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.

All about growth!

Decoding Tomorrow: Daily Inspiration – Global Economy: "Stability. Reliability. Predictability. Clarity. This is now the foundation of the new 21st-century economy."

"Stability. Reliability. Predictability. Clarity. This is now the foundation of the new 21st-century economy." - Futurist Jim Carroll It's been fascinating to watch the speed…

Decoding Tomorrow: Mastering 2026 – #24 Trust Capital: "In an era of synthetic perfection, your flaws are now the ultimate watermark of your authenticity."

"In an era of synthetic perfection, your flaws are now the ultimate watermark of your authenticity." - Futurist Jim Carroll I'm back! And we're on…

Decoding Tomorrow: Your Daily Future Inspiration – Innovating in Uncertainty: "Every good moment of uncertainty demands the certainty of action!"

"Every good moment of uncertainty demands the certainty of action!" - Futurist Jim Carroll You can pre-order Dancing in the Rain effective today! I've got…

Decoding Tomorrow: Your Daily Future Inspiration – “There is no shortage of big opportunities.. There is a shortage of bold leadership!"

"There is no shortage of big opportunities.. There is a shortage of bold leadership!" = Futurist Jim Carroll One of my fellow futurists recently included…

Daily Inspiration: The Economy and Innovation - "Markets are not trends!"

"Markets are not trends!" - Futurist Jim Carroll Some wild headlines yesterday: In that context, I shared this image with one of my sons yesterday;…

Daily Inspiration: Retail, Supply Chain, Logistics - "Bring on tomorrow!"

"Bring on tomorrow!" - Futurist Jim Carroll Like the sign says. Bring on tomorrow - because if you don't, your tomorrow might not work out…

Daily Inspiration: Economic Outlook - "The US consumer seems to have entered into a state of perpetual economic gloom. Some companies seem all too eager to follow them into the abyss"

"The US consumer seems to have entered into a state of perpetual economic gloom. Some companies seem all too eager to follow them into the…

Daily Inspiration: Volatility & Trends - "You'll never find your opportunity in the depths of your despair!"

"You'll never find your opportunity in the depths of your despair!" - Futurist Jim Carroll I'm down in Silicon Valley in California today, where I've…

Daily Inspiration: Leadership and Growth - "Real leaders don't try to cost cut their way into the future! (They reinvent!)"

"Real leaders don't try to cost cut their way into the future! (They reinvent!)" - Futurist Jim Carroll Really? Are we going to do this…

Daily Inspiration: Transformative Thinking - "If you are surrounded by transformative trends that are so big, why do you continue to think so small?"

Daily Inspiration: Industry Transformation - "A bold future abhors a timid mind!"

"A bold future abhors a timid mind!" - Futurist Jim Carroll The old automotive industry is disappearing; a new one is being born. The old…

Daily Inspiration: Economic Growth - "At what point will you realize you've wasted time preparing for an economic downturn that never happened?"

"At what point will you realize you've wasted time preparing for an economic downturn that never happened?" - Futurist Jim Carroll Have you noticed that…

Daily Inspiration: Business Transformation - "At some moment in time, you will come to realize that the future you thought had no longer exists!"

"At some moment in time, you will come to realize that the future you thought had no longer exists!" - Futurist Jim Carroll If you…

Leadership and Volatility: It's What You Do Right Now That Matters

History teaches us that those who move forward, fast, during periods of relentless uncertainty, are those who win. Futurist Jim Carroll on stage in London,…

Scary News Headlines?

Have a history lesson! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIbjbwez6pM&feature=youtu.be

Daily Inspiration: "The future of work? It's the skills you don't know about that you need to be planning for!"

"The future of work? It's the skills you don't know about that you need to be planning for!" - Futurist Jim Carroll What can the…

Daily Inspiration: "If you are letting all this recession talk defer your plans for growth, you're doing it all wrong!"

"If you are letting all this recession talk defer your plans for growth, you're doing it all wrong!" - Futurist Jim Carroll History has taught…

Video: Achieving Optimism - Learning from the Two Different Types of Farmers!

One of my favorite bits of insight I like to share from the stage concerns the story of the 'two types of framers.' Which one…

Keynote Topics 2023: Growth, Innovation & Creativity, Megatrends, Leadership and Acceleration

I just sent out my February update to all my speaker bureau partners - I'm represented by most of the major ones in the world…

Daily Inspiration: "If only the paranoid survive, it's also true that it's the chameleons who will thrive!"

The case for optimism & global economic recovery

I was in Billings, Montana last week, speaking at the annual meeting of a financial group. The audience included a large cross section of business executives from throughout the Midwest. My talk centred around the trends that might provide for sustainable economic growth. Here’s what I focused on: a significant and lasting change in perspective. I […]

Trend: Switching from cutting back, to focusing on growth

In a whirlwind of activity over the last ten days, I’ve been the keynote speaker for conferences that probably represents the vast majority of global Fortune 1000 organizations, speaking to the trends that will impact the future of ‘corporate facilities.’ These have included keynotes for the Professional Retail Store Maintenance Association annual conference in Orlando; […]

Global innovation for growth : through long term transformation

Futurist Jim Carroll, at CRIM 2010, outlines how global CEO’s are positioning their organizations for growth, through a focus on long term transformative trends. As the path to an economic recovery becomes clearer, I’m spending a lot of time speaking at leadership events for strategies for the upturn.

The return of growth

My mantra about innovation is that it is always about three questions: how do you run the business better, grow the business, and transform the business. Address those three issues, and you’ve nailed the essence of innovation. Since the economic downturn, most of my global clients have been focused on the first issue: how can […]

Innovators always focus on growth!

Leading in turbulent times! That’s a topic you need to focus on in the high velocity economy – particularly as volatility rages around you. And leading means focusing on growth: pursuing opportunities that will materialize over the longer term, rather than just managing short term trends. That’s the focus of my “Where’s the Growth” document, […]

Finding growth with knowledge exponentiation

I’ve been doing a tremendous number of small, intimate CEO level leadership meetings; I’ll work with the CEO or other senior management team member to pull together a talk that will highlight the key opportunities for growth through innovation within an industry. I often point out that there are significant innovation and revenue growth opportunities […]

“How is the recession changing the way we do business?”

Here’s a quick quote from a year end article that ran in Computer Dealer News: CDN: How is the recession changing the way we do business? Jim Carroll: “There’s a realization that we need to get to market faster, because consumer trends are happening faster, and IT plays a big role. If we don’t have […]

“How cool is that?” “Let’s focus on growth!”

My news tracker picked up this small interview that appeared in Food Processing Magazine a few months ago. In a tough economy like this, it’s time to hold the line on spending and to be especially cautious of leading-edge technology. Right? History’s full of companies that leapt ahead of competitors by increasing spending, especially on […]

Innovation and the concept of “chameleon revenue”

I am not alone in thinking we’re in the midst of a significant economic transformation. As Mick Fleming, president of the American Chamber of Commerce Executives, said recently, “It’s going to be a move from a bad economy to the next economy.” What is the shape of the next economy? In many cases, it will […]

Regions that rock: and how quickly Dubai lost it’s image!

Back in the spring, when the entire world was caught up in the midst of global economic doom, I had a long conversation with a Dubai-based journalist. He was seeking my insight for an article on what a nation, city or economic region should do to remain competitive in the global economy. I didn’t realize […]

The importance of innovation in the era of the “new normal”

The CEO of the American Chamber of Commerce recently caught the essence of the state of our “new normal“, when he observed that we’re in the midst of “this move from a really bad economy, to the next economy.” What is the shape of that next economy? While we can’t be certain as to the […]

Choosing Optimism and Innovation!

Here’s another short video clip about the mindset that you can — and should – carry forward as we continue to work our way through challenging economic times!

Insight on deep, transformation change – and the “next economy”

Next week, I’ll be in Jacksonville, as the lunch time keynote speaker for the annual meeting of the Materials Handling Association of America. We’ll have about 300 executives in the room, from a broad cross section of North American industry. My topic? “Moving Beyond the Meltdown: Aligning Yourself for Growth Through Innovation“. In the last […]

Failing at the future: 10 reasons why some companies will miss out on the economic upturn!

Just over a year ago, the global economy changed. What has it changed to? When I keynoted the Missouri Governor Economic Development conference in St. Louis two weeks ago, I offered this quote from the American Chamber of Commerce: “It’s going to be this move from a bad economy, to the next economy.” What is […]

What’s next with economic development? My report from Missouri ….

Two weeks ago, I was featured as the closing speaker at the 2009 Governor’s Conference on Economic Development, the 51st annual event of this type. Governor Jay Nixon addressed the crowd on Thursday, Sept 10th, noting in his keynote that: To compete – and win — in the 21st century, we must encourage entrepreneurship and […]

Achieving growth: innovation in the post recession economy

I’m thrilled that Microsoft has asked me to be the opening speaker for a number of events this fall, related to the Windows 7 launch. We will be talking to CIO’s, CFO’s and CTO’s for a wide variety of organizations from multiple different industries. My talk with focus on the theme: “Achieving Growth! Why Innovators […]

Has innovation really changed much with the meltdown?

One year ago today, I was on stage in Sydney, Australia, opening the 2008 Toshiba Mobility Exchange Conference. Part of my talk focused on the issue of “innovation in the high velocity economy.” Looking back at a clip from the talk, one year after the global economic meltdown, some key points continue to remain extremely […]

Live poll – When will we see an economic recovery?

I’m doing a keynote for a leading global loyalty management company on Thursday; I’ll be incorporating several live text message polls into the talk, in order to have a truly interactive experience on the stage — this is something I do quite often. In advance, I’m running a brief test of the polling service I […]

The Time to Invest in the Future is Now!

Enough said. Get over it. Get out and innovate. Think growth!

A conscious decision – don’t take part in this recession!

I led a small workshop last week after an event, focused on the issue of “how can we establish opportunities for growth during an economic downturn.” The cover of my handout was titled, “It’s January 15, 2020: What did we do to move through the great recession of 2009.” Inside, I presented a number of […]

Where’s the growth? Rethinking long term opportunity

I wrote this PDF report last spring, before the recession set in. Yet I still think it makes for a lot of powerful arguments as to where we will see industrial and market growth in the future. From the introduction: Gloom has set in on global markets. Volatility rages. Some organizations have gone into a […]

The Internet economy: How it will drive recovery

From my May CAMagazine column. As we worry and wonder about the state of the global economy, we should remind ourselves that one thing is certain. At some point in the future,newspapers will run banner headlines featuring the words “Economic Recovery.” The challenge with this particular downturn is that every single event — downsizing, layoff, […]

10 Things You Need to Do to Innovate in a Recession

Business Week ran an article in January, “10 Worst Innovation Mistakes in a Recession.” It’s easy to point out mistakes. It can be harder to indicate what you should be doing. I’ve been out speaking to organizations about trends, the future, innovation and creativity for fifteen years. Since last year, when the meltdown began, I’ve […]

“Opportunities 2009” – the workforce of 2020!

I was the opening keynote speaker yesterday for Opportunities 2009, a conference in Ontario, Canada, that was focused on workplace trends to 2015. The keynote description went like this: What Comes Next: And What Should We Do About It? Is there a future out there? Definitely yes, but a constant drumbeat of negative news can […]