Futurist, Trends & Innovation Expert Speaker Jim Carroll

Futurist. Trends & Innovation Expert

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Daily inspiration: “Insurmountable opportunities…..can be beat!”

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“Those ‘insurmountable opportunities’ that block your way can always be beat!”

My youngest son turns 24 today. How did this happen?

Both my sons are remarkable young men, and both have made their way into my stories on stage over a 25 year speaking career – because they have been so inspirational! And so this quote comes from Thomas and the ‘hockey blocker,’ a story I first began telling on stage in 2003 as part of my ‘What I Learned from Frogs in Texas’ business parable.

The quote comes from Walt Kelly and was used in a well known Pogo strip – ‘We are faced with insurmountable opportunities.’ A massive admission of helpless defeat – but the embedded contradiction in the phrase is meant to get you thinking.

Which brings me to the hockey blocker – as seen in this photo.

For many years, I told the story on stage of Tom and his hockey blocker. You see, when he was 3, he wanted one (a goalie blocker glove). We explained to him that we wouldn’t just go and buy one at the spur of a moment…

So he made his own. Out of a cereal box. While he was at his sitters for the day. Because we told him he couldn’t have one, he made his own.

What an inspiration! He kept it and used it for two years, until it was absolutely falling apart.

Around that time, I often used Tom and the story of his hockey blocker as part of my “What I Learned from Frogs in Texas” story — which eventually became a book of the same title. His part in the story was the power of initiative, determination and action. It remains for me a powerful lesson.

Happy birthday Tom! Always make sure that you construct the hockey blockers in your life – and always take the initiative!

No block is too significant to get in the way of success! Around that time, I often used Tom and the story of his hockey blocker as part of my “What I Learned from Frogs in Texas” story — which eventually became a book of the same title. Read more about that remarkable story – and in essence, how the hockey blocker story became a part of a 3 minute stage performance that changed my life.

Happy birthday Tom! Always make sure that you construct the hockey blockers in your life – and always take the initiative!

Daily Inspiration: “You can’t procrastinate your way to the future!”

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“You can’t procrastinate your way to the future!”

Don’t wait until tomorrow what you should be doing today, because it is going to be here earlier than you think!

With that line of thinking, consider the year 2025 – check the slide and look near the bottom of the image. That’s the cover photo from my ’25 Trends for 2025’ trends piece I put together years ago. It’s a simple grab bag of a wide variety of disconnected trends, and was offered up as food for thought for a global client to encourage them to align their innovation engine to what comes next.

You can read the document here: https://2025.jimcarroll.com

Last year, the trends piece caught the attention of the senior leadership team at Royal Carribbean Cruise Lines – they were holding a global leadership meeting in Miami, and needed someone to kick off the event.

As things would have it, they found the document and found me. Before I knew it, I was on stage, telling the story of 12 of those trends, and putting into perspective the impact of those trends on the future of the cruise industry.

The undercurrent of my talk, though, was that of many of my presentations – that they should have a compelling sense of urgency with these trends, despite the fact that the year 2025 might seem far away.

Because it’s not: and neither are the trends outlined within the document, such as ‘vertical farming.’ I covered how quickly new methods of ‘growing up’ are coming about as massive global urbanization takes hold, as we learn to grow crops in vertical towers inside cities to feed growing populations. That trend is happening quickly, and provides a potentially huge opportunity to the future architecture of cruise ships.

So don’t delay – get involved now! Understand the trend, experiment with it, learn from it, and discover what it might mean. That was my message for them, and it’s my message for you.

Because you can’t delay your way into the future!

Daily Inspiration: “Don’t just think innovation, think transformation!”

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“Don’t just think innovation: think transformation!”

On stage yesterday in San Diego for the KalmarOttawa North American Dealer meeting. Thank you Erica for the great photo!

What if your world changes – you used to sell highly specialized trucks based on gas and diesel, but might one day be selling highly intelligent, autonomous self-driving, self-diagnosing connected vehicles that run on electric?

And you are no longer selling just a truck, but a self-diagnosing service level uptime guarantee?

That’s what happens in a world in which we head into the future. Over the years, I’ve done many dealer meetings – Volvo, Mac Trucks and others. I do a lot of talks for transpiration companies struggling to align to the era of acceleration – Mercedes Benz, Chrysler and others. The transportation sector is seeing themes massive change since the invention of the Model-T!

And so while there is a lot of talk of the need for innovation, the proper strategy involves much more than that – transformation. Sometimes tinkering with new ways of doing things is not enough – you need to do entirely new and different things.

‘Transformation’ is a great motivational word, because it implies and involves complete and fundamental change. “Transformative change.” And it’s often necessary to deal with the era of acceleration.

And it’s critical at a personal level too. Have you tried to fix things in your life with a lot of new ideas, but find that they don’t stick? That you soon end up following old bad habits, routines and actions? Think transformation – take a big and bold step into a new world of fundamental and complete change.

I’ll often point out on stage that we can consider innovative thinking from 3 perspectives: doing things better; growing our activities; or transforming them altogether.

What’s your choice?

Article: Artificial Intelligence In Construction: ‘Massively Transformative’

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When I spoke in Oman last November, I spent a little bit of my time on stage talking about artificial intelligence. It caught the attention of the folks from Gulf Construction, the most prestigious publication in the Middle East when it comes to the construction industry. They asked if I might put down my thoughts on the role, impact and timing of A.I. and robotics within the industry.

AI in construction? It’s simply the next step in the digitisation of the industry. As we go down the technology path, we follow its inevitable result.

 

AI In Construction – Massively Transformative
In an exclusive article for Gulf Construction, JIM CARROLL, futurist, trends and innovation expert, highlights the far-reaching impact of artificial intelligence on the construction industry.
Gulf Construction News, January 2019 (link)

Artificial intelligence (AI), the very phrase conjures up images of futuristic mechanical brains doing all kinds of intelligent work. Scare stories abound – AI and robots are going to take away all of our jobs! Science fiction scenarios paint a picture of enslaved humans being subjected to the evil whims of smart computer technology.

[Read more…] about Article: Artificial Intelligence In Construction: ‘Massively Transformative’

The Story Behind the Picture – “Reinvent – Relentlessly!”

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“Reinvent. Relentlessly!” – #Futurist Jim Carroll

You always need to try to be a new you, because today is a different day. Maybe yesterday’s you won’t be good enough for the you that you need to be today!

Crazy message? Not really – as a species, we have never lived through a more dramatic period of fast paced change.

This stage shot? I’m at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, which celebrates the science, insight and inventions of one of the greatest minds of our time, Benjamin Franklin. What a fabulous setting for a dinner keynote a few months ago!

I was actually speaking at an innovation dinner awards celebration for Chemours, a leading global chemicals company. Called the 2018 Chemours Plunkett Awards, the evening celebrated key customers who had achieved breakthrough results through a focus on innovative and creative thinking.

I love awards dinners, and I’ve done quite a few over my 25 year speaking career! Let’s celebrate those who have done great things!

Part of my message to the audience was that continual reinvention though innovation is critical in today’s world. Products go out of date faster than ever before as product lifecycles collapse; fickle consumers can send a brand from hero to zero in moments; there is always a potential competitor around who is eager to ‘steal your lunch.’

So – reinvent!

Fun fact: it was the discovery of one single new chemical substance that permitted Apple to miniaturize the hard drive for the original Apple iPod, leading to the birth of a multi-billion market. Guess how many new chemical substances will be discovered in next 50 years? Billions!

Opportunity abounds in such a reality! This requires a mindset in which the ability to come up with new products is critical, and that is why we celebrate innovation heroes – like those who were in the room this particular evening.

Past glories won’t define your future success – so change yourself. Your track record from the past is irrelevant for the future if you don’t align yourself quickly to new realities. Your old success will not define your new success.

Your ability to reinvent yourself is the essence of your future being. Do it now!

#motivationalquotes #inspirationalquotes #speakerlife???? #innovation

The Challenge of Running a Sprint with a Boat Anchor Attached!

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That’s the problem that many financial services industry companies have — they are in a world in which they are having to respond to the challenges of fin-tech, disruptive business model change and more, and yet are running on an infrastructure that is still largely tied to the technology of the 60’s and 70’s.

That’s the modern day dilemma – and that’s part of what I will discuss when I open SAP’s 2018 Financial Services Industry Day conference in New York City next week.

To stir up interest, I filmed the little sneak preview above.

What happened? SAP has a BIG PROBLEM – in that the number of registered attendees is DOUBLE their expectations. Too many people have signed up!

What a nice problem to have. We know from experience that there will be a number of no-shows – it’s always the case – but still. It goes to show that senior executives from many of the world’s largest financial services companies – banks, insurance companies and more — are clamouring for insight on what to do in the era of acceleration. And that’s what I will cover in my keynote, and more.

(Do you run similar events, and want a similar BIG PROBLEM? Read more about my promo videos here).

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THE FUTURE BELONGS TO THOSE WHO ARE FAST features the best of the insight from Jim Carroll’s blog, in which he
covers issues related to creativity, innovation and future trends.

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