Insight Index – Page 28

JIM’S INSIGHTS

Futurist Jim Carroll has quickly become recognized as your ‘go-to source’ for effective insight on what comes next, the strategies that you consider, and the leadership path you need to follow.

INNOVATION INSIGHTS

If you keeping doing the same old thing, you’ll
end up with the same old thing!

Lessons from My Youngest Son: Taking Initiative!

My youngest son Tom turns 22 today. Time flies! Both of my sons have been a huge inspiration to me on my approach to life, innovation, the future and trends — I know they live in a world that is completely different than my own, as they’ve grown up in a world of fast, relentless […]

Daily Inspiration: “Agility is the Only Antidote for Velocity”

“Agility is the only antidote for velocity” – Jim Carroll One recent client engaged me for a talk for their global team, with the keynote title “Achieving Agility: Aligning Ourselves for an Era of Accelerating Change”. That’s a good example of how I outline the attributes for success in a world of high velocity change. […]

Daily Inspiration: “A suggestion box? That’s the best way to trivialize the concept of innovation!”

“A suggestion box? That’s the best way to trivialize the concept of innovation!” – Jim Carroll Why Suggestion Boxes are a Stupid Idea. 10 Powerful Lessons for Innovation! With 25 years of working with some of the leading organization in the world on issues related to creativity and innovation, I’ve seen some of the best and worst […]

The Story Behind the Picture: “What Will You Do Today To Do the Tough Stuff? Ask Tough Questions!

Here’s a good quote to live by: it is said that doing the right thing when it’s easy to do is easy — it’s doing the right thing when it’s tough that is really tough! It can be difficult to be tough about things, because it’s always easier to be nicer, to avoid stress, to […]

Daily Inspiration: “Establishing a committee is a guaranteed prescription for innovation paralysis”

“Establishing a committee is a guaranteed prescription for innovation paralysis” – Jim Carroll How many times does this happen – you have a great idea that you know will succeed – only to have it go to a committee, who proceed to destroy your idea? As I dig into the culture and attitude of a […]

Daily Inspiration: “Surround yourself with optimists. Always ignore the pessimists!”

“Surround yourself with optimists. Always ignore the pessimists!” – Jim Carroll Some of the most fascinating organizations in the world have brought me in to encourage their people to think about the future, and how to nurture a culture of creativity and innovation. Organizations like NASA (twice!), Johnson and Johnson, Whirlpool/Maytag, the Walt Disney Corporation and […]

Daily Inspiration: “If you can’t remember the last time you did something really cool, you have a bigger innovation problem than you think!”

“If you can’t remember the last time you did something really cool, you have a bigger innovation problem than you think!” – Futurist Jim Carroll

Daily Inspiration: “What made you successful in the last 10 years will not make you successful in the next 10. Given that, what are you going to change in your thinking and your strategy to adjust to this harsh reality?”

“What made you successful in the last 10 years will not make you successful in the next 10. Given that, what are you going to change in your thinking and your strategy to adjust to this harsh reality?” – Futurist Jim Carroll 10 Signs that You are Failing at Innovation, and What You Should Do […]

Daily Inspiration: “The world needs more people with a new type of degree that I call the Masters in Business Imagination!”

“The world needs more people with a new type of degree that I call the Masters in Business Imagination!” – Jim Carroll Masters in Business Imagination – The Only Degree You’ll Ever Need! Each day, I post a motivational quote from a stage to my Instagram feed. Follow me and get inspired! This morning, I […]

In 1989 (28 years ago), I Was Almost Fired Because of an Article About Email. Read Why – And What Happened!

The folks at Postal and Parcel Technology Magazine approached me some months back to write an article about the future of mail in the era of technology, and particularly, e-mail. I suggested to them that rather than looking forward, why not look to the past for valuable lessons? Such as, how organizations seem to always react […]

Your Customers Know More Than You Do: Do You Accept That, And What Will You Do About It? Here Are 10 Things You SHOULD Do!

Does your organization have the right stuff to deal with todays’ information-empowered, globally collaborative, we-know-better-than-you-do customer? Probably not! Imagine that you are a big company. Imagine that you roll out a new piece of software that was supposed to make things better for your customers. Imagine that it doesn’t do that — and it makes things […]

Trend: Smart Homes Will be Smarter Than You Think – Who, Why, Where? And a Look Back to 1999!

As with anything, the opportunity around the idea of the ‘smart home’, and the reality of what will transpire, varies to a large degree. We are in early days yet! That was the essence of an exchange I had with a potential client in the home/condo construction market; they were looking at me for an executive […]

Daily Inspiration: “Agility is the only antidote for velocity”

“Agility is the only antidote for velocity” – Jim Carroll Many organizations engage me for an offsite CEO or executive session that is focused on how to move the organization forward in a period fast paced change. So it was this client in the hi-tech sector — where I delivered a keynote around the idea […]

Hire People You Don’t Like. Stop Seeking Common Ground. Kill the Committee. & More Ideas to Accelerate Your Reality

Those who succeed possess a daring need for speed. That’s your reality. If you think your world, industry, company, business model, platform, technology or anything else will look the same a year from now — you’re wrong. What are you going to do about it? Change things. Change things big. Don’t think small – be […]

People Will Always Laugh At Your Crazy Ideas: They Are Usually Wrong!

Many people have a belief system that has them convinced that the world of tomorrow will look much like it does today, with the result that when they are confronted by the future, they dismiss it. Case in point – back in 2006, I was the opening keynote speaker for a conference of telecom and […]

Thinking Growth: Where’s the Growth? It’s Everywhere

I’m cleaning out some old research files, and came across this simple set of statistics: between now and 2050, we will move from 7 to 10 billion people; we need 70% more food, 50% more water, and 50% more fuel. People always ask me, ‘where are the emerging opportunities for innovation?” Those simple statistics define […]

Trend: In Trucking, Air Traffic Control Towers Are the New Offices!

Earlier this week, I spoke to several hundred executives from the trucking industry at a keynote for the Omnitracs customer conference in Phoenix. My keynote focused on the trends which are sweeping the industry, including prognostic diagnostics, the connectivity impact of the Internet of Things (#IoT), the rapid evolution of autonomous trucks and self-driving technologies, […]

Daily Inspiration: “The Best Ideas are Shared Ideas”

“The best ideas are shared ideas” – Jim Carroll This photo was taken during my keynote for Godiva/McVitie’s/Ulker in London, UK, all operating under the new company name of Pladis. The fact that Einstein is in there is great; I often use his observation that “insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, and […]

Daily Inspiration: “Structure is the enemy of innovation – but if you must, establish a routine that involves being spontaneous!”

“Structure is the enemy of innovation – but if you must, establish a routine that involves being spontaneous!” – Jim Carroll The photo is from an event I did for an insurance company — an industry that is set to be disrupted in a significant way as direct-relationship business models increasingly take hold. I’ve written […]

Daily Inspiration: “Innovation is like a tee shot – it is deceptively simple in concept, yet endlessly difficult to achieve with any degree of consistency”

“Innovation is like a tee shot – it is deceptively simple in concept, yet endlessly difficult to achieve with any degree of consistency” – Jim Carroll So I golf. Not well, but I have goals. Which makes the fact that the PGA of America has invited me in to keynote their organization twice all the […]

Disruptors Disrupt: Why You Must Change Your Thinking NOW!

My job as a futurist has me doing an increasing number of CEO level events for Fortune 500 companies around the world, helping at leadership meetings which are focused on the massive transformations and disruption occurring in every single industry. Disruption is real, it’s big, and it’s happening faster than you think. Here’s what you […]

Daily Inspiration: “Stop planning. Start doing!”

“Stop planning. Start doing!” – Futurist Jim Carroll When I’m on stage, I often talk about the ‘organizational sclerosis‘ that sets in, that prevents organizations from seizing the opportunities of the future. To this day, I remain stunned by the slow speed of many organizations. Too often, this comes about because too much time is […]

Daily Inspiration: “To win in the race to the future, you need to decide to show up at the starting line”

“To win in the race to the future, you need to decide to show up at the starting line” – Futurist Jim Carroll Each morning since August, I’ve enjoyed my morning coffee while putting together a little future/motivational quote from some of my stage pictures. You can track this over on Instagram; I also tweet them. I’m […]

Innovate and Adapt – or Die: The Sobering Reality of Disruption

It’s that simple. Here’s a simple list of companies that were once great successes. Then they weren’t: Blockbuster. Borders. Lehman Bros. Kodak. Circuit City. RadioShack. Pan-Am. Enron. E.F. Hutton.RCA. Tower Records. Polaroid. Woolworths. Compaq. Arthur Anderson. The list could go on…. companies that were leaders in their time, and then failed, due to a lack of […]