Insight Index – Page 40

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!

The economy and leadership: strategy meetings are happening NOW

I continue to see a lot of activity with inquiries and bookings for senior management / CEO leadership meetings. This confirms my belief, which I have been posting in this blog, that there are many organizations out there who are determined to stay ahead of fast paced economic trends. Here’s an example of a client […]

Rethinking innovation models – from Disney, to tin cans, to automobiles

Here’s another video clip from the New York keynote — actually, this is from the Readers Digest Food & Entertainment (publishers of Everyday with Rachel Ray) keynote. At this event, I was speaking to an audience of advertising executives, food companies, packaging companies and others about how innovation models are shifting. Today, innovation is much […]

Moving Beyond the Meltdown: Aligning Yourself for Growth Through Innovation

If you study the screen carefully to the right, you’ll note that the current slide from my deck states, “Time to market and corporate agility are the new corporate capabilities.” In other words, it’s your ability to keep an innovation-oriented focus in order to deal with the new challenges that surround you, that will define […]

The economy — what I’m seeing happen RIGHT NOW

This is quite unreal. A month ago, I faced a very busy September and early October, and was out on the road keynoting a wide variety of events – a leadership event for a global law firm; an economic development conference; a symposium on consumer trends; a commercial real estate conference; a leadership session for […]

The seven stages of economic grief – when do you innovate?

I was speaking with a client yesterday about an upcoming event in Palo Alto, California. We got to chatting about, obviously, the economic challenges that swirl around us, and the mindset that is quickly enveloping so many organizations. Here’s what I think is going on: there are many organizations entering a state of absolute paralysis. […]

It’s back! Aggressive indecision! Here’s how to kick it out!

It’s back! Aggressive indecision! With all the economic turmoil, leaders, executives and staff have the “deer in the headlights” syndrome. I spoke about this trend extensively on stage during the last recession in 2001-2002. People got into the message, and it restored their enthusiasm for the future and innovation. I actually wrote about “aggressive indecision” […]

Do you really need an innovation spark? How about a custom edition of Ready, Set, Done?

Since Ready, Set, Done: How to Innovate When Faster is the New Fast was published a year ago this week, it proved to be a book that has provided unique innovation guidance to thousands of people. And in many cases, the book has been purchased in bulk, with copies distributed to those in attendance at […]

Video clip — where’s the opportunity? Where’s the growth?

Given the rapid pace of global economic developments in the fall of 2008, it’s interesting that the number of organizations bringing me in for a leadership or management event has increased. That’s because, despite perilous economic times, CEO’s in a variety of industries are working hard to ensure that their organization stays focused on growth. […]

100 Days of Innovation – #2 – Go Upside Down

When thinking about new product or service development, don’t do it in isolation. Seek advice and guidance from your business partners — or, even let them drive the innovation agenda. This is the lesson I learned from a large company in the consumer goods/entertainment space. They had traditionally been responsible for an innovation plan that […]

Innovation – act fast – empower people!

Empowering staff and partners to make quick decisions is an essential component of innovating in the high-velocity economy. Particularly given that right now, optics are really important. RBC Plaza’s Grand Opening is on, but, Um, About Those Sky Divers … (from iStockAnalyst) Oct. 2–RALEIGH — A big building calls for a big celebration. But when […]

Freeze, innovate or panic? Innovation strategies for RIGHT NOW

Given the rapid pace of global economic developments, organizations are faced with a pretty stark choice. The CEO of a company that is having me speak to an upcoming leadership meeting stated it this way: their choice going forward is to : Freeze: do nothing Innovate: respond to rapid market change through innovation, particularly with […]

7 Things to Do Right Now As the Upturn Begins!

I’m often providing detailed strategic guidance to senior executives and leaders on trends and the future, and certainly the economy has become a big part of what I address today. Much of my time is spent putting into perspective the fact that we’ve always had downturns; there’s still plenty of growth opportunities out there; innovation […]

Innovation — in the most wonderful places

Well, I’m back from summer holidays, and the keynote in Australia was a particular bit of fun. Sydney is a dazzling modern and efficient city — some of its infrastructure put other global cities to shame. After Sydney, my family and I went up the east coast of Australia, to several locations. It was at […]

Why innovation thrives in the building of sandcastles

I’m off to keynote an event in Sydney, Australia; and after that, two weeks of family time in the tropics of Australia. Years ago, inspired by similar times, I wrote about how innovation thrives in the building of sandcastles. It was a great post — it made it into BusinessWeek. I thought it a fitting […]

Get Fest-ed! Adding some life to your annual conference or event….

I’ve had a new article published for Association Executives for the CSAE, about how you can innovate and jazz-up your annual meeting or conference. Here’s an extract: Does your conference marketing suck? Maybe it does, and you don’t know it. People today don’t want to go to an “annual conference” and attend “plenary sessions.” Kids […]

After flat? Rethink strategies and go post-flat!

As some economies continue to experience rounds of volatility, there are still plenty trying to figure out what to do next. And there are a many who are focused on the theme of “what do we do after the world has gone flat?” In the “post-flat” world, you need to change your focus. In an […]

Innovating in the era of the celebrity baby blog!

I just returned from a keynote for the Direct Seller Association; the industry dedicated to selling products to individuals in their homes. One might think in the Internet era that such an industry is on the skids; yet organizations like Avon, Mary Kay, and new direct selling companies continue on a growth trajectory; through innovation […]

Recent keynote titles

Jim Carroll has been on stage for 20 years, and has spoken to hundreds of thousands of people. There’s a certain degree of insight that comes from such experience. It’s not just the deep industry insight that Jim has into countless industries — it’s the way he manages to get across the message. The world’s largest and […]

Can we talk — upside down innovation?

The media is all abuzz with the concept of “user oriented innovation,” and that is certainly an important innovation trend. But it’s not the only trend. Innovators would do well to recognize that there are many, many other concepts that can help to focus and refocus their innovation efforts. While everyone focuses on having “customers” […]

The Secret for Association Executive Success: Study Air Guitar!

My blog post of a few weeks ago caught the attention of the folks at the Canadian Society of Association Executives — and so I quickly rewrote it to challenge their members to think about the role of “associations in the future.” Here’s how I open the article: “Things are happening very fast out there […]

“65% of the kids in preschool today will work in jobs or careers that don’t yet exist”

Whether I’ve got an audience of 3,000 people in Vegas, or a small CEO-level meeting of 20 people, I always open with the same observation. It’s from an Australian study which concluded that 65% of the kids in pre-school today will work in jobs or careers that do not yet exist. I then challenge people […]

If I ran your company, here’s what I would do!

Supertramp — a band from the 80’s — had a minor hit with the song “On the Long Way Home,” which featured the memorable line, the line, “when you’re up on the stage, it’s so unbelievable.” It is, quite. And when you’re up there, you realize how lucky you are to be able to share […]

Led Zeppelin Leadership: How do you innovate when you’re dazed and confused ….

At a particular keynote last week, I met a number of senior executives who certainly agreed with my message – we need to constantly realign our company to the reality of change that surrounds it. That’s where innovation comes from. But they also also indicated that they found it increasingly difficult to keep up with […]

Leadership insight: study air guitar!

My blog posting ten days ago (a “Memo to the CEO”) stirred up quite a bit of interest and response. In the item, I noted that the most important thing CEO’s “can do *right now*, as you work to navigate your way through the challenging economic shoals that surround you, is to make sure that […]