“Rather than trying to find the secret to innovation, why not just invent one?” – #Futurist Jim Carroll
Daily Inspiration: “Don’t be someone who asks, ‘whoah! What happened?’ Make things happen!”
“Don’t be someone who asks, ‘whoah! What happened?’ Make things happen!” – Futurist Jim Carroll
Are you surrounded by people who simply don’t “get it?” Who are oblivious, blind, completely unaware of just how much change is occurring out there?
I often use the story on stage that there are 3 types of people in the world: those who watch things happen, those who make things happen, and those who go, “whoah! Dude! Where’d that come from?” Be the 2nd person!’’
Trend: Where will the Future Really Happen? 2 Upcoming Keynotes on The Real Future, Not the Fake Future
We seem to live in two parallel worlds at this moment: the fanciful, political, “let’s make a wish” or “yell and scream” political world, and the real world. I don’t know about you, but I’m with the real world, and it’s obvious that others are too. To that end, I’m doing an increasing number of economic development talks that take a look at the real trends driving our world forward.
Case in point: I’m headlining the Nevada Economic Development Council conference this September in Las Vegas. We’ll have economic development folks, elected officials, industry representatives — all looking for insight on what comes next in terms of opportunity.
In my mind, economic opportunity comes from linking to the fast paced trends that envelop our world today. As the session description notes on my keynote: “He is an authority recognized for his deep insight into the cutting edge trends of our time, including autonomous vehicle technology, sensors and the Internet of Things, 3D printing, virtual reality, alternative energy generation and storage technologies, genomic medicine and healthcare virtualization, advanced robotics and artificial intelligence, blockchain and virtual cash, machine learning and robotics, crowdthinking and next generation R&D.”
Around the world, we are building a giant new machine, and new opportunities abound. They’ll involve new skills, big bold innovators, fast new technologies, and obviously big investments. Nevada woke up to the future when Tesla established the Gigafactory outside Reno, and knows that its’ future will come from aligning itself to other, similar trends.
If only other regions and people could think like Nevada instead of hitching themselves to a failed politician from the land of make believe.
Similar to this event, I’m also headlining (for the 3rd time in 16 years!) the International Asset Management Council annual event in Richmond, Virginia this fall. This is a group that consists of corporate relocation folks for Fortune 500 companies — people who analyze where they might place their next factory or manufacturing facility. They’ve asked me to come in and do a talk around the future of manufacturing, with an eye to better understanding the trends involving the reinvention of this critical sector of this economy. (Hint: the old jobs aren’t coming back. New jobs are appearing all the time).
As the keynote description outlines: “Collapsing product lifecycles. Mass customization. Digitization, robotics and the cloud. Rapid prototyping, sketch to scale, and agility-based business models … are you ready for the new world of manufacturing? While popular media and opportunistic politicians portray a picture of a sector in crisis, smart manufacturing executives are furiously busy with innovation, reinventing their capabilities, processes and business models using advanced ideas, materials, methodologies and technologies.”
Regions that can align themselves to the reality of future trends, and set the right tone and welcome mat for innovation will discover the future of economic success. I’m pleased to be doing what I can to help people understand the real future — not a fake future dreamed up in someone’s mind.
Daily Inspiration: “Fail once, and you have a failure. Fail twice, and you have two failures. Fail three times and you have developed an asset for the future: experiential capital!”
“Fail once, and you have a failure. Fail twice, and you have two failures. Fail three times, and you have developed an asset for the future : experiential capital!” – Futurist Jim Carroll
on #innovation In a world in which Apple generates 60% of its revenue from products that didn’t exist four years ago, it’s critically important that an organization constantly enhance the skill, capabilities and insight of their people. They do this by constantly working on projects that might have an uncertain return and payback – but which will provide in-depth experience and insight into change. It’s by understanding change that opportunity is defined, and that’s what experiential capital happens to be. In the future, it will be one of the most important assets you can possess.
Daily Inspiration: “Seek perfection in your goals, but accept imprecision in how you get there!”
“Seek perfection in your goals, but accept imprecision in how you get there!” – Futurist Jim Carroll
‘’ This could apply to my golf game, but also goes to the heart of my innovation mantra – Think big, start small, scale fast. The ‘start small’ part suggests that you should take on a whole series of small projects, not necessarily to succeed, but to learn. Fail on some of them, succeed on some, but it helps to get you there!’’
Daily Inspiration: “A 2 year old of today will use technology tomorrow that is yet to be invented, and which only exists as the figment of someone’s imagination!”
“A 2 year old of today will use technology tomorrow that is yet to be invented, and which only exists as the figment of someone’s imagination” – Futurist Jim Carroll
‘’One day – maybe even today — a child will be born who will never use a steering wheel, because the car will drive itself. They won’t even buy a car — they’ll simply share one from a sharing service. They won’t ever fill up a gas tank, but will always plug in the car to be recharged. They won’t know about paper maps, because they will have long disappeared. They will drive down a road that has streetlights that fulfill multiple purposes — they’ll be fitbits for cities, smart chargers for electric cars, wi-fi hot spots, and intelligent highway traffic manager monitors. Not your grandfathers streetlight!
Today’s 2 year old is going to live in a world that we would barely recognize today. Change and technology is accelerating and exponentiating.
That reality can cause you discomfort and concern — or you can decide to hitch yourself to a future of acceleration and come along for the ride!’’
GET IN TOUCH
Jim's Facebook page
You'll find Jim's latest videos on Youtube
Mastodon. What's on Jim's mind? Check his feed!
LinkedIn - reach out to Jim for a professional connection!
Flickr! Get inspired! A massive archive of all of Jim's daily inspirational quotes!
Instagram - the home for Jim's motivational mind!