Daily Inspiration: "With a little bit of courage and a whole lot of imagination, anything is possible." - Timidus the Mouse
I did a little AI-generated movie short, narrated by SNOOP DOGG
Everyone has always told me I should write a kid's book. So I decided to try to learn if I could do a kid's movie using an AI.
I learned I can - it's the story of Timidus, the Mouse.
How did I do it? I took a blog post I wrote sometime back, used an AI to turn it into a kid's story, and then turned it into an animated short, using an AI. I added a voiceover by Snoop Dog, using an AI tool, and added a somewhat hip-hoppy music track created by an AI.
My little movie is but 45 seconds long. I could make it longer and do the entire story, but I won't pursue it further than I did, because I learned what I needed to know. I'll move on with my journey of continuous exploration.
What did I learn through the process? A lot of new skills - and, as Timidus discovered in the story as written by an AI, with a little bit of courage and a whole lot of imagination, anything is possible.
Daily Inspiration: "Never give up. Just give more." - Futurist Jim Carroll
It's easy to give up.
It's harder to commit.
But it's the only way to get ahead.
I really like to take the time to wrap my head around an industry in which I will be delivering a talk. With that in mind, I've been reading the book The Alchemy of Air: A Jewish Genius, a Doomed Tycoon, and the Scientific Discovery That Fed the World but Fueled the Rise of Hitler, by Thomas Hager. It's over on Amazon.
It's the fascinating story of the discovery of the process for the manufacturing of ammonia - and while it seems like it might be a kind of dull topic, it's the type of scientific historical tome that I absolutely love to read. Books like these tell the story of innovation, creativity, and determination that no traditional business leadership book can. Rather than a series of parables, you've got a realistic overview of just what it takes to invent a new business - in this case, a scientific process that is excruciatingly complex and extremely difficult to master.
Reading the book won't feed directly into the content of my talk, but it will feed into the narrative I deliver when I meet with the leadership team of a multi-billion chemicals company in this industry in just a few weeks. Their industry came about as the result of a big, bold bet, but also the dogged determination that comes with the complex task of the process of scientific discovery.
In essence, it's the story of two individuals, who in pursuit of their goal, never gave up. They just gave more.
That's a valuable lesson in and of itself right there.
Daily inspiration: "Are you ready for the inconceivable to become conceivable?" - Futurist Jim Carroll
It's difficult to comprehend the speed of change when things are exponentiating; it's a challenge to grasp the impact of the era of acceleration when we are accelerating.
Exponential change is all around us. We are at the edge of the era of being able to grow human body parts for replacement in our bodies. Genomic medicine and pharmacogenetics take us to a world in which we can treat many forms of disease and illness before they occur. Molecular cancer diagnostics will help us identify many cancers at an early stage before they have a chance to progress. Batteries are the future of everything as carbon becomes a sunset industry. Autonomy is taking hold with self-driving trucks, tractors and combines. Robotics is accelerating leading to massive rates of change in factories. Digital twin technology is letting us create entire virtual replicas that can guide us through surgeries, construction, and logistics. AI is leading to an absolute explosion in new knowledge, discoveries, and skills. New materials science is leading to the absolute possibility of new materials that are lighter than air. Old industries are disappearing and new ones are emerging.
All of this is happening because of the speed of exponential change.
Daily Inspiration: "It's not how the circumstance of surprise impacts you. It's the fact that you were surprised in the first place!" - Futurist Jim Carroll
"I didn't see that coming!" "Wow, that came right out of left field!" "That caught me off guard!" "I wasn't prepared for that!" "I was taken aback by what happened!" "I was blindsided by it!"
When aligning to tomorrow, phrases such as these are indicative of perhaps the worst kind of failure, and yet often, can be the most prevalent.
Why are people blindsided by what to so many of us are obvious future trends? A few years back, I ran into my good friend Jim Harris at an airport; he's the author of a book by that very name. We operate in small circles in this weird industry of innovation-oriented keynote speakers, and between Jim and I, we now share 60 years of on-stage keynotes! That's a LOT of stage time.
The book's blurb features the wonderful key line: "Solve problems before they happen." It then notes that it will "present a series of breakthrough techniques to help business leaders identify trends earlier and more accurately predict their impact." Published 21 years ago, the many examples used are likely out of date, but the guidance is timeless.
Blindsided. Isn't avoiding that issue the whole goal of all innovation and future-oriented experts everywhere? We are always busy trying to tell you what comes next, and what to do about it, We share with you the obvious trends that are shaping and changing our world - note the use of the word 'obvious.' We give you practical insight into the trends that matter and battle-tested action plans that will guide you through. And yet, we continue to watch countless executives and countless numbers of organizations continue to sleepwalk their way into the future.
"Whoah! I didn't see that coming!" doesn't just indicate a lack of insight; it's indicative of the worst type of leadership failure.
Daily Inspiration: "Problems can't be solved if nobody has discovered that they exist!" - Futurist Jim Carroll
Everything is beta, it seems.
If you use popular software programs, no doubt you've heard of the phrase, and have often sought access to the newest version in order to try the latest, greatest features. You might have friends who are using a beta or 'developer' version of an iPhone software update. Others might be using a 'beta' version of a software program in order to try out the latest features. Anyone who uses Tesla's (so-called) Full Self-Driving software knows that has never been anything but a 'beta' version. 'Beta' software makes the world go round.
The concept of 'beta' versions goes beyond software to the very idea of trying to do new things - the essence of innovation. Organizations that are working hard to align to a new and different future, are in 'beta mode' all the time. They are trying new ideas, implementing new concepts, and chasing new methodologies. Inevitably, things will go wrong - and accepting this fact, AND learning from them, is what will provide for real success.
In effect, the idea of communicating about flaws, problems, and mistakes is critical to future success, and so there are valuable lessons here for corporate efforts and innovation. When you are chasing new ideas, developing new products, and implementing new ways of doing things, you are operating out on the 'bleeding edge.' You are doing a 'beta.' You must be prepared for things to go wrong, for ideas to go off the rails, and for concepts to be malleable and risky. it's the only way to get ahead. but at the same time, you need to ensure that you have an honest and open culture of sharing, in which people are willing to communicate what they've discovered that isn't quite right - and with the opportunity to suggest how to fix the wrongs.
Daily Inspiration: "Joy is love. Love is family!" - Futurist Jim Carroll
Today is a holiday in my home country, Canada - it's our Thanksgiving weekend, which we usually have a month before our southern friends. It was also the weekend that my eldest son Willie (William) married his soulmate Laura. The wedding was held in a glorious outdoor location in the Muskoka region north of Toronto - the autumn colors were popping at the same time that showers and sun were lingering together in the air.
I had been watching the weather for weeks, and forecasted 10 days before the wedding that the temperature would be 13C with clouds and a bit of sun - and that's exactly what we had! The rain held off until the final moments, and the sun peaked through the clouds giving some blue sky. We were so lucky since the next day it was cold, drizzling, and rain - and yuck! We even had a rainbow, capping the joyful moment!
There were many tears of joy throughout the ceremony and throughout the day - I will admit that I was absolutely blubbering with joy as I walked Willie down the aisle with my wife. My wife was doing the same throughout, and again as we hugged our son and new daughter-in-law seconds after the ceremony. I think that all of the guests were similarly caught up in the joy - relatives, friends, and family.
As if they did not have enough to do with their careers and wedding planning (Laura just began her Ph.D. in Music Therapy a month ago), they received a wonderful gift from her parents - a canoe that they built from the keel up under the guidance of a canoe master. It was their goal to take their first paddle at the wedding location - and the sun and sky obliged, giving them the perfect moment in the new canoe that will guide them into so many adventures.
This now makes our family a wonderful group of six - my wife and I, Tom and Kim (married last year), and Willie and Laura.
“Of course, these mistakes pale in comparison to the rancid vibes Musk has cultivated by reinstating right-wing extremists and peddlers of misinformation previously banned from the platform, amplifying their conspiracy theories, and ensuring their garbage posts are shoved into “For You” feeds by Twitter’s algorithms. He buys into white supremacist propaganda, panders to anti-LGBTQ hate accounts, and, with advertisers fleeing these intolerable conditions, found a way to blame the catastrophic loss of revenue on a Jewish civil rights group that combats antisemitism.”
Daily Inspiration: "Rather than trying to find a solution to the same old problem, invent a problem that has an easier solution!" - Futurist Jim Carroll
The future of just about everything is all about the batteries.
That's the post I wrote six years ago when I took a look at the trends involving battery science technology, and its impact in the energy, automotive, and other sectors.
That's why an article in the New York Times yesterday drew my attention, noting that a utility in Vermont plans on solving the issue of having to deal with an increasing number of power outages by ... not having to deal with an increasing number of power outages. Their solution? Rather than stringing and fixing more utility lines, let's give the customers batteries to store energy for use in these situations!
Talk about turning your problem upside down by inventing a new and different problem!
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Green Mountain Power is asking state regulators to let it buy batteries it will install at customers’ homes, saying doing so will be cheaper than putting up more power lines.
Many electric utilities are putting up lots of new power lines as they rely more on renewable energy and try to make grids more resilient in bad weather. But a Vermont utility is proposing a very different approach: It wants to install batteries at most homes to make sure its customers never go without electricity.
Vermont Utility Plans to End Outages by Giving Customers Batteries New York Times, October 9, 2023
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The article caught my interest not just because it covers a trending topic I often delve into - the future of energy and utilities - but also touched on the whole idea of the power of innovative thinking. Indeed, I often suggest that people approach the idea of solving big challenges by turning those challenges upside-down.
Daily Inspiration: "The most powerful lesson you can learn right now is that social media is not a really great place to have an argument." - Futurist Jim Carroll
I abhor the senseless attacks on Israel. I am saddened at all the innocent lives that have been lost and mourn those yet to come. At the same time, I know better than to carry my rage onto social media. Social media has, through the years, become a toxic swamp, full of misinformation, angry people, and agenda-engineered bots. If you dare to venture into Twitter or TikTok, you'll quickly find your personal outrage lit on fire. And it's a particularly good time not to light your personal fire in the wrong place.
I go a long way back with this understanding. It was actually during the first Gulf War in 1990 that I got into an online rage fight with various people, as some sought some of the more extreme views around the conflict. 'Social' networks at the time were rather primitive from a technological perspective, yet still were built on a foundation of potential human frailty. My online world at that time quickly became an emotional swamp, and as I dove right in, I quickly; felt drained, overwhelmed, and rather depressed as I began to learn the downside of this machine.
I guess I learned around that time, some 33 years ago, that these marvelous online networks of human connectivity that we have built are absolute dumpster fires when it comes to complex times.
And so I learned back then not to participate online, and remind myself of that decision at these moments in time.
@Greengordon@spore.social @futurism That's a wild use, and wonderful application. But its inevitable that the scammers will line up an AI tool to defeat the bot, and a new type of bot war will break out.
Daily Inspiration: "Your ability to see tomorrow will define the success you will have when you get there!" - Futurist Jim Carroll
People always presume that tomorrow will be pretty much like today. In the short term, that might be true. But give time to any trend, and tomorrow will be dramatically and fundamentally different. That's why I do what I do - I help to guide people and organizations into those long-term trends and help them understand the implications of what they mean.
Shouldn't you try and do the same thing? Become your own futurist?
To do what I do, I study obvious future trends by examining the world around us today. Some of these trends are readily apparent; others are not. What we do know is that science tells us that it is exponentiating - this is accelerating the discovery of new materials. We know that technologies such as AI are going to lead us into a dramatically different future. We can see any number of entrepreneurs and bold visionaries determined to reshape existing industries and create new ones. ge acceleration lead to new discoveries faster than ever before. These are the types of obvious trends that I often think about that help me understand what tomorrow might look like. There are many more. To me, much of the future is obvious - to others, it is not.
I've long suggested that anyone who wants to pursue opportunity should become their own futurist - they should empower themselves with the tools of knowledge that help them to understand trends and study the implications on their own.
Daily Inspiration: "The same old excuse will always get you the same old result." - Futurist Jim Carroll
Staying complacent? You know you are killing yourself with inaction. You’re stuck. Fading into irrelevancy! Dying from organizational sclerosis every single day. What are you going to do about it?
You know it's true, don't you? Because you keep on making the same old excuses, each and every day, that validate your belief that you don't need to change. As that famous philosopher once said: LOL. The joke will be on you!
I'm a futurist. I'm not a clairvoyant, but I know who you are. I know what you think. I know how you act. I know the aggressive indecision that lies deep within your soul. I know you are dying inside and that you can't confront your reality.
How do I know? Because I KNOW! Here's what I know about you:
You are in denial:
- you don't want to talk about the reality of the disruptive change that you are faced with
- you don't want to challenge your team to think about the big, bold steps they need to be thinking about to get ahead in the era of acceleration
- you don't want to acknowledge the new competition and new challenges that surround you
You are complacent:
- you prefer to keep a blind eye toward the future, complacency rules your day, and the status quo is your only objective
- you don't think it is important to wake people out of their complacent slumber, thinking that tomorrow is going to be exactly like it is today
(read the rest of the list in the original post! You'll cringe!)
LOL. With that, Just keep doing what you are doing.
Go back to sleep.
Because the joke is on you!
Futurist Jim Carroll originally wrote a variation of this post in 2019, after hearing from a client that they decided not to have a leadership event oriented on their disruptive future, because their leadership team 'didn't think it was important right now.'
Daily Inspiration: "Why not try to answer a few questions you've never asked before?" - Futurist Jim Carroll
Serendipity is a wonderful thing, but you might never find it if you don't have a mindset that fosters that type of moment!
One of the most important things you can do to help accomplish this is to allow yourself a mindset of relentless curiosity, radical exploration, and continuous discovery. It's by setting out to know about the things that you don't know about that you can discover new things that you should know about. It's about chasing the knowledge that you don't have so that you might have new knowledge you know nothing about - so that you will discover new things. It's by exploring the things you've never done before that you will discover the things you could be doing that you knew nothing about!
Deconstruct those sentences. I'll wait.
I'm a big believer in wasting time on frivolous things because that is one of the most important methods of moving forward in a world that is continually changing. That's why I subscribe to the idea that in order to succeed, you must learn the knowledge that does not yet exist on topics not yet in existence based on ideas not yet discovered with concepts that no one has yet to recognize - and you need to do this yesterday! I'm a big believer in the idea that this type of mindset can accelerate your future, and that you can do so by turning on your innovation engine, firing your creativity thrusters, and strapping in for a rocket ride into your faster future. You need to accelerate your ability to generate radical new ideas and transformative concepts. You need innovation and creativity!
All of that might be an epic word salad to try to digest on a Monday, but it's a good mindset to start a new week!
Daily Inspiration: "Never use the word 'just. It diminishes who you really are!" - Futurist Jim Carroll
I talk too much - I suppose it comes with having a career as a speaker.
I suspect I am a bit of an extrovert.
I also golf very early.
This combination sometimes has me finding myself golfing solo, since it seems that not everyone wants to find themselves racing around the course with a 7 a.m. start. Eager for conversation, I will find myself in conversation with many of the grounds crew - the folks busy maintaining and sprucing up the course each day. And in those conversations, I have found much inspiration and knowledge. But I've also learned that, as in many industries and jobs, people seem to automatically diminish who they are and what they do.
Two stories will let me share this thought.
Read the post and learn why 'just' is such a diminutive word.
The word 'just' is. such a negative word, because no one is 'just' something.
They are always so much more.
And you can learn so much if you just get beyond the 'just.'
Daily Inspiration: "Beyond every problem is an idea that fixes it." - Futurist Jim Carroll
You've probably heard the phrase "Every problem is an opportunity."
Beyond that quote lies the fact that someone can see an opportunity that others might not, allowing them to figure out how to fix the problem. Often this is because they've managed to 'think differently,' a variation of the phrase long ago popularized by Apple as the core idea in a brilliant advertising campaign.
Think different.
The very phrase conjures up ideas of finding solutions to problems, and has long been the core focus of many a big mind:
"We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them." - Albert Einstein
"Problems are nothing but wake-up calls for creativity." - Gerhard Gschwandtner (a sales guru)
"If you want something new, you have to stop doing something old." - Peter F. Drucker
"The most successful people are those who are good at plan B." - James Yorke
Creative problem-solving should be your mantra - it's the ability to solve problems or identify opportunities when conventional thinking has failed. It's your ability to see opportunities when others see challenges. It's your ability to see a trend as a path forward rather than a barrier that's in the way. It's your mindset of openness that permits you to go beyond the normal line of thinking into something completely different. It's the fact that your imagination will allow you to ask the questions that others refuse to dare to ask.
It's the reality that you refuse to accept the status quo because you believe the status quo should be shattered.
When faced with an intractable problem, turns things around. When you focus your engine of creativity on an idea rather than the problem, you might find some really unique and innovative solutions to that intractable problem.
Daily Inspiration: "In just a few short years, you'll wonder how you ever survived without your personal knowledge butler by your side!" - Futurist Jim Carroll
Remember when you never had a smartphone? It's probably tough to do.
But think about the number of devices and technologies that an iPhone or other smartphone has replaced. It's staggering to think about.
Can you remember those years in which you didn't have an iPhone at your side?
Fast forward a few years. You'll be thinking the same thing with AI.
AI is accelerating at a ridiculous pace In just the last few weeks, anyone who is paying for GPT Pro at $20 a month will be getting what people are calling ChatGPT Vision.In essence, take a picture, and let ChatGPT tell you about it.
Using your phone, go take a picture of something; for example I took a picture of our fridge contents - and asked for an idea on a healthy snack, based on what ChatGPT sees in the image.
Next, while working out in my home gym, I asked it to take a look at a bit of my gym equipment, and generate a workout plan based on what it saw. It responded with a multi-page description - in seconds.
Then, I aimed it at one of the security cameras I have in place, asking if it might write me a program in Python (a programming language) that I could use to automatically grab an image every 5 minutes and store it on one of my home servers.
Cast your mind out one year, two years, five years - and imagine this type of thing being integrated into all the technology that surrounds you.
When you got your first smartphone, you had no idea as to how powerful it might become to you; no idea on the role it would take on in your life; no concept of how indispensable it might become.
The same thing is happening right now with AI - and in a few years, you'll sit back and go 'Whoah!'
The future is fast. Jump in, buckle up, and get ready for the ride!
Daily Inspiration: "At what point will you realize your budget and your expectations are greatly misaligned?" - Futurist Jim Carroll
Most people want a BMW on a Ford Focus budget.
They are underfunded and over-expectated.
Think about it.
Most companies want a vastly different future and have a desire to chase new opportunities, but aren't prepared to invest in it.
Leadership teams want to accelerate the capabilities and skill set of their teams but aren't prepared to fund the steps necessary to do this. Innovation-oriented groups want to accelerate the R&D that is necessary to discover the ideas of tomorrow but are always limited by the spending blocks put in place by the number-crunching bosses.
Associations and membership-oriented groups want to do more to prepare their members for tomorrow but are never prepared to do what is necessary to get there.
The mindset of penny-pinching blocks everyone from moving forward, meaning that they end up moving backward as time moves relentlessly on.
This is one of the biggest challenges I see in what I do day to day. I regularly get inquiries from leadership groups who believe it's necessary that they take big, bold leaps into a new and different future. They plan a meeting somewhere to discuss and debate these issues and believe it's necessary to find someone to give them unique insight, to give an in-depth trends insight into their meeting. But they aren't prepared to spend money to do this.
I often feel like cheekily responding with this line: "I'm sorry I cannot donate my services for free to you at this time in your pursuit of making more money." But I don't - because I know that someone else will come along who is prepared to invest in tomorrow in order to get to tomorrow. I'll still get to the number of planned events I am willing to take on - they'll end up with some pretty marginal insight and will end up wasting a lot of their time.
For all those who live without hope, who suffer from the dread of what tomorrow may bring, who struggle with the challenges around them, know this one thing.
My flight into ORD yesterday arrived early. there was no traffic enroute to my event location. And it looks like my flight out will depart EARLY.
Yes, the stars do sometimes align in odd unexpected ways.
Daily Inspiration: "Give yourself permission to try new things!" - Futurist Jim Carroll
My wife and I attended the Celebration of Life for the father of one of our good friends at our ski chalet, Cedric Gyles.
Although we only briefly met the man once, we knew that the relationship that our good friend John had with his dad was special and that this was a significant loss; we thought it important that we show John and his wife Jane our respect by attending.
We ended up with so much more than we expected, learning more about a man who did justice to the phrase 'a life well lived.' My good friend Scott Kress, who we also ski with, commented: "When you read his obituary, you start to think that you haven't done much with your life." This is from a fellow who has summited Everest, mastered the Seven Peaks (the highest summit on each continent), has cross-country skied the South Polle twice (and is about to embark on another similar trek this December.)
I've shared the obituary below. The phrase that came to my mind as I read it was that it was indeed a full and adventurous life - and the phrase that came to my mind as I listened to the tribute from family and friends - was that Ced, as he was known, regularly gave himself permission to try new things. Skiing, rugby, football, sailing - and so much more. This included several high-profile wins and finishes in sailing and a few Grey Cup football championships. (That's the Canadian equivalent of the Super Bowl!)
Yesterday was a celebration of life indeed, and we would all do well to take a measure of the man, and the lesson that comes from giving yourself permission to try new things. R.I.P. Ced.
@gruber You should look into the OS/X Sonoma "Reactions" feature that they introduced. This 'wonderful' little feature on cameras is causing havoc with people using OBS, Vmix, Ecamm and other video broadcasting software ; cameras are lagging, freezing up, crashing..
It seems to be one of the stupidest 'features' Apple has implemented - there is no system wide feature to turn it off - needs to be done for each camera. In my case, it's caused absolute havoc with my 7 camera virtual broadcast studio.
Apple might think this stuff is 'cool' but their implementation is one of the dumbest things I've ever seen.
A user should be able to disable it completely in System Preferences.
Right now, it's a menu bar setting.
Youtube, forums, software support channels, social media are flooded with people trying to figure how to turn if off.
Daily Inspiration: "The best way to learn in the new world is to get lost. Once you're lost, you'll learn rapidly." - Dr. Tomorrow, 1994
People often ask how I became a futurist.
It's simple. Dr. Tomorrow was retiring - or slowing down as were - and I made the decision to follow in his footsteps, after having had a speaking career revolved around the Internet, technology, connectivity, and other fast-moving trends. Since so much of what I was talking about involved the same type of things he was focused on, I decided that I was a futurist as well, prepared to step into his shoes.
Dr. Tomorrow - real name, Frank Ogden - was a colorful well-known Canadian futurist who spent his time exploring the future of the world all around him. He was a pretty eccentric fellow, to say the least!
He and I shared many an agenda at conferences through the 90s, and he had a fascinating way of presenting the ideas of tomorrow. As the Internet emerged, I took care to register the domain DrTomorrow.com on his behalf, so that he could become an active part of the world in which he was already participating. He too was focused on the 'era of acceleration,' a world of incessant, faster change. You couldn't go to a conference in Canada in the 90s and early 2000s and not see him on stage.
He and I shared the same speaker bureau for many a year - Canada's National Speaker Bureau - and today, they pay homage to his role over that time. Dr Tomorrow died in 2012, and many a tribute flowed in: --------- Dr. Tomorrow, through his insight, encouraged people to align tomorrow, and as I found myself doing the same thing - and taking on an increasing number of bookings in which he could not participate, I too was doing the same thing.
Not doing so bad. 6 vaxxes, the latest in July. Stuffed nose, cough, tired, aches. But I did my usual walk this morning before I tested. My wife is negative so far.
It's a bummer sine I was supposed to a keynote in San Diego Thursday on AI.
@lkngrrr Thanks. My wife is here with me and she's tested negative. Seriously bummed out because the AI talk was going to be so fun. On the other hand, my son got married two weeks ago and we dodged a bullet with that.
Daily Inspiration: "While you can never expect the unexpected you should always ехресt inevitability!" - Futurist Jim Carroll
Surprise!
It happens all the time!
But you are never prepared for it; that's why it's a surprise!
People working at Lehman Brothers in the first week of October 2008 never expected that their company would cease to exist just one month later.
Arthur Anderson was a world-leading accounting firm until suddenly, it wasn't.
Zoom, a small video conferencing platform, never expected in February 2020 that it would almost instantly become a verb.
Owners of diesel-based Volkswagens never expected that they actually bought a fraudulent product. (We owned two.)
Tylenol never expected that they'd have to quickly develop the idea of tamper-proof packaging because a lunatic decided to poison people with the product.
Ford never expected Bronco sales to pick up after OJ Simpson had an adventurous ride with one.
No one expected Bill Gates to swoop into an Apple event with Steve Jobs to announce that he was going to make an investment that in the end run would save the company.
No one expected as they rang in the New Year in 2020 that it would be a year that the world could never have imagined as Covid took hold.
And no one expected that 3 1/2 years later, the impact of Covid would still be around - and yet knowing at the same time that its' grasp was probably inevitable.
The world is full of surprises, both good and bad.
When it happens, you have to roll with it and do the best you can - because inevitably, the inevitability of surprise happens.
Daily Inspiration: "There's no point to disappointment - so move on and move forward." - Futurist Jim Carroll
My wife, who is of German descent, has a phrase that she will often use when I start using the 'if' statement. Such as "if only it hadn't happened." "If only it didn't work out this way" "If only I could get a redo."
"Wenn das Wörtchen wenn nicht wär, wär ich längst schon Millionär" she will respond, which roughly translates to "If the little word 'if' wasn't there, then I'd be a millionaire."
If only. I'd be pretty rich right now based on the use of that statement. I was supposed to be in San Diego today, keynoting the Building Industry Association of Southern California's annual conference on the topic of AI in construction.
But sadly, I won't be there, after testing positive for Covid on Monday - making my participation impossible. Disappointment runs deep, but I'm working hard to keep upbeat about the whole state of affairs. If only.
My wife and I consider ourselves lucky, to be honest, We had avoided it for 3 1/2 years without ever catching it - I even had my blood tested during my last medical to see if historically I had ever caught it only to never notice. A good friend of mine told me Tuesday that I was literally the last human he knows who never had a least one instance of it.
If only.
We count ourselves lucky, actually - we saw our 30-year-old son off into his marriage just two weeks ago, and fortunately, the wedding plans weren't wrecked by the bug. And in the grand scheme of things, as they say, it's only an event that was canceled - it's not the end of the world. And from a positive perspective, overall my role in the battle seems not too bad so far - fever, chills, raspy cough, stuffed sinuses - and a distinct lack of energy that comes and goes. It could be worse, goes the saying.
Support your local Mastodon developer. I just did by giving a generous tip to @IceCubesApp … and previously giving one to @ivory
Both are wonderful programs. These folks work hard to develop great software, and it’s not a big ask for you to support their work through a subscription or tip.
@Teri_Kanefield At what point is anything actually ever going to happen though? It's just appeals and motions on top of appeals and motions. The US will lose democracy by the time the court system plays things out, and the court system will disappear as a result of the organizational sclerosis embedded within legal process. Catch-22 really.
Since August 2016. I've been putting out my Daily Inspiration, each morning. It's a mixture of stuff on innovation, trends, the future, disruption, or personal motivation. It came about after I quit drinking at that time, and discovered the clarity of early mornings!
I used to post these here on Mastodon the evening before when I pulled together the image for my story. I stopped doing that, but should start doing so.
Anyway, here's my image for tomorrow morning, one year to the day.
@Robru3142 i can't describe the warm feeling this brings to my heart. I put these out to about 14 different social networks, and some resonate, some don't, but feedback is sometimes sparse. To know that I'm reaching people and that my words matter just brings such joy to my soul. Thank you!
Daily Inspiration: "Beware the idiot-savant. Their hubris blinds them to their failure." - Futurist Jim Carroll
My Daily Inspiration post is supposed to be mostly inspirational, upbeat, motivational, and thought-provoking. I try not to be snippy, moody, pissy. But then along comes the one-year anniversary of Elon Musk taking over what was once a powerful and useful communications network known as Twitter, which is now mostly a stinking pile of garbage known as "X" - and I can't help myself from taking a shot at him as so many others are doing.
One year in, the number speaks for themselves - with 3 charts from an article in the Wall Street Journal yesterday telling the tale of his so-called 'brilliance.'
Consider that it takes a special skill to buy a company and then chase away many of your most active users. In a world in which online growth is everything, Musk has managed to 'de-grow' the platform with a number of bumbling if not downright idiotic moves, all of which have been covered in so much detail over the last year.
It takes a special skill to decimate your revenue by doing everything you can with the platform to make sure that it becomes such a toxic sewer of sludge that few advertisers of note really want to advertise there.
It takes a special kind of skill to pay $44 billion for something only to see it worth, in some estimates, about $8 billion just a year later. In that vein, let's not forget the banks and other investors. It takes a special kind of skill to fall prey to the myth of the idiot savant, only to see the value of your equity investment trashed as a result of the actions of said savant.
Beware the idiot-savant.
They are all around you - and people fall prey to their spell all too often.
Good morning. I've been doing my morning walk and at least 5K every morning this week I'll testing positive for Covid. Fortunately, while it's annoying, I have had it somewhat mild.
I'm tempted, but the problem is that it would be out of date by the time I wrote it, and the machines are still learning how to think *properly.* (see spine of first and title of second)
If you have learned anything from me from following me over the years, you should know my observation that there are three types of people in the world when it comes to the future, tomorrow and trends.
Some people watch the future happen. Other people make the future happen. Then there are those who look up after it has happened, reacting, 'whoah, I never saw that coming!" Obviously the third individual is ill-prepared for tomorrow, and right never do well in it The second individual is whom we all should aspire to be. But what about the first type of person - the individual who simply watches the future happen, without any anticipation for what it might bring or preparation for its opportunities and challenges.
Is that you, always waiting to start something because you are just someone who is always late to the starting line? Or are you surrounded by those who sit back and simply observe the trends that are unfolding around them, with nary a worry or concern or idea that perhaps they might do better if they anticipated those trends beforehand and planned accordingly?
Procrastination is the root of much failure; delay is the cause of many a missed opportunity; wilful blindness to tomorrow is a unique form of leadership failure. And yet, it is one of the most common things that happens to leaders and organizations when they don't actively study the trends of today that will define tomorrow, or take the necessary steps to get there.
Rather than being an observer of tomorrow, simply watching it as it goes by, shift your focus! Be that someone who decides to start today, and each and every day, on the never-ending road to tomorrow.
Daily Inspiration: "Kindness is a boomerang. If you send some out, you'll watch it come right back to you!" - Futurist Jim Carroll
Social media has, by and large, ruined civil discourse.
Anger seems to be the go-to emotion for many, fury being their default, vitriol their regular course of action. And yet, we cling to and use social media because it can be oh, so rewarding when it works well - when the kindness of the human spirit shines through.
Last week, I posted one of my Daily Inspiration posts in advance to the social network Mastodon, seeking a little bit of commentary on what I was planning to write the next day. In my short post, I noted how I've now been writing these daily posts for well over 7 years, and wondered aloud how many people actually read them. Unsolicited, this comment came back to me from someone with the username @robrus3142@mastodon.scot
"I look forward to these every morning. I rise before dawn, make coffee, toast pop tarts, go to my loft and sit in front of my Mac . And read your post before spending the next 10 hours there."
This small, simple comment just really set my mood for the next several days, particularly as I spent most of the week in a funk, having tested positive for COVID-19. I was down about missing out on my keynote in San Diego, missing the rest of my family, and worried and wondering about how long the darn thing might last. Into the middle of this mindset came a little bolt of kindness and a shot of human warmth.
Kindness makes a difference.
Kindness should be our go-to, our default, the basic attitude that guides us through the day.
And keep in mind this simple fact - if you try to define your day and your life through kindness to others, it can really make your day because it's a boomerang.
Tomorrow's Daily Inspiration post begins with : "Here's a story about how, when I stared at a ketchup bottle around 2002, I turned into a $1/4 million revenue stream on the speaking circuit."
