“Get ahead of the fast future, before it gets ahead of you!” – Futurist Jim Carroll
If you think about it, that’s a pretty solid reason as to why it’s critical to focus on.
Keynote: 4C Summit, Tucson, Arizona – Ranching & Livestock in the Era of Fitbits for Cows!
I love it when I get repeat gigs! Back in 2010, I was invited into this annual event, to speak to 250 cattle ranchers (who represented several billions of dollars worth of cattle) on the future trends with ranching, food, consumer behaviour and more. I reported on it at length in a few blog posts.
They invited me back again this year for a keynote that took a look at the new world of consumer influence, issue messaging and more. In the era of fake news and rapid myth-information, cattle ranchers need to do a better job in telling their story to the world, and that was the entire focus of the event this year.
In my opening keynote, I put these trends into perspective. And, to be honest, I was blunt with them that if they recognize that some misinformation exists, they should let their emotions drive their passion for purpose.
Hence, a rather undiplomatic slide. But it did get a lot of retweets!
Innovation: Why Every Company Needs What I Call an XBOX/Playstation Room!
Half of the events I do as a futurist and innovation expert are spent at corporate leadership events. I’m frequently engaged by a CEO or other senior executive for a global Fortune 1000 company to come in and challenge their team as to how to align to a fast paced, disruptive future. After all, the reality is that speed is a new success metric.
There’s a lot of work and customization that goes into each and every talk — just last week, I met with 20 executives in the nuclear industry, and spent a lot of time updating myself as to trends in the energy and nuclear sector so that I could guide and challenge their thinking in a powerful way.
While researching and preparing, or while delivering my insight, I’ve noticed an increasing number of organizations are seeking to set their innovation energies on fire by encouraging their younger, interactive generation to explore opportunities for the digital, disruptive future through what I’ve come to call an Xbox room!
Why? Because this generation gets-it, knows how to innovate, and is the most powerful force for change in our world today. Consider the reality:
- half of the global population is under the age of 25
- we know they are globally wired, entrepreneurial, collaborative, and change oriented
- and they are now now driving rapid business model change, and industry transformation as they move into executive positions
With that reality, organizations are realizing they should allow this generation to light their creative energies on fire, even if they aren’t sure as to what they might do or where their efforts might go!
The idea is to set them up with an innovation facility by which they can explore and accelerate the adoption of leading digital tools throughout the organization that can accelerate innovation efforts, provide for better collaboration and so much more.
Case in point: I spent some time in St. Louis with Amsted Rail: they manufacture the ‘bogies’ which are the wheel-undercarriage assemblies found on railcars. It was a thrill for my wife and I to have a tour of their manufacturing facility before my talk to see what they are doing to realign themselves to opportunities for innovation in manufacturing.
And the tour included what they call their iLab — or, what I would call for the fun of it, an Xbox room! In this facility, they are continually examining a variety of ideas as to how to continue to move the organization forward. This includes exploring a variety of ideas and technologies, including:
- state of the art brainstorming centres to facilitate ideas colliding from all corners of our company
- real-time employee collaboration tools across geographically diverse sites (to promote “a collision of ideas”)
- how to use connected SMART Boards to simultaneously write/draw/share over any application using “digital ink”
- 3D scanning/modelling systems to enhance product R&D and quality capabilities
- advanced tensile testing techniques for enhanced product strength & durability
I had a chance to chat with the young fellows in the Xbox room — and listen to their ideas. It’s obvious its a rocket engine for innovative thinking!
That’s but one example: the more I witness what organizations are doing to accelerate innovation, the more I discover some sort of ‘Xbox room.’ I recently keynoted a major conference on the future of trucking in Phoenix.
While on stage, I spoke about a company in Winnipeg, Canada — Bison Trucking. They’ve set up a facility to encourage younger staff to explore how to align the fast pace of technological change in trucking to opportunities for digital technologies — read an extensive blog post about their efforts in the post Trend: In Trucking, Aircraft Control Towers Are the New Offices.
There’s plenty of others – Xbox rooms seem to be springing up everywhere! Here I am on stage in Muscat, Oman at a conference, talking about the concept in a Q&A.
Here’s what you need to think about:
- you should set up a digital facility with all kinds of ‘toys’ relevant to your industry, and set the creative energies of a group of young staff free to explore
- don’t set any specific goals, objectives or deliverables on the project — simply set it free to explore!
- explain the purpose and mission of the group to the rest of the organization, and encourage them to bring unique problems to the group
Go ahead – make an Xbox room!
Daily Inspiration: “The future belongs to those who are fast!”
“The future belongs to those who are fast!” – Futurist Jim Carroll
Daily Inspiration: “Step out of your comfort zone, and try to do things that you’ve never done before. That’s when you will discover a source of inner strength that you never knew you had!”
“Step out of your comfort zone, and try to do things that you’ve never done before. That’s when you will discover a source of inner strength that you never knew you had!” – Futurist Jim Carroll
‘’ Today I speak to 250 cattleranchers — incredibly innovative people, but sometimes stuck in their ways. They are faced with a world of rapid information, and need to work harder to ensure that people understand the work they do, and they role they play in feeding the world.
That’s why you should track the hashtag #cattletales — it’s a new and powerful initiative by which we the consumer can connect directly and better understand this unique side of the world which we so rarely see. Add it to your tracking list and watch the story unfold!’’
How a Futurist Thinks: What Should We Do About Zombie Cars in the Era of Self-Driving Cars?
I just had a short talk in an airport with an urban planner; the inevitable question came about as to where I was going, and then, what I do. (In today’s case, I’m going to speak to 250 cattle ranchers about their future….)
So I explained the idea of a futurist, and in order to make it relevant, I came up with a trends scenario for him: “What do we do about zombie cars from an urban planning perspective?”
The essence of the issue is this:
- one day, we’ll have a lot of self-driving vehicles
- in that context, there are many communities where people have to pay extra for overnight parking spots, either for their condominium or due to the unique design of the neighbourhood they live in
- in some communities, these parking spots are expensive — upwards of $500 to $1,000 a month
- people with self-driving cars will avoid this cost, simply by sending their cars out at 6 or 7pm to drive around the neighbourhood for the night, or to go park at a shopping mall parking lot somewhere
- everyone will order them back around the same time — say, 6AM
- and so we will suddenly have to deal with new traffic jams occurring at 6am
- so the question is, what will an urban planner do to deal with the new challenges coming from zombie cars?
- Will it be an issue, and how should we manage and plan for it?
Just saying. Just one of many fascinating topics I bring into my keynote, Accelerating the Auto and Trucking Industry in the Era of Self-Driving Vehicles.
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