Futurist Jim Carroll

Daily Inspiration: "Your biggest opportunities will be defined by how well you deal with the challenge of change!" - Futurist Jim Carroll

The photo used in today's quote comes from an event I did a few weeks ago in Charlotte, North Carolina, for the North American leadership meeting of AssaAbloy. As I mentioned last month, they're the company you've probably never heard of but you use their hotel card lock systems and door locking technology regularly.

The organization brought me back as a follow-up to my 2017 keynote for the same team - it's always nice when a client has you back for another future-oriented and innovation talk!

Looking back at my slide deck, after receiving photos from the event on the weekend, I realized I had a common theme throughout the many trends I cover - change is coming at them, and is coming at them faster than ever before. It's what they do with that reality that matters.

That change has to do with the way they make things ("manufacturing methodologies"), the skills they use to make those things ("knowledge"), and the very things they make ("advanced connectivity in their product line.")

The undercurrent to my talk was that much of this change is inevitable, and will have pretty profound and sweeping implications. As leaders of their organizations, they are faced with the age-old choice. Should they align to this change by adapting to the new ideas and methodologies that it represents? Or try to ignore it, wishing it away, and eventually falling behind in their markets, products, and structure as others who compete against them do a better job of aligning to this change?

Original post: https://jimcarroll.com/2024/08/daily-inspiration-trends-timing-recognize-that-every-major-trend-first-involves-huge-short-term-risk-but-is-often-eventually-followed-by-a-massive-upside/

Daily Inspiration: "Have you ever noticed that those decisions you didn't make yesterday are coming back to haunt you today?" - Futurist Jim Carroll

Life shouldn't be a series of missed opportunities but a history of achieved possibilities.

The essence of disruptive thinking is developing the ability to decide the presence of imperfect information.

One of the lines I will often use on stage involves the ability to move into markets that do not yet exist with products or services not yet conceived. Steve Jobs didn't launch the iPod or iPhone with perfect information as to what a future market might look like - he just knew the timing was right. Reed Hastings didn't bring Netflix to the world with detailed information on the future of streaming services - in fact, he first had the company go into the physical DVD space. Jeff Bezos didn't launch Amazon with full details as to what the future of the 'everything online' store might look like - he just had a gut feeling that online commerce would be a thing.

So what are you waiting for? Perfect information? Absolute certainty? Minimal risk? A guarantee of success? 

That's not how you do things.

You jump in, move forward, get involved, try things out - and make decisions.

Right now, millions of new jobs are being created, companies are being born, and service industries are being built around them. Ten or twenty years from now, we'll all look back and go 'Whoah.'

And there will be many people who will be in a state of regret because they didn't take the opportunity when they should have.
They will be surrounded by those who made a decision, dipped their toes into future waters, and started to move forward, not back.

What's your plan?

#Opportunities #Decisions #Innovation #Future #Trends #Disruption #AI #Risk #Technology #Possibilities

Original post: https://jimcarroll.com/2024/09/daily-inspiration-decisive-leadership-have-you-ever-noticed-that-those-decisions-you-didnt-make-yesterday-are-coming-back-to-haunt-you-today/

Daily Inspiration: "Confidence is the result of embracing the challenge of confronting the unknown!" - Futurist Jim Carroll

In the last two weeks, two people who are close to me have launched into wonderful new career positions, and I've been watching with interest, and supporting them when I can

Both have experienced the common apprehension and nervousness that comes with a new situation - going into the unknown is always a daunting experience! But in my mind, walking into tomorrow is very much a process of feeding your mind with the belief and confidence that you have what it takes. Confidence is key!

I wrote this in a message I sent yesterday.

----

Have a wonderful day tomorrow. You’ll do an awesome job! Be confident in your material - you know your stuff. Be confident in your delivery - since you know your stuff, you know how to express it and get it across. Be confident in the fact that this is just step 1 in your journey, and if gives you a little bit of unease today, you’ll get over that pretty soon. Be confident in the importance of your effort. Be confident that we’re all so wonderfully proud of you and your journey! It’s going to be an awesome day! Super proud! Be confident!

---

Confidence is a precious resource, and it is very much a necessity when heading into the uncertainties of tomorrow. Tomorrow is all about change, and you've got to embrace that change with conviction, and the certainty that you have what it takes. Going into something new is always a risk, and you've got to have confidence that you can succeed. It involves stepping out of your comfort zone, but discomfort is often the only path forward. It's enhancing your attitude with the confidence that you can learn from any mistakes you might make along the way.
Confidence - it's often your most precious resource.

Are you doing what it takes to develop it, enhance it, and most importantly, exercise it regularly?

Original post: https://jimcarroll.com/2024/09/daily-inspiration-careers-change-confidence-is-the-result-of-embracing-the-challenge-of-confronting-the-unknown/

Daily Inspiration: "Move from why it can't be done to why it should be done!" - Futurist Jim Carroll

Shift happens.  Do you?

Many organizations fail because they have failure engrained in their corporate culture! Do you?

Thirty years of innovation insight tells me that it can be difficult to try to be innovative in many organizations. People with an innovation-oriented mindset often find their enthusiasm stymied when they approach senior management with an initiative. And when their effort is turned back, it can be extremely frustrating - often shutting down any innovation momentum in its track.

One of the most typical situations today in which we are seeing innovation dead in its tracks involves the many initiatives that people are pursuing with leading-edge technology involving artificial intelligence, robotics, drone technology or other advanced tools. They know that we live in transformative times in which major changes are occurring with knowledge generation, skills acceleration, changes to the creative process, and a lot more related to these new technologies, and that there are several key strategic objectives that could be met through deployment.

So they set off to build a few prototypes, designed to get individuals in the company interested in the possibilities and opportunities.  

Enthusiastic as heck, they take their project to the senior management team — and it’s rejected, with a litany of reasons as to why the organization just isn’t ready to deal with their new ideas right now.

#Innovation #Change #Mindset #Disruption #Leadership #Adaptation #Strategy #Progress #Transformation #Momentum

Original post: https://jimcarroll.com/2024/09/daily-inspiration-innovation-leadership-move-from-why-it-cant-be-done-to-why-it-should-be-done/

Daily Inspiration: "Today is a great day to start doing your next great thing!" - Futurist Jim Carroll

At the start of the week, it's a great time to chase a great idea.

And so why not commit yourself to trying to do something great today?
I've long believed that everyone has a little bit (or a lot) of greatness tucked deep down inside them - and yet social, cultural, workplace and other constraints tamp down our ability to set it free. Sometimes it takes a conscious effort and specific steps to 'chase your greatness.'

How might you be able to do that?

- Take ownership. Look, you can't blame anyone other than yourself if you don't take the steps today to create yourself a better tomorrow. I always hear a lot of people whining that things could be better 'if only....' Excuses are the thing that will guarantee you failure, so stop making them! You'll never achieve great results if you keep refusing to try to own them.

- Do it now. Instead of waiting for the 'right moment,' make that moment right now., What the heck are you waiting for? There's never a perfect time to do the right thing - there's only the right time to do anything.

- Be bold today. Why continue thinking small when you could start making bold leaps with your imagination? Remember - nothing great was ever achieved by thinking small.

- Be curious with intent. Maybe it's a good day to just waste some time exercising your curiosity. You might discover something great hidden in the recesses of your deep imagination!

- Go at it with true grit. Stop giving up. It's not easy being great, but it's not great being an innovation wimp.

- Take action. Nothing great was ever achieved without initiative!

With that thought in mind - have a GREAT day!

#Greatness #Ownership #Bold #Curiosity #Collaboration #Grit #Initiative #Action #Imagination #Inspiration

Original post: https://jimcarroll.com/2024/09/daily-inspiration-personal-growth-today-is-a-great-day-to-start-doing-your-next-great-thing/

Daily Inspiration: "Never trust anyone who tries to sell you an old idea!" - Futurist Jim Carroll

The big problem with organizational memory is that often, there is too much of it. And yet, too many people rely on it to keep bringing up the same old ideas they always bring up.

This is a bad thing.

That's because old ideas lead to stagnation.

Old ideas trap you in a rut.

Old ideas block the consideration of new ideas.

Old ideas are increasingly likely to fail as time moves on.

Old ideas deter innovative thinking.

Old ideas block new risk taking.

Old ideas limit new growth opportunities.

Old ideas are often outdated in rapidly changing markets.

Old ideas may not resonate with newer generations of customers or employees.

Old ideas create resistance to change - or solidify existing resistance..

Old ideas prevent the adoption of new technologies and tools.

Old ideas foster complacency within teams.

Old ideas discourage creative problem-solving.

Old ideas are less likely to align with current industry trends.

Old ideas can resulted in a lot of wasted time.

Old ideas limit diversity of thought and perspectives.

Old ideas often result in a rigid, unchanging business culture.

Old ideas reduce an organization’s agility in responding to new crises.

Old ideas may increase vulnerability to disruption by more adaptive competitors.

Old ideas shut new ideas down.

Don't trust the people who keep giving you old ideas. 

Encourage them to come up with new ones!

#Innovation #FutureForward #BreakTheMold #Disruption #FreshIdeas #Adaptability #NoMoreStagnation #EmbraceChange #AgilityMatters #Creativity

Original post: https://jimcarroll.com/2024/09/daily-inspiration-leadership-innovation-never-trust-anyone-who-tries-to-sell-you-an-old-idea/

Daily Inspiration: "If you aren't amazed by all the amazing trends that are unfolding around you, you're watching the wrong future!" - Futurist Jim Carroll

The future happens fast!

The thing about being a futurist is that you know that certain things are inevitable - much of it just has to do with the timing.

But most BIG trends become VERY REAL at some point and have a massive impact.

With that in mind, here are a few of the major trends I'm watching that have made their way into various keynote presentations in agriculture, healthcare, manufacturing, insurance, retail, and other industries.

Humanoid robots. This is moving faster than fast! There are dozens of companies coming into this space, and innovation is happening quickly. Some suggest that we will see sub-$15,000 robots available by the end of the year. They will play a role in logistics and warehousing, healthcare and seniors care, building and construction site inspection, and more. Get ready for Rosie the Robot - for real!

(.... read the rest of the post for other trends...)

That's why, as you know, one of my go-to stage phrases is this: "Companies that don’t yet exist will build products that are not yet conceived, based on ideas that have yet been generated, using materials not yet invented, with manufacturing methods that have not yet been conceived. Are you ready for the new world of disruption?”

That idea is the essence of disruption and is the essence of what is the focus of my many corporate keynotes - and that's why I feature this tagline on my home page.

Do you see the future as a threat?

Or do you see it as an opportunity?

Are you looking at the 'right stuff?'

Your answer matters.

#Future #Trends #Innovation #Disruption #Technology #Opportunity #AI #Robotics #Healthcare #Longevity

Original post: https://jimcarroll.com/2024/09/daily-inspiration-trends-tomorrow-if-you-arent-amazed-by-all-the-amazing-trends-that-are-unfolding-around-you-youre-watching-the-wrong-future/

Is there anything in the news today? I've been busy.

I am very disappointed that neither candidate was asked what they are going to do about the 2038 32-bit time_t value problem.

LOL.

Hot dogs in Ohio hit hard

Daily Inspiration: "Avoid chaos. It's better to have an actual plan than the ‘concepts of a plan’" - Futurist Jim Carroll

Let's talk about planning.

It seems that a lot of people are suddenly talking about planning. Indeed, it seems there was a sudden spike in the universe around the idea of having a 'concept of a plan' as opposed to an actual plan. This seems to have happened on the evening of September 10.
And I'm willing to admit that sometimes when I am golfing and confronted with complexity, I might often start with the concept of a plan.

But here's the thing -  as a futurist, who tends to deal with the issues you need to think about to get to tomorrow, I'm a big fan of having at least some sort of plan. Not just a concept. You need to move beyond the 'conceptual' phase if you want to get anything done.

And in many cases, it's usually a good idea to plan to have a plan. And yes, it's generally better to have a concrete plan than just a "concept of a plan." After all, a plan provides clarity - it's useful for achieving goals, meeting timelines and responsibilities, and such.

Kind of useful stuff, don't you think? It helps when plans go off the rails.

Come to think of it, does a 'concept of a plan' actually go off the rails?

Inquiring minds want to know.

So plans matter.

By the way, today's image comes courtesy of a famous scene from the TV series "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" - and a famous scene in which the mailroom guy could not find a fellow named "Pepe Silvia."  

Conceptually, he was struggling to find a concept of a plan to deal with finding Pepe. But maybe that's another story for another day.

Chaos happens.

Have a plan.

#Planning #Leadership #Clarity #Execution #Adaptability #Goals #Accountability #Success #Strategy #Focus

Original post: https://jimcarroll.com/2024/09/daily-inspiration-avoid-chaos-its-better-to-have-an-actual-plan-than-the-concepts-of-a-plan/

Daily Inspiration: "Chasing success? Be fast, bold, disruptive, focused, certain, flexible, anticipatory, and young at heart!" - Futurist Jim Carroll

Two days ago, I found myself in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, where I was the closing keynote speaker for the annual meeting of Protein Canada. (The song by the Guess Who might resonate in your mind!)

The organization is at the forefront of industry efforts to position Canada in the fast-emerging global plant-based protein industry. There is no doubt that we are seeing a seismic shift in consumer behavior as new dietary alternatives take hold, as global food demand continues to increase, and as new forms of opportunity and disruption envelope the industry.. built around these themes.

After taking them on a tour of trends and opportunities, disruptive ideas, and innovation, I closed with this slide, which is one of my Daily Inspiration posts from a few years ago.

Think BIG! Your future will thank you for it!

#Success #Innovation #Boldness #Disruption #Focus #Certainty #Flexibility #Anticipation #Agility #Future

Original post: https://jimcarroll.com/2024/09/daily-inspiration-agriculture-tomorrow-chasing-success-be-fast-bold-disruptive-focused-certain-flexible-anticipatory-and-young-at-heart/

"They're after the geese!"

Canadian goose: "Fuck that!"

@randahl Canada's geese would like to have a word.

I am testing the thoughts and reasoning of the newest ChatGPT model. It sure does go through a thought process!

September summer!

Another good day to not post what I'm really thinking.

Daily Inspiration: "Be the person that sees the opportunities that others cannot see!" - Futurist Jim Carroll

It's 1982.

And instead of naming a "Person of the Year," Time Magazine names "The Machine of the Year." It's a nod to the potentially revolutionary impact that personal computer technology might have on our future.

And it was right about that time that I committed myself fully to taking part, determined to build a career in this fascinating new world of technology. Within a year, I was subsumed into the online world, discovering via a modem what happens when global connectivity changes forever. I knew something big was happening, and wanted to be a part of it.

I could see something that others would not yet see for a decade or more.

Do you find yourself in that situation? Seeing trends that others can't see, a future to chase that others dare not chase, a new reality that has yet to move beyond the inconceivable for most other people?

Seeing unique opportunities for tomorrow means becoming a futurist for yourself, your purveyor of a different tomorrow, a unique individual who has a lens that distorts today's reality into something different the next day. It means doubling down on your belief in the opportunities that might unfold tomorrow, rather than chasing those that might exist only within today's limited reality.

Study any great invention, and you discover the people who see things differently - and who were dismissed at the time for the errors in their vision.

#Opportunities #Vision #Innovation #Future #Uniqueness #Inspiration #Inventors #Trends #Creativity #Leadership

Original post: https://jimcarroll.com/2024/09/daily-inspiration-being-unique-be-the-person-that-sees-the-opportunities-that-others-cannot-see/

Daily Inspiration: "It's not just about the trends. It's the speed at which they are happening" - Futurist Jim Carroll

For some reason or other, I've had a significant number of event inquiries from the Middle East, in particular, Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
These are very short-term inquiries - in most cases just a few weeks, and in some cases, a few days out.

I was preparing for an exploratory call for one potential event yesterday, and was pulling together my thoughts to present to the client - and today's quote came to my mind, based on the context of my keynote a few years ago at the World Government Summit in Dubai.

Check out the clip - I open with this comment:

"Maybe the very first thing that we need to appreciate about the future is to realize that it is probably happening faster than we think"

That's the context in which you need to be thinking, working, and preparing for today - it's not just the trends, but the speed with which they are coming about.

Think about it - we live in a world in which, according to some estimates, medical knowledge is now doubling every 78 days. One in which the dashboards in automobiles from 2019 already look like they are from the olden days as the pace of iPhone innovation comes to the automotive industry. A time in which the entire concept of insurance risk is being torn apart as we move to an era of real-time insurance underwriting. A reality in which we are talking about farming 24 hours a day utilizing autonomous technology and virtualized farm management.

An era in which nothing lasts forever, and in which today's reality is
suddenly gone in but an instant.

#Speed #Agility #Trends #Innovation #Future #Leadership #Change #Results #Success #Adaptability

Original post: https://jimcarroll.com/2024/09/daily-inspiration-being-unique-be-the-person-that-sees-the-opportunities-that-others-cannot-see/

Daily Inspiration: "While you might never open many closed minds, be careful to never close your own!" - Futurist  Jim Carroll

A closed mind is a dangerous thing.

There's a lot of them about.

And the fact is, many innovation efforts fail because of all the closed minds that surround any new initiative. It's often said that the best antidote for a closed mind is an open book, but many refuse to read. It is also said that minds are like parachutes - they only function when they are open Things like this make it extremely difficult for forward-oriented organizations and innovative people to move forward with new ideas.

Remember my innovation killer list? "You can't do that, because we've always done it this way!" "It won't work!" "It's doomed to fail!" These phrases and many others are indicative of the closed mind - the inability to change the way things are done, to conceive new ideas, or to accept a different way of thinking.

And the problem is, if you are always surrounded by this type of negativity, it can drag you down into a swell of conformity.

Don't let that happen. Always keep in mind the characteristics of open-minded people:

- they are open to new ideas and opinions and willing to consider them.

- they are willing to accept different lifestyles, cultural norms, or day-to-day behaviors

- they respect the belief systems and deep values of other people

- they know how to take any challenge and turn it into an opportunity

- they are sympathetic to other viewpoints

- they make sure to take the time to see both sides of every situation.

- they are curious, eager to learn, and always exploring new things

And most important, being open-minded involves treating all people with deep respect and dignity for who they are - regardless of who they are.

#OpenMind #Innovation #Curiosity #Change #Learning #Respect #Growth #Opportunity #Mindset #Exploration

Original post: https://jimcarroll.com/2024/09/daily-inspiration-innovation-leadership-while-you-might-never-open-many-closed-minds-make-sure-to-never-close-your-open-mind/

Daily Inspiration: "Thinking of innovation? Invest in an experience factory!" - Futurist Jim Carroll

I wasted quite a bit of time yesterday. It was great!

What was I doing? I'm trying to figure out how to move my various Websites and servers from a Runcloud setup over to CloudPanel since the latter is a pretty good tool for managing self-hosting. I was running into significant problems with my Cloudflare setup involving SSL and page rendering, and couldn't quite figure out what was going wrong.

Overall, it was pretty unsuccessful - and so I woke up this morning that it might be a PHP version issue that I need to explore. I'll tackle that issue later today with a series of experiments to see what might go wrong and to determine if that is the root cause.

All of this is entirely meaningless to you, and for me, involved quite a bit of a bit of wasted time yesterday as I went down a rabbit hole of Websites, YouTube videos, and more as I explored my challenges.

But in doing so, I continue down my path of regularly exploring the complex world of technology to better understand what it's all about - part of what is now a 40-year voyage. By doing so, I am always enhancing the knowledge by which I can talk intelligently about all kinds of complex technology topics, understand deep security issues, and assess new emerging technology trends and opportunities.
It's my 'experience factory!'

A place and time where I can chase new ideas, understand new concepts, develop new knowledge, and learn more about new things. Developing time in your life for an 'experience factory' is time wasted well spent. After all, you can't talk about something if you aren't deeply involved.

#Innovation #Experience #Learning #Exploration #Experimentation #Creativity #Growth #Technology #Curiosity #Investing

Original post: https://jimcarroll.com/2024/09/daily-inspiration-innovation-leadership-thinking-of-innovation-invest-in-an-experience-factory/

Daily Inspiration: "Regret: It's that thing you'll live with if you never do the things you should have tried to do!" - Futurist Jim Carroll

Life is a series of doors of opportunity all waiting to be opened!

Are you keeping them shut?

I was reminded of this fact yesterday when a writer for an industry publication called me; they're working on a profile piece. We had a great discussion about the long, strange trip I've had to become a global futurist., and the decisions that I took along the way to get me there. After the call, I dug out for him another profile piece (there have been many) that covered the voyage some twenty-one years ago - and reading it, I was reminded of my mindset for the opportunity that truly determined my fate.

Think about your reality - every single moment, there is a new opportunity around you. Every single instance, there are new futures that are presenting themselves. Every single second, you are faced with the decision, "Should I stay or should I go now?" (to borrow from The Clash!) What are you doing when you are confronted with these decisions? Do you go at that, or do you hold yourself in reserve, nervous about taking the big, bold steps that you should be taking?

Looking back at the article from 2003, I'm kind of fascinated by the mindset of opportunity that I was chasing even then. (If you are curious, the full article is here --> https://jimcarroll.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/2003may_camag_meet_the_experts.pdf

With all this, ask yourself a few questions about your situation.

Are the doors in front of you staying closed?

Do you try to open them?

Do you live in fear of what tomorrow might bring, or do you shift your mind so that you banish the fear and replace it with nervous exhilaration?

Your answer to these questions matters!

#Opportunity #NoRegrets #Courage #Fearless #Mindset #Success #Change #Decisions #Possibilities #Growth

Original post: https://jimcarroll.com/2024/09/daily-inspiration-personal-growth-regret-its-that-thing-youll-live-with-if-you-never-do-the-things-you-should-have-tried-to-do/

I've been moving most of my Web servers over to Hetzner from Vultr; I know a lot of people have a love/hate relationship with them.

I'm also moving from RunCloud ($19 month) to CloudPanel, which Is really quite a wonderful setup at no charge.

I've hit a few issues though:

- has anyone deployed a Mastodon instance via CloudPanel? (Highly unlikely it would seem)

- has anyone managed to deploy a Sendy service via CloudPanel? (It's Apache based. I've had it running fine on Litespeed) but ran into some issues since CloudPanel is Nginx, and there seem to be a lot of issues with config.

Seeking advice so this stops happening.

I suspect next week, everyone will be Chutkan'ing.

Trying to set up a new Hetzner server to move my futurist.info Mastodon self host over to.

Going through the process of creating a brand new Mastodon setup, and it's failing here.

Following docs here:

https://docs.joinmastodon.org/admin/install/

Getting to the step "bundle config deployment 'true'"

and it's pigging up:

"-sh: 13: bundle: not found"

I can see a billion people talking about this error, but no clear path forward.

Please help explain to me like a dolt what I might do

#selfhost #Selfhosting

@dside I did that, didn't miss it. It won't run the update though as seen in this screen.

@crispius@mstdn.crispius.ca Pretty much the same experience. Every install I've done has involved wandering off to Google to find out what's wrong. The doc's always need work.

@dside The file is in there. Not in the path. I think it is all going back to su - mastodon not working.

I'll nuke it and start again. I'm on Ubuntu 24.04. Might move back to 22 or something.

@crispius@mstdn.crispius.ca @mastohost I've found an installation script for Hetzner. It crashed.

Today I had to configure a DKIM record with Microsoft Office/Exchange/Defender to straighten out some email problems for the charity that my wife and I are involved in.

What a voyage - what a rabbit hole! I know DKIM/DNS and all the dark arts of admin, but Microsoft.

Whoah.

Also, please pray for me.

Daily Inspiration: "Any idea worth growing should always be planted!" - Futurist Jim Carroll

From small ideas, big things can grow!

That's what I was thinking about yesterday as I spent time with my long-time friend Marc Jeftovic. He's the CEO of easyDNS, a tech company that, well, helps you manage your DNS (or domain name service setup.) It might not sound like a service like that involves much, but I can tell you it's an extremely important one - and one that his company excels at. In fact, from its humble beginnings in the 90s, it's become one of the major players in this space in the world.

Some years ago, Mark planted the seeds of an idea in my mind. I didn't chase the opportunity at that time, because I wasn't quite receptive to it, but the thought did take root in the recesses of my mind. Some years later, when I needed to challenge myself to take on a new role, the tiny seed of an idea bloomed, and today, it is fully grown. That experience has taught me a lot about the role of mentoring, leadership, and guidance.

Every great idea needs to be planted, solidly and firmly as a foundation for a future of growth. Every great opportunity that might spark a new solution needs a wick that might one day be lit. Every wonderful potential future should be shared so that it can be carefully nurtured to its full potential. Every single concept needs planting so that it might eventually be harvested.
One of the most important things you might ever do with what you do, how you think, and the mindset you carry about with you is to plan that idea as a seed within the minds of others. Our role as innovators and leaders is to challenge people to discard their old reality so that they might discover a new one.

We should inspire people with a goal that involves a better future if only they might find a pathway to get there.

#Ideas #Growth #Innovation #Mentorship #Leadership #Potential #Inspiration #Nurture #Mindset #opportunities

Original post: https://jimcarroll.com/2024/09/daily-inspiration-personal-growth-any-idea-worth-growing-should-always-be-planted/

Daily Inspiration: "Aligning to tomorrow? You’ll succeed when you get beyond a series of awful decisions driven by the delusion of denial!" - Futurist Jim Carroll

Most people believe that they can keep doing tomorrow what they are doing today, even when what they are doing today is not working.
They are wrong.

And, in many cases, people keep making the same awful decisions that bind them to a series of regular failures, driven by the delusion of denial that guides their thinking.

That sounds pretty awful, doesn't it, but it's true in many cases! As someone who deals with the realities of tomorrow, I see it all the time.

The fact is, denial of your reality is not going to lead you to a better outcome - and making bad decisions based on that denial only makes things worse.

People make a series of bad decisions all the time. They don't take the time to invest in the new skills training which might lead them to a better future. They don't dare take on the risk of trying to do new things, with the result that they remain stuck doing old things. They refuse to acknowledge that their current mindset of negativity won't allow them to chase the optimistic opportunities of tomorrow. They simply can't accept that what they are doing today might be entirely irrelevant tomorrow. They continue with behaviors and patterns that are truly destructive and yet refuse to admit that they have a problem.

They cannot comprehend the reality of the massive disruptive trends that are set to change their world.

The result is that things don't work out too well for them - because they continue to make bad decisions based on the denial of their reality.

The fact is, denial is the most dangerous of all drugs.

End your addiction to denial.

Move forward, not back!

#RealityCheck #Denial #Change #Adaptability #Decisions #Leadership #Future #Innovation #Transformation #Success

Original post: https://jimcarroll.com/2024/09/daily-inspiration-aligning-to-tomorrow-youll-succeed-when-you-get-beyond-a-series-of-awful-decisions-driven-by-the-delusion-of-denial/

@fringe Hi David, you can't believe how much a comment like this means to me. I try to share my thoughts in my Daily, and its always helpful to know it is reaching and impacting people.

I've made a few major pivots over the years, and thinking confronting them is one of the most difficult but most important things we can do!

He brought this on himself. He could have changed everything with the 2nd impeachment vote. He did not. And so he reaps what he sowed.

The sad thing is that you can't save US manufacturing by trying to build walls. You build it by reinventing skills, implementing advanced technologies, aligning to new concepts, accepting disruption, chasing digital twin technology, and more. It will happen through constant innovation, big bold moves, skill set reinvention, and challenging thinking that will – and already is — provide for significant transformation. The future of manufacturing is all about adapting to collapsing product lifecycles and reinventing products faster The connectivity and intelligence that comes to products through the Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity Mass customization. Digitization, robotics, and the cloud. Design based on crowd thinking. Rapid prototyping and deployment. Faster time to market. 3D printing or additive manufacturing.

Tough shit like that which takes hard work, effort, investment, tikme.

https://jimcarroll.com/2021/11/video-rethinking-the-future-of-manufacturing-reinvention-opportunity-transformation/

I am coming to the conclusion that should the US choose the path espoused by the crazy dude (tariffs and other insanity) it will find itself in a REALLY BIG bag of hurt.

I am also concluding that the people who are hurting and are seeking the easy way out will have to go through a bigger bag of hurt to realize that there is no easy way out.

And in the meantime, China and the rest of Asia keep aligning themselves to tomorrow and winning at the game.

Pure idiocy.

https://jimcarroll.com/2018/04/the-story-behind-the-picture-saving-people-from-themselves/

Daily Inspiration: "Prove them wrong!" - Futurist Jim Carroll

Your life is often defined by a series of barriers established by someone other than yourself.

The barriers are established by them to tell you that you can't accomplish something - prove them wrong!

That you don't have the skills. Prove them wrong!

That your idea won't work. Prove them wrong!

You are being too ambitious. Prove them wrong!

Your goals are too big. Prove them wrong!

That you are doomed to fail. Prove them wrong!

You’re dreaming too big. Prove them wrong!

They believe it’s impossible. Prove them wrong!

They doubt your dedication. Prove them wrong!

They think you lack the experience. Prove them wrong!

They assume you’re not capable. Prove them wrong!

They don’t see your potential. Prove them wrong!

They claim it’s never been done before. Prove them wrong!

Or they say you’re too young. Prove them wrong!

They say you’re too old. Prove them wrong!

They question your resilience. Prove them wrong!

They don’t think you can handle the pressure. Prove them wrong!

Many will bet that you’ll lose focus. Prove them wrong!

They say you’re aiming too high. Prove them wrong!

They think you won’t finish what you started. Prove them wrong!

They don’t see the value in what you are suggesting. Prove them wrong!

They believe you’ll never overcome the challenges. Prove them wrong!

They say you’re not disciplined enough. Prove them wrong!

They think you’re not passionate enough. Prove them wrong!

They say you’ll never leave a mark. Prove them wrong!

They think you won’t make it to the top. Prove them wrong!

Because they’re wrong.

Right?

#ProveThemWrong #Determination #Perseverance #Courage #Resilience #Ambition #Success #BelieveInYourself #Overcome #dreambig

Original post: https://jimcarroll.com/2024/09/daily-inspiration-personal-growth-innovation-prove-them-wrong/

Daily Inspiration: "If you keep chasing motivation instead of chasing trends, you're doing tomorrow all wrong!" - Futurist Jim Carroll

One of the most interesting - and perhaps one of the most common - situations in my line of work is when you get contacted by a potential client for a detailed talk on the trends that will impact them - and then at the last minute, they suddenly veer off in a different direction!

"We need a futurist with a message on the core trends of tomorrow" they will say when first contacted. "We are faced with some pretty significant issues, and need to make sure that our team is aligned to the trends that will impact them!" Then, after a time, they come back:

"We decided to go with a motivational speaker!"

It is, as they say, LOL.

I was reminded of this just the other day when I was contacted by one of my Canadian bureaus - they had a bank that was looking for a keynote speaker on trends that will be impacting them. Just a little bit later, word came back that they decided they didn't want a session on the future, but rather, a motivational speaker. This happens to be a running joke for me (a Canadian) and many of the Canadian agencies that have booked me.  Most organizations in Canada tend to look for motivation rather than trends. It's a different situation in the US, which is why I turned my business model to that market well over two decades ago.

One of the conclusions that I came to a long time ago from this odd state of affairs is that there's a very real difference between the two countries (and I can see the same situation with the other countries where I do my work.) US clients and the leadership teams that drive them seem to be relentlessly focused on trends, tomorrow, disruption, and the ideas, challenges, and opportunities that they need to focus on to get there.

Canadians organizations? Give them a hockey player with a motivational story and they're on board!

Original post: https://jimcarroll.com/2024/09/daily-inspiration-personal-growth-innovation-prove-them-wrong/

Daily Inspiration: "Do the hard things" - Futurist Jim Carroll

How many times do you say to yourself, "I'll do the easy things first!"

And then you just keep doing the easy things over and over again, always avoiding the hard stuff.

And you never make any progress - because at some point or other, you have to do the hard things.

What if you did the hard things first?

What if you put in the work? Took the effort? Invested your time in difficult things?

Developed your true grit?

Someone commented to me about 'doing the hard work' in the context of my post the other day about 'proving them wrong' and stopping making decisions based on denial.

They commented that neither of these things will work - unless you put in the hard work. That's true!

Moving forward is all about taking responsibility - I've written a lot about the fact that to successfully move forward into tomorrow, you need to stop making excuses and start taking responsibility for your actions and decisions.

This means confronting difficult situations head-on and acknowledging that you are the one who has the power to change your circumstances. That involves hard work because you are manufacturing solutions rather than dwelling on problems - and it's not always easy to do that.

The starting point, of course, is to make the decisions that lead you into action.

Stop making excuses - start taking action!

#HardWork #Grit #Perseverance #Courage #Responsibility #Dedication #Focus #Growth #Commitment #Action

Original post: https://jimcarroll.com/2024/09/daily-inspiration-personal-growth-do-the-hard-things/

So in today's version of "I'm going to see if I can move my Mastodon instance to a different server by following the Mastdon instructions" just because I am a sucker for punishment, it fails on this step.

https://docs.joinmastodon.org/admin/migrating/

I will note I set up the database on the new server without a password.

To preserve my sanity, I am going out to golf and will come back to this later. It will be better for me to hit a ball than to throw my laptop at a wall.

#mastoadmin

"Reality always trumps wishful thinking!" - Futurist Jim Carroll

There's a reality gap.

A gap between an understanding of how industries are changing, and how people hope it will change. A gap between what it takes to solve deep, complex issues, and how people think they can be solved. A gap between the skills needed to thrive into tomorrow, and the skills that people need. A gap between the desire to preserve the status quo, and the reality of what the quo will do. A gap between what it takes to align with fast-moving trends, and what leadership teams think they need to do to deal with those trends.

A gap between the promises made by those who whitewash tomorrow and the reality of what will happen.

As I've said before, some people are a captive of their denial of reality, a prisoner to their delusions, and are forever trapped in disbelief of their impending disruption. Denial happens when people are confronted by reality but perpetuate their misbelief with the most dangerous of all drugs, which is denial itself. The result of this is that those who don’t like a trend don’t just oppose the trend, they now deny the reality of the trend itself!

But the fact remains: the ability of some people to make up their reality won’t absolve them of the consequences of their real reality - and it won't let them avoid the reality of what tomorrow will bring. This means that the uncanny ability of some to deny reality will have a huge impact on their potential success in their future reality!

What’s the way out of this madness?

I have no idea – of all the trends I follow, this is the one that worries me the most.

#RealityCheck #Denial #Truth #Change #Disruption #Innovation #Leadership #Future #Trends #WakeUp

Original post:https://jimcarroll.com/2024/09/daily-inspiration-leadership-tomorrow-reality-always-trumps-wishful-thinking/

"Reality always trumps wishful thinking!" - Futurist Jim Carroll

There's a reality gap.

A gap between an understanding of how industries are changing, and how people hope it will change. A gap between what it takes to solve deep, complex issues, and how people think they can be solved. A gap between the skills needed to thrive into tomorrow, and the skills that people need. A gap between the desire to preserve the status quo, and the reality of what the quo will do. A gap between what it takes to align with fast-moving trends, and what leadership teams think they need to do to deal with those trends.

A gap between the promises made by those who whitewash tomorrow and the reality of what will happen.

As I've said before, some people are a captive of their denial of reality, a prisoner to their delusions, and are forever trapped in disbelief of their impending disruption. Denial happens when people are confronted by reality but perpetuate their misbelief with the most dangerous of all drugs, which is denial itself. The result of this is that those who don’t like a trend don’t just oppose the trend, they now deny the reality of the trend itself!

But the fact remains: the ability of some people to make up their reality won’t absolve them of the consequences of their real reality - and it won't let them avoid the reality of what tomorrow will bring. This means that the uncanny ability of some to deny reality will have a huge impact on their potential success in their future reality!

What’s the way out of this madness?

I have no idea – of all the trends I follow, this is the one that worries me the most.

#RealityCheck
#Denial
#Truth
#Change
#Disruption
#Innovation
#Leadership
#Future
#Trends
#WakeUp

https://jimcarroll.com/2024/09/daily-inspiration-leadership-tomorrow-reality-always-trumps-wishful-thinking/