Insight Index – Page 44

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!

10 Unique Characteristics of 21st Century Skills

There’s been a lot of talk about the skills crisis lately. Most of it is focused on the wrong thing — people seem most worried by the fact that a lot of baby boomers are set to retire, and are taking their skills out of the economy. That’s a big issue, but that’s not the […]

Why innovation thrives in sandcastle building

We’re in big time summer slowdown here now for quite a few weeks ….. yet you can never stop thinking about how to ensure that creativity and innovation can continue to blossom. With that line of thinking,. here’s my list of “10 Reasons Why Innovation Thrives in the Building of Sandcastles: and What We Can […]

The Google Car and massive market disruption

There are a few news stories today about Tesla Motors, which includes numerous hi-tech executives, involved in an effort to build a new electric car. Let’s just call it the Google Car. I’ve been predicting this type of massive market shift since sometime in 2004; there’s a video clip from January 2006 in which I […]

What’s Next? Trends Shaping the Future of Commercial Horticulture

I’ve just returned from Vail after doing a keynote and workshop for the American Nursery and Landscape Association. As the session description for the afternoon workshop commented: “Your mind is spinning from the morning’s trends discussion. Now it’s time to turn those trends and challenges into a tangible business opportunity! After 100 years, StarKist finally […]

The future of snowboarding and skiing

A journalist recently asked me about the future of snowboarding; there’s a lot going on with “sticks and planks” as people have come to call them. snowboards and skis will continue to gain intelligence. Rapid advances in on-board chip technology, combined witih insight into kinesiology, will see a lot more on-board motion analysis as well […]

How do you sell the future to people who have no interest in it?

There have been dozens of keynotes through the last few months. All kinds of industries; executives; professionals; markets; challenges. There’s a lot of change going on out there, and the brutal reality is that some get it — and a lot do not. Each and every keynote has involved a lot of research, plenty of […]

Racine County, Wisconsin — something big is happening here….

I did a keynote the other night for the Racine County Economic Development Corporate, located in, of course, Racine County, Wisconsin. There is something *really cool* happening here ; when I get a chance I’m going to pull my thoughts together and summarize what I see. Suffice it to say, it is a community focused […]

What makes for corporate agility?

In a recent presentation and Profit article, I focused on how organizations and leaders must incorporate four key capabilities: agility, insight, innovation, and execution. The corporate agility concept is perhaps the most critical: organizations must presume that the rate of change today is so fast that product lifecycles are collapsing, business models are relentlessly shifting, […]

Agility, innovation and execution

I’ve just flown out west to do a dinner keynote for a major telecom company. I wrote an article on my way related to what I’ve been talking about within the context of this and related industries. I opened the article with these comments: “If there are three keywords that should carry organizations and the […]

Should you go to war with your customers?

Based on the email response and media coverage, my keynote at the SCTE in Tampa yesterday caused a bit of a buzz. There’s an article from MultiChannel News (see below) that takes a look at my remarks. A key message seems to be sticking: cable companies should not go to war with their customers. Recently, […]

10 Big Trends for Agriculture

Jim Carroll is widely recognized as one of the leading experts in the world on agricultural trends. His client list in extensive, including both agricultural associations and global agricultural companies. It includes Purina • Land O’ Lakes • Eli Lilly/Elanco • DTN The Progressive Farmer • Nutrien • Farm Media Journal • FMC Agriculture • […]

Time for an innovation audit?

From an article I wrote for The Boardroom, a publication for associaton executives: “Take the time to do this simple to test to determine if your association and its members are in the right frame of mind for remarkably new and innovative things, or whether they and you are stuck in a rut, unable to […]

“Volatility is the new normal”

I recently keynoted the Furniture Today 2005 Leadership conference in Miami. This article reports on my talk. Futurist: Changes will present new opportunities Furniture Today, 12/14/2005 . MIAMI — If you aren’t comfortable with change, you probably won’t like Jim Carroll’s vision of the future. “Everything is changing so fast, you don’t know what is […]

Fortune Magazine and the infinite idea loop

Fortune Magazine’s Business Innovation blog linked to my “infinite idea loop” video clip, and the traffic has been pretty heavy from right around the world. They had this to say of my clip on how innovation has forever changed in the context of what I call “the infinite idea loop: “It’s hard to discuss all […]

The Masters of Business Imagination

One of the biggest challenges in writing a book is getting the title right….. and this one has taken a long time. But while sitting here today in the snow! it finally clicked in: and it will come out :The Masters of Business Imagination: Why It’s the Only Degree You’ll Ever Need. Another alternative: :The […]

The infinite idea loop

If you need to understand why your markets or industry is changing rapidly, you need to watch this clip Understanding the loop and learning to work within it is critical to understanding how to thrive in todays’ complex economy.

10 Ways to Do a Press Release That Matters

On a mailing list to which I subscribe, someone just asked how to write a great press release. Off the top of my head, I jotted out a response. I’m on the receiving end of a ton of press releases sent by various companies because I do a lot of writing. Most are dull; contain […]

10 More Ways to Instill Innovation

My post yesterday (10 Signs that you’ve got an innovation dysfunction) generated a bit of e-mail with a few questions as to what else you can do to stir up an innovative culture. With some 80 keynotes under my belt through the last year, I’ve seen some of the best and worst approaches to innovation […]

10 Signs that you’ve got an innovation dysfunction

It should be pretty easy to walk into an organization and do an innovation audit — that is, assess the likelihood that an organization can do remarkably new and innovative things. Here’s what I would look for: People laugh at new ideas Someone who identifies a problem is shunned Innovation is the privileged practice of […]

Creativity, trends and innovation in retail, packaging and consumer goods ….

According to the Washington Post, some 33,679 new products were introduced into the consumer products sector in 2004, up 53% from 10 years earlier. Since the typical store has only 40,000 SKU’s, it can be pretty difficult for a consumer products company to succeed today! Clearly the world of retail has become extremely challenging – […]

Business agility in a time of rapid change

I’m doing a session for SAP in Huntington Beach, California this AM, on the key theme of “organizational agility.” That’s the culture, insight and capabilities that leading-edge organizations possess that help them to thirve in a period of rapid change. A quote that I use is from Stephen Hochman, Vice President Sales, New Balance North […]

What’s your skills capital?

Today I provide the opening keynote for the annual Monster Government Solutions Human Capital Management conference for government HR folks in Washington, DC. I’ll be focussing on a look at “human resource issues of 2010”, and how we need more flexibility as we battle the depth of the looming skills crisis. I’ve framed my talk […]

What’s your “experiential capital?”

I did a keynote yesterday for a major packaging / printing company, focussing on global economic, business, social and other trends, outlining how this industry might be affected. One of the phrases I used — and I’ve used this in the last 3 talks — revolves around the concept of “experiential capital.” This particular organization […]

Innovation and simplicity

As I near the half way point of summer, I’ve come to realize something. For all the innovation that exists in the world, no one has yet invented a decent pool/beach toy inflatable pump. They don’t exist. Ever model I have ever tried (and there have been several this summer) is a dismal failure. We […]