS TO THOSE WHO ARE FAST features the best of the insight from Jim Carroll’s blog, in which he
covers issues related to creativity, innovation and future trends.

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Definitions: Core • Deep Dive I • Deep Dive II
Series: 2026 • Megatrends • Forward • Tomorrow