Futurist Jim Carroll

Daily Inspiration: "‘Your time is gonna’ come’ need not be your epitaph!" - Futurist Jim Carroll

Innovate or die.

It's that simple.

Here's a simple list of companies that were once great successes. Then they weren't: Blockbuster. Borders. Lehman Bros. Kodak. Circuit City. RadioShack. Pan-Am. Enron. E.F. Hutton.RCA. Tower Records. Polaroid. Woolworths. Compaq. Arthur Anderson. The list could go on.... companies that were leaders in their time, and then failed, due to a lack of innovation; a failure to adapt; ethical problems; or other factors that could have been avoided.

In the next 10 years, we will see several established companies added to the list.  We'll also see a lot of medium and small-sized enterprises go the same way - except we won't see them on such a list. They'll just disappear in a swirl of emotional upset.

Right now, some of them could be making decisions to avoid that fate.

They aren't.

Here's some interesting food for thought from a great article on the issue of corporate longevity:

"The S&P 500 lists the 500 most valuable companies in the United States. Dick Foster, a McKinsey consultant, studied their average lifespan. It is a sobering tale that reminds us just how fast-paced business innovation has become. In 1937, the average tenure of companies on the list was 75 years. By 1960, it was 61 years. In 1980, 37 years. In 2000, 26 years. Today, an average of 15 years."

Your chance for longevity and survival is shrinking. Disruption, business model change, and technological transformation are real, and so you have a simple choice: innovate or die.

Your time is 'gonna come - so let it arrive the right way!

#InnovateOrDie #Adaptability #Survival #Disruption #Change #FutureProof #Leadership #Transformation #Longevity #Reinvention

Original post: https://jimcarroll.com/2024/10/daily-inspiration-corporate-longevity-innovation-your-time-is-gonna-come-need-not-be-your-epitaph/

Daily Inspiration: "The soul of this new machine is moving faster than your imagination!" - Futurist Jim Carroll

Back when I began my computer voyage, I read the book "Soul of a New Machine," described by ChatGPT this way. The book is celebrated for making the complex and often insular world of computer engineering in the 80s accessible and compelling - and it was a great book for a young computer nerd who was busy immersing himself in everything involving the ongoing computer revolution.

Fast forward to today - there's a new soul in a new machine being built around AI, and one of the hardest tasks is keeping up to date with all the fast-moving and rapidly emerging new developments. There are thousands of people throwing their energies at creating new tools, ideas, capabilities, and opportunities, and the rest of us can barely keep up.

Which brings me to Google's NotebookLM AI podcast generation tool, which was just announced. Feed it a document, press a button, and you've got a ten-minute 'podcast' with two AI-generated voices talking to each other. I fed it a set of all my Daily Inspiration posts, specifically those written since January 2023. That numbers more than 500 of these posts, with a lot of content covering a variety of topics.

And in an instant, after pressing the generate button, it created a full 10-minute-long podcast discussing my work and the content. I generated an image for the recording and loaded it into YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwgRjXlItD0

Listen to the tone, intonation, and vocal style of the two 'hosts,' all of which are entirely AI-generated., The mind boggles at the sophistication of such a tool and the ease with which it can be used.

Even so, like most people, I have mixed feelings about this tool. A

#AIRevolution #Innovation #Technology #Future #MachineLearning #Imagination #Disruption #Creativity #Automation #SoulOfTheMachine

Original post: https://jimcarroll.com/2024/10/daily-inspiration-the-velocity-of-ai-the-soul-of-this-new-machine-is-moving-faster-than-your-imagination/

So I fed my MBI document to Google's NotebookLLM podcast tool.

The result is pretty wild.

-----

We don't need more MBAs.

We need more people with a Masters in Business Imagination.

Here's what it's all about. Listen to why you need to accelerate your imagination.

It's the Masters in Business Imagination Manifesto!

Change your future!

Learn more at: https://mbi.jimcarroll.com and https://jimcarroll.com/inspirational-insight/the-mbi-manifesto/

(I still have mixed feelings about this Google NotebookLLM AI podcast tool)

Daily Inspiration: "Take pride in your losses because they teach you about your wins!" - Futurist Jim Carroll

People hide from their failure.

They shouldn't.

Because often, it's the only way to get to success.

Your wins are informed by your losses. Your success is defined by your failure. Moving forward always comes after a few steps back. Achieving your goals always comes after your missteps in trying to achieve them.

You'll always do worse before you do better.

This attitude has always informed everything I do. When I learned to ski late in life, success only came after some spectacularly bad moments. Learning to golf involved regularly going into the water before I managed to get over it fairly consistently. Learning Linux on my own involved blowing up a lot of well-functioning computer systems until I learned how not to.

You might have seen in the last few weeks a few notes apologizing in case I sent a few duplicates of my Daily Inspiration. This is because I was amid a complex voyage to move all of my servers - jimcarroll.com, my mailing list system at insight.jimcarroll.com, my other inspiration site at daily.jimcarroll.com, as well as a bunch of family and friends sites - onto a new server infrastructure that would cut my monthly costs in half. It was a complex project, and seemed that for every step forward, I was taking three back.

Until I wasn't, and success was to be found.

There's a saying that is often shared - 'fail early, fail fast, fail often!'
There couldn't be a better mindset for moving yourself into tomorrow!
#FailureToSuccess #Learning #Growth #Resilience #Persistence #Wins #LetGo #Mindset #EmbraceFailure #progress

Original post: https://jimcarroll.com/2024/10/daily-inspiration-personal-growth-take-pride-in-your-losses-because-they-teach-you-about-your-wins/

Daily Inspiration: "Committees are an infrastructure designed to race you to the bottom of opportunity!" - Futurist Jim Carroll

Committees kill ideas.

Committees kill all initiative.

Committees kill the idea of innovation.

Committees are the destroyer of all things.

Did I mention I think committees are a bad idea?

"Let me check with the committee." "We've got a committee looking into that." "There's a committee involved with the decision." "We'll send that to the committee for deliberation." And the worst one: "We think we should study it a bit more, and so we'll form a committee!"

These are the phrases that send organizations into a death spiral of inaction driven by the lowest common denominator of thinking. They are the black holes of the corporate universe - it’s where innovation goes to die, creativity is destroyed, bright sparks of imaginative thinking are snuffed out - and a place from which no great idea or bold initiative can ever escape!

Establishing a committee is a guaranteed prescription for innovation paralysis!

Here's why.

#NoCommittees #Innovation #Action #BoldDecisions #Creativity #Leadership #ThinkBig #NoMediocrity #Initiative #StopOverthinking

Original post: https://jimcarroll.com/2024/10/daily-inspiration-innovation-corporate-culture-committees-are-an-infrastructure-designed-to-race-you-to-the-bottom-of-opportunity/

Aside from the time I spend researching, preparing, and then delivering keynotes on stages, I geek out with a lot of tech. I think it's how I relax LOL.

Just finished a complex project today that had me moving all of my servers - my main website, Sendy mailing list, Ghost publishing platform, and a family and friends server with WordPress sites - away from Vultr and over to Hetzner to cut cost in 1/2. As part of this, I implemented CloudPanel on 3 of them to move away from Runcloud, to cut out another $200 a year. Really happy with CloudPanel.

One last project is to migrate this Mastodon instance - futurist.info - off of Vultr onto a lower cost/bigger drive Hetzner instance. I'm struggling with the official docs as found here:

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

because it fails on a few key steps.

Does anyone have any docs on this process that are accurate and up to date?

Bonus: Has anyone implemented Mastodon on top of a CloudPanel infrastructure?

#mastoadmin #admin #mastoadmins

@beyondwatts @dhmacher Will have to explore that path.... big hurdle I'm hitting are problems in the database export/import. Maybe this will ease things.

Thanks for the tips!

@beyondwatts @dhmacher What docker repo are you using? Bitnami? Tootsuite?

@danyork Michael Bedley. Smartest energy guy I know. He has a private email list that often shares astounding insights.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-bedley-b5860b7/

Also, Auke Hoekstra. Hardcore on all things energy. Posts a lot on X.

https://www.tue.nl/en/research/researchers/auke-hoekstra

@beyondwatts @dhmacher Starting to play with this now.
BTW, looked at your site. One of my sons is a GIS guy, drone pilot, etc. See https://locationintelligence.ca

Daily Inspiration: "See differently and you'll innovate brilliantly!" - Futurist Jim Carroll

Most people see a ketchup bottle.

Creative people see trends & innovation!

Last week, I spoke at the Manufacturers Association for Plastic Processors conference in Indianapolis; my topic was the impact and opportunity of artificial intelligence technologies in the manufacturing industry. As is usually the case, the day started with an early morning (630am) stage/sound check. That's the short time in which I visit the room, check that my laptop plugs into the AV system fine, the audio works, and that the stage is set. Because it's showtime!

Bill Stainton was also there at the same time - he was there to speak on the theme of innovation, and in particular, his topic, Connect the Dots: How to Unleash Your Hidden Ingenuity. I'd never met Bill before although I had heard his name - you can't be a speaker on stage and not be familiar with other folks in your line of work. We had a great chat as we took our turns testing out our setup.

Bill's focus is, like many of my events, on innovation. I came at it through a technology lens - he came at it as the Executive Producer of Seattle’s legendary comedy TV show Almost Live!, leading his team to over 100 Emmys of their own, as well as 10 straight years of #1 ratings.
A
s we spoke, Bill took two ketchup bottles out of his bag to place on the stage tabletop - and at that moment, I had a great laugh, because, as you might know, for a time I featured the upside-down ketchup bottle as the core of an innovation-themed talk.

As does Bill!

And therein followed the most wonderful story - read the post!

#SeeDifferently #Innovation #Creativity #Change #Perspective #Adaptability #KetchupStory #ThinkBig #Disruption #Opportunities

Original post: https://jimcarroll.com/2024/10/daily-inspiration-creativity-innovation-see-differently-and-youll-innovate-brilliantly/

Daily Inspiration: "Be the person who sees the solutions, not the one who only identifies the problems!" - Futurist Jim Carroll

You never read a LinkedIn profile that starts out boasting someone is just a problem-identifier - but you do see people boasting that they are a problem-solver! You never see a resume that lists a key skill as problem identification without solution generation. You'll never find someone proud of the fact that they spend their time whining about all the problems they've found, rather than speaking about the solutions they've identified.

Solve problems, don't stop at just finding them!

How can you do this if it doesn't come naturally to you? It involves your mindset, habits, and skills.

Start by sharing your perspective - it's all about opportunities, not barriers. Be proactive instead of reactive - so that you are always trying to move forward, not back. Changing your tone helps - replace “we can’t” with “how can we?” Stop being the victim - don't say “Why is this happening to me?" but rather "What should we do about it?"

And spend more time thinking about trends, not barriers. All of the individuals I have met who have an innovative mindset seem to have a better understanding of where we are going tomorrow than those who do not. They spend time thinking about and studying the things that will matter tomorrow, rather than obsessing over the things that are getting in the way today.

Confidence matters too - confidence in yourself, your team, and your ability to smash through the barriers that might get in your way. With that comes the necessity for perseverance - don't give up so easily!

What's the difference? I asked ChatGPT to write two different LinkedIn profiles. Check the post out - spot the difference!

#ProblemSolver #SolutionFocused #Opportunities #Innovation #Mindset #Leadership #Proactive #StrategicThinking #Confidence #Perseverance

Original post: https://jimcarroll.com/2024/10/daily-inspiration-innovation-leadership-be-the-person-who-sees-the-solutions-not-the-one-who-only-identifies-the-problems/

Daily Inspiration: "Innovation? Fix things faster!" - Futurist Jim Carroll

Let me introduce you to a fellow named Ben Fortin.

He's a young fellow, in the city in which I live - Guelph, Ontario, Canada. Being of a generation that combines tech-savvy skills with a desire to 'fix things fast,' his story demonstrates what is possible in today's world.

Imagine this. He's sitting around, waiting for a bus, not knowing when it is going to show up, and decides at that moment that he should write a program that will help everyone waiting for a bus in the city to know when one is going to arrive.

I discovered this fact one day when I signed into Facebook and my feed popped up with this post.

Here's what Ben wrote that day:

---

"I was tired of standing at a bus stop and wondering where my bus was, as buses in Guelph are often running late. I discovered that Guelph provides access to real time GTFS (General Transit Feed Specification) data through their open data portal. Knowing this, and with an interest in doing fun things with publicly available data, I set out to display the locations of all the buses on a simple map. I later added the ability to view a bus' route outline. My friend Michael took an interest and made several great improvements to the app including displaying all the UI controls on the map element itself, the ability to view multiple routes at once, and the ability to view a route's stops."

---

Want to see it in action? Visit https://guelph-transit-map.ca. All that data is in real-time. At this very moment.

In this world of open data, APIs, and collaborative sharing, innovation can happen faster than you think!

**#Innovation** **#APIs** **#OpenData** **#Collaboration** **#TechSolutions** **#FastInnovation** **#ProblemSolving** **#RealTimeData** **#TechTrends**

https://jimcarroll.com/2024/10/daily-inspiration-innovation-fix-things-faster/

Daily Inspiration: "Enthusiasm matters!" - Futurist Jim Carroll

You've got to bring enthusiasm to your day!

To every single moment, every single instance of time, every single interaction with others, and to every single decision that you make through the day.

Enthusiasm matters!

That's a lesson that I've learned over time - sometimes the hard way.

When you spend your life out on a stage, with your most important work usually occurring first thing in the morning as the opening keynote, you've often marveled at your circumstance. You've got to be on fire, on point, on track, and the right side of your mind. You've got to be exciting, motivating, optimistic - and enthusiastic.

You've got to be lit - in the right way.

You've got to bring enthusiasm to your moment.

For a time, I lost my enthusiasm. I've been living this life of early morning keynotes for close to 35 years. That's a lot of time to have enthusiasm at the core of your soul! Around 10 years ago, after a long-term career that involved a constant stream of airports, hotels, taxis, stage checks, crowds, and more - my enthusiasm disappeared for a time. I burned out.

The impact showed in my work, deportment, attitude, and to be honest, personal health.

Then I found out how to bring my enthusiasm back.

And it's never been better!

Always remember one simple fact above all - enthusiasm can be contagious, inspiring those around you.

I brought that enthusiasm to the stage in Chicago yesterday, emphasizing to this crowd of hard-working contractors and construction folks that AI wasn't going to replace them, but was going to change them - and that they would do better to adapt to it with enthusiasm and hope, rather than running from it with fear and worry.

In essence, sharing with them the idea that their enthusiasm matters!

#Enthusiasm #Passion #Motivation #PositiveEnergy #Inspiration #StayDriven #SuccessMindset #EnergyMatters #StayInspired #Leadership

Original post: https://jimcarroll.com/2024/10/daily-inspiration-personal-growth-enthusiasm-matters/

I was told the sun would rise and splendor. It does.

Daily Inspiration: "Every single trend is both an existential threat and a transformative opportunity at the same moment in time!" - Futurist Jim Carroll

The buzz is that everyone is going to lose their job.

After all, that's what the media is telling everyone with breathless coverage such as this headline from the Washington Post: "ChatGPT took their jobs. Now they walk dogs and fix air conditioners." The subheading? "Technology used to automate dirty and repetitive jobs. Now, artificial intelligence chatbots are coming after high-paid ones."

This is the topic I took on two days ago when five Chicago area contractor union organizations had me in for a packed session on the impact of AI on the construction industry. Known as MARBA (the Mid-American Regional Bargaining Association), the organizations that participated in bringing me included the Great Lakes Construction Association (GLCA), Midwest Wall & Ceiling Contractors Association, Chicagoland AGC, the Mason Contractors Association of Greater Chicago, and the Underground Contractors Association.

Think about what these folks have been hearing - that AI is going to doom the typical construction worker, and that robots will be doing all the work. It's all a part of the hype and hysteria that surrounds AI, so let's take a look at how I took that topic on during my talk, by going through the slides I shared.

#AIImpact #Innovation #FutureOfWork #Automation #Opportunity #Adaptability #Transformation #WorkSmarter #JobEvolution #techtrends

Original post: https://jimcarroll.com/2024/10/daily-inspiration-artificial-intelligence-leadership-every-single-trend-is-both-an-existential-threat-and-a-transformative-opportunity-at-the-same-moment-in-time/

3000 days of sobriety!

Total dogs breakfast of upgrade instructions for latest of Mastodon to v4.3.0

Eager to hear from anyone who has successfully navigated this. It would be good to know what might go off the rails before I attempt.

#mastoadmin #selfhost #selfhosting

https://github.com/mastodon/mastodon/releases/tag/v4.3.0

@alex i always do a server level backupo before attempting these things. Not running ina. container but good to know. Tks!

Daily Inspiration: “Be grateful, eh?” – Futurist Jim Carroll

Being Canadian, it's our Thanksgiving today, but the audience for my posts is global, so here's my post!

It's simple and to the point - I am just so grateful for everything in my life. Family, friends, career, travels, health and clarity!

And even so, despite the fact it's an official holiday, I'm on my way to Phoenix today for an event tomorrow, followed by some golf!

I am grateful.

And so to you and yours, wherever you might be, from your friendly Canadian on this Thanksgiving Day, I'm grateful to you for reading my posts every day - or at least, scanning them!

Original post: https://jimcarroll.com/2024/10/daily-inspiration-canadian-thanksgiving-be-grateful-eh/

@cenobyte Yikes!

Daily Inspiration: "Sometimes the trends you think you need to be thinking about aren’t the ones you should be thinking about!" - Futurist Jim Carroll

Today I'm in Scottsdale, Arizona, and in a few hours, I'll be the opening keynote speaker for XSpecs 2024.

What is it? An event that features the attendance of most of the folks who build most of the major retail space for organizations large and small throughout North America.

The client was looking for a talk on AI. Then, they had a Zoom call where I started to outline some of the leading-edge trends defining the future of their industry, and things took off from there. It led to this keynote description:

The Future of Retail Construction in The Era of Acceleration

The rapid emergence of new design, construction, and management methodologies involving virtualized digital twins. The arrival of fascinating new construction materials. The acceleration of machine-based artificial intelligence and its impact on construction robotics and smart tools.  Next-generation project inspection, safety, monitoring, and management tools utilizing drones and other advanced hardware. The impact of the next-generation building architect from the gaming generation - one who brings their experience playing Roblox to the construction world! And the continued innovations around the idea of 'connected energy,' with whole system deployment and integration of renewable energy sources, microgrid advancements, battery science, and smart technology. The future is fast - and you must get a powerful but useful interpretation of what is going on.

#ThinkBigger #FutureTrends #Innovation #RetailConstruction #BroadenYourView #AIImpact #Disruption #Leadership #ForwardThinking #StrategicInsight

Original post: https://jimcarroll.com/2024/10/daily-inspiration-trends-leadership-sometimes-the-trends-you-think-you-need-to-be-thinking-about-arent-the-ones-you-should-be-thinking-about/

Daily Inspiration: "Do things!" - Futurist Jim Carroll

Never fall into the trap of saying “I could have done that" - because that means you live a life in which you never try! (This was the first version, significantly shortened!)

Instead, be a person who does things! Who thinks about things, and then sets off to do those things.

The most successful people are those who think and those who do.

Those who think through the difficult problems and then do something about the solution they find. Those who dare to dream big, and then do something to chase those dreams. Those who never say "I should have done that!" but instead, said, "Let's do it!" Action matters, initiative counts, and avoiding paralysis is critical.  That means acting now – you should never wait for perfect conditions to start moving forward - instead, in a fast-moving world, your success will come from acting now,  and making adjustments as you go.

Doing things matters too in terms of your knowledge and expertise - because doing things builds up your experience. Success is not a moment in time but a voyage that combines multiple failures with small marginal improvements that occur over time - your cumulative experience in doing things. The more you 'do' things, the more you find a path that allows that thing to become the bedrock for overall success.

Inaction kills - not doing things leads to organizational sclerosis. I've encountered far too many situations where organizations that are trying to chase innovation never succeed - because they never take the actual steps to achieve the goals that are set out. They never accomplish the things they need to accomplish - because they always end up following the leader after the leader has done something.

Stop stopping.

Start doing.

Do things.

#DoThings #TakeAction #ThinkersAndDoers #Initiative #GetItDone #ActNow #Innovation #Proactivity #SuccessMindset #StopWaiting

Original post: https://jimcarroll.com/2024/10/daily-inspiration-innovation-mindset-do-things/

Daily Inspiration: "Create more happy!" - Futurist Jim Carroll

In just about two weeks, I'll be headed to Abu Dhabi, where I will speak to a senior group of government ministers and executives for the seven Emirates. I'm quite looking forward to the talk and working with this group.

The process to book me started a few weeks ago, and as with many major organizations, can often become quite complex for a seemingly simple speaking engagement. There is a contract to sign, a procurement system in which to be set up, paperwork to be exchanged, and payment to be processed. In every engagement of this type, there are inevitably some bumps along the way, which is often a challenge given the extremely short booking timeline. It can be a time-consuming and painful process - American Express once had to pay our fee via PayPal because they could not get their internal payment system aligned to our payment terms!

Some issues began to unfold with this situation - entirely not unexpected - and my wife and I were diligently working through the process with several folks on the other side of the contract. There were the inevitable hiccups and delays ... until someone with the title Expert with the Customer Happiness Center Department of the Ministry of Cabinet Affairs got involved ... and pushed our information through the procurement system.

The what?

The Customer Happiness Center!

The job description title caught my attention, as did the idea of a department focused on happiness. Immediately, the thought came to my mind - in this world of accelerating expectations, increasing demand for quality service, and often instant online feedback, what many organizations need to delight both suppliers and customers is a Customer Happiness Center!

Make more happy!

#CreateMoreHappy #CustomerHappiness #PositiveExperience #ServiceExcellence #Innovation #HappyCustomers #CustomerSatisfaction #DelightClients #OrganizationalCulture

Original post: https://jimcarroll.com/2024/10/daily-inspiration-organizational-culture-create-more-happy/

Daily Inspiration: "Never accept for a moment their suggestion that you won't succeed!" - Futurist Jim Carroll

Never let doubt creep in.

Never accept for a moment that creativity has limits.

Never accept for a moment that innovation is impossible.

Never accept for a moment that the status quo is enough.

Never accept for a moment that new ideas can't win.

Never accept for a moment that your imagination is too wild.

Never accept for a moment that change isn't worth it.

Never accept for a moment that bold thinking is risky.

Never accept for a moment that creativity can't solve it.

Never accept for a moment that progress is out of reach.

Never accept for a moment that original ideas won't work.

When preparing for today's quote, I got into this theme of thinking about the issues that hold us back, and 'never accepting' those issues. I started coming up with a pretty good list. And yet, at this point, I decided to go ask myself what other viewpoints I have on the theme of 'never accepting.' Some time ago, I created a document that features ALL of the Daily Inspiration posts I've written, There are over 3,000 of them, dating back to August 16.

"From the material in the document, give me 100 items that start with "Never accept for a moment that...". concluding each item with a maximum of 6 words."

ChatGPT willingly obliged, so here goes!

Never accept for a moment that growth happens without discomfort.

.... (long list)

Quite the list! Print it out, tape it to a wall, and refer to it every once in a while!

Never accept.

At any moment.

#NeverAccept #Perseverance #BelieveInYourself #Innovation #Creativity #BoldThinking #SuccessMindset #TakeAction #OvercomeChallenges #NoLimits

Original post:https://jimcarroll.com/2024/10/daily-inspiration-personal-growth-never-accept-for-a-moment-their-suggestion-that-you-wont-succeed/

Daily Inspiration: "Chase change!" - Futurist Jim Carroll

For those of you who receive my Daily Inspiration via e-mail, welcome to my new format!

I've been sending out this email in the same old way with the same old setup since I began in 2016. It was time to shake things up. So I did! And then some! It's a pretty dramatic change - because to avoid complacency, you always need to be in a mindset in which you are chasing change.

It might not seem like much based on that glance, but if you look at the actual email that went out, you can see the signs of a dramatic shakeup. Take a look here ->
https://insight.jimcarroll.com/w/1oIcr9Wg1iprDKSkEhdV3w

Chasing change is always a good idea - and I'm always trying to chase change!

What got me thinking about the need to change things was when I subscribed to an online newsletter by another fellow who works in my field - and when I received it, was rather stunned by the professionalism and design of the format that came with the email. Looking at mine, I was kind of embarrassed by what I was delivering and decided it was time to kick things up a notch!

Chasing change is a key part of the innovation mindset. Never become complacent. Always be willing to shake things up. Never let the quo become the status. Avoid falling into a rut. Stuff like that.

Practice what you preach!

Shake things up!

Chase change!

#ChaseChange #Innovation #AvoidComplacency #ContinuousImprovement #StayAgile #ShakeThingsUp #GrowthMindset #Adaptability #FutureFocused #StayCompetitive

Original post:https://jimcarroll.com/2024/10/daily-inspiration-innovation-inspiration-chase-change/

Daily Inspiration: "Contradictory uncertainty is your new normal!" - Futurist Jim Carroll

It's a balancing act -  trying to figure out tomorrow!

After all, to study the future today is to try to understand a story of contradictions.

Case in point from two posts that I saw back-to-back just yesterday.

First, solar energy is soon to be the cheapest sort of energy in most places around the world, according to one publication. This tracks with all the research I see that crosses my desk regularly.

Right next to that came a post that suggested that at the same time, a good part of the investment world has completely soured on the concept of solar and renewables, and in fact, has gone negative on most anything having to do with alternative energy sources and a new energy grid.

These types of contradictions surround us.
We have a man who undeniably has done wondrous work in accelerating electric vehicle technology, battery storage technology, and solar energy, aligning himself with a guy who thinks that they are a foolhardy thing. It makes no sense, other than to think it is madness. I was around when Howard Hughes lost himself inside of his mind, and think the same thing is happening.

That's but one example.

The list of contradictions goes on.

It seems people want their future but want their past too.

It's odd, this.
To deal with the future, you have to acknowledge the contradictory complexity it represents.

#ContradictoryUncertainty #FutureThinking #Innovation #LongTermFocus #NavigateChange #Complexity #TrendsVsVolatility #SenseMaking #Adaptability #EmbraceUncertainty

Original post: https://jimcarroll.com/2024/10/daily-inspiration-trends-volatility-contradictory-uncertainty-is-your-new-normal/

Daily Inspiration: "The future is going to happen to all of us. It’s what YOU do with that fact that matters!" - Futurist Jim Carroll

You can't blame others if you don't arrive tomorrow in good shape.

It's not the fault of other people if you aren't prepared.

You can't play the blame game.

It's all about action.

Every day involves a series of choices when it comes to the future.

What new skills do I need to develop? What new knowledge do I need to chase? What new experiences should I be trying to pursue? What attitude do I need to cultivate to accept the change that tomorrow represents? What trends do I need to understand to align my thinking?

What actions can I start taking at this very moment in time to get ready for what comes next?

What does all of this mean?

It means taking the right steps to move forward, not back!

Take responsibility - stop making excuses!

Stop being indecisive - decide that right now is the best time to act, adapt, and innovate.

Stop waiting for the perfect moment - that's an inaction trap.

Recognize the benefits of action - the future rewards those who move quickly and decisively.

Develop courage - instead of fearing the unknown of tomorrow, embrace it!

Stop planning and start doing - there's never a right time, just time!

Like I've said before - "wait and see" is not a strategy.

Those who are proactive and decisive are the ones who win.
Last but not least adopt a mindset of action and urgency, recognizing that the future belongs to those who are fast!

Those all sound like some pretty basic statements, but hidden within their core is the idea that to banish inaction is to achieve the momentum you need RIGHT NOW.

#FutureFocus #TakeAction #NoExcuses #OwnYourFuture #ProactiveMindset #EmbraceChange #StopWaiting #ActNow #DecisiveLeadership #MomentumMatters

Original post: https://jimcarroll.com/2024/10/daily-inspiration-being-action-oriented-the-future-is-going-to-happen-to-all-of-us-its-what-you-do-with-that-fact-that-matters/

Daily Inspiration: "AI? It’s a creativity steroid!" - Futurist Jim Carroll

Smart creative types are quickly learning how to leverage the idea of AI art, and are drinking from a creative firehose. It is simply staggering to see how quickly things are evolving out there.

Take the case of Kelly Boesch. I have no idea who she is, or where she is located, but am mesmerized by her work after it crossed my path one day.

Check out this fascinating video, with all the scenes AND music generated by AI. (The scenes are from MidJourney, animated with RunwayML, and the music is from Suno.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4ikd7C0smQ

Writes Kelly in her post related to her work:

I’m completely obsessed with AI. I create AI images and video. Hope you enjoy my stuff.

She goes on:

I made another one of these dancing music videos last night. It took me a while to get a song i liked and then i finally got this . The images were made with #Midjourney. Animated with @Runway. Music made with #Sunoai.

That will mostly be incomprehensible, but it implies that she is working hard at redefining her creative boundaries through a relentless exploration of what she can do with all the AI tools available to her.

Suffice it to say, I'm obsessed with her work. Here's another one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3FYQs3HeBw

You can find her work on Youtube, Instagram, and other social networks -> https://www.instagram.com/kelly_boesch_ai_art/

This is but one person working away at exploring the boundaries of AI to explore their artistic imaginations. There are thousands if not tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of folks like Kelly, working away, redefining their creativity engines.

Stay tuned and buckle up - AI is a steroid for creativity!

#AICreativity #CreativeInnovation #ArtRevolution #AIArt #FutureOfCreativity #DigitalArt #ExplorePossibilities #Innovation #CreativeTools #NextGenArt

https://jimcarroll.com/2024/10/daily-inspiration-ai-its-a-creativity-steroid/

Daily Inspiration: "Your future should always begin with your wildest imagination!" - Futurist Jim Carroll

People always tend to say, "Never in my wildest imagination!"

And then that thing happens, and they are shocked by what they see.

But our idea of tomorrow should always consist of our wildest imagination.

Because the wildest ideas can often become real, sooner than we think.

I've been noticing that in most of my keynotes as of late, people are taking out their phones and taking a picture of the slide with my go-to phrase.

Remember it?

“Companies that do not yet exist will build products not yet conceived using ideas not yet in existence with methodologies yet to be defined with ideas yet to be imagined"

I think the reason it is drawing so much attention is that although people feel overwhelmed by the speed of tomorrow and the change that it brings, some also know that we now live in a world and a time in which anything is possible.

Not only that, but ideas that once seemed to be on the crazy side of our future forecast map are becoming more likely.

But not everyone thinks like that. Have you ever noticed that you are often surrounded by pessimistic people? People who can't seem to comprehend how different tomorrow might be? They’re everywhere! And for every silver lining, they see massive rainfall. The glass is never half full nor even empty - they see a shattered glass! They seem to thrive on the belief that the worst is yet to come. Cynicism runs deep in their soul.

Seriously, these people are a bit of a drag!

Don't be that person!

Stop using the phrase "never in my wildest imagination" when it comes to tomorrow. Instead, let your imagination run wild!

Futurist Jim Carroll believes that our imagination is a window into tomorrow.

**#WildestImagination** **#FutureThinking** **#Innovation** **#LimitlessPossibilities** **#EmbraceChange** **#ThinkBig** **#CreativeVision** **#Optimism** **#DreamBig** **#ImaginationUnleashed**

https://jimcarroll.com/2024/10/daily-inspiration-trends-bold-thinking-your-future-should-always-begin-with-your-wildest-imagination/

I am in a stunned state of shock that it worked.

I was ready to abandon Mastodon. What a fuck up of an upgrade.

Can some folks let me know if they see this message as an additional test to see if the changes took.

#mastoadmin #admin #selfhost #Selfhosting

@vees@epistolary.org Wow. Good to know. What a messed up upgrade process.

Well, they couldn't even get the fucking tagline right.

"Democracy died in the light"

@vees@epistolary.org The v 4.3.0 Mastodon upgrade is a bit of a dogs breakfast.

@infosec_jcp I haven't even read yet the feature list. I just wanted to see if I could get the upgrade to go through. The docs need work.,

@infosec_jcp I didn't document anything. I just complained aobut it, really.

@vees@epistolary.org

I consider myself fairly Linux/geek conversant, but the docs were decidely lacking in guidance on Ruby and Node upgrades, other than to say they were necessary. So it was a process of going through steps, geenerating errors, chasing down the errors, etc etc.

Just not terribly friendly.

@vees@epistolary.org Mine involved going out and talking to a large group of hungover people (that's what i do as a keynote speaker with a morning talk), navigating airports, walking a large room of 70+ executives through AI, and a 2 hour conference call with the PMO office of the UAE for an upcoming event talking about content. So maybe going through a hair raising upgrade process to end my week sort of stood out!

When I was 15 years old, I wrote a novel, The Lions Den, about a war between the Soviet Union and the US. It involved nukes, destruction and death.

I never suspected that at the age of 65, I'd witness the destruction of the US by Russia at the hands of billionaires and media conglomerates.

But here we are.

Just renewed a few weeks ago, but I'm out.

Well, I guess the rally is the October surprise.

Daily Inspiration: “Optimistic societies are stable societies” – Futurist Jim Carroll

On the day of the election, I’ll be speaking to an audience of senior government executives in Abu Dhabi.

One section of my talk explores the link between the entrepreneurial spirit of the younger generation and the role of optimism in moving a society forward, not back.

#WildestImagination #FutureThinking #Innovation #LimitlessPossibilities #EmbraceChange #ThinkBig

Original post: https://jimcarroll.com/2024/10/daily-inspiration-global-trends-politics-optimistic-societies-are-stable-societies/

"Captain of Titanic goes for a cold swim after hitting iceberg"

I was around when Howard Hughes lost his mind to the darkness of insanity, and now get to watch it happen in again in real time.

Do Elon first.

Daily Inspiration: "Are you big on buzzwords and short on substance?" - Futurist Jim Carroll

I'm preparing for an upcoming keynote later in November for an organization that just booked me, and asked them to share a bit of insight with me as to their current strategies, structure and innovation mindset.

It was a bit interesting to discover, when I found among the documents they sent me, this one around their strategic planning process. I'm not sure I am allowed to share it, but thought that I would because it just provides so much context!

------------

Memo: Strategic Adaptive Realignment for Forward-Looking Innovational Synergy
To: Leadership Team
From: Office of Transformative Future Pathways
Date: October 12, 2024
Subject: Catalyzing Hyper-Responsive Strategic Convergence for Next-Gen Ecosystemic Optimization

In today's hyper-dynamic paradigm, our strategic scaffolding requires immediate recalibration to future-proof against emergent disruptors and catalyze omni-directional innovation vectors. Our adaptive modalities must transition from linear, hierarchical constructs into multi-faceted, cross-collaborative frameworks that can flexibly pivot in real-time to align with macro-trajectory shifts in ecosystemic trendspace.

We must galvanize our operationally holistic alignment mechanisms to actualize a seamless innovation pipeline that is consistently enmeshed with quantum-transformational goals. The gravitational pull of tomorrow’s meta-disruptions mandates an immersive symbiosis between agility-centric governance and outcome-centric synergistics.

By harnessing our core competency in proactive adaptation, we can transcend traditional growth inhibitors and actualize a new dimensionality in value creation.

Read the rest of the post...

And today, I have a Zoom call with the Chief Architect of Synergistic Quantum Evolution and Holistic Innovation Convergence!

#NoMoreBuzzwords #SubstanceOverSpin #RealInnovation #StopTheBS #ActionOverJargon #CutTheRedTape #ThinkBold #InnovationNotInertia #SpeakClearly #ProgressNotProtocol

Original post: https://jimcarroll.com/2024/10/daily-inspiration-leadership-innovation-are-you-big-on-buzzwords-and-short-on-substance/

if you have to try to explain that you're not Hitler, you're probably losing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YY_8WzcHqMQ

The October surprise is Puerto Rico.

This guy has 50 million followers

Daily Inspiration: "Believe that you can so that you know you will do!" - Futurist Jim Carroll

Nothing great has ever been achieved through inaction! That's the thought that came to my mind while out for my afternoon walk yesterday, and spotted someone wearing this shirt. "She believed that she could, so she did."

I'm a sucker for inspirational ideas, and this phrase certainly caught my attention! After I got back home, I tried to remember the exact wording of the phrase, and so I had to use Google to make sure that I got it entirely right. And in a wonderful turn of coincidence, it turns out this particular shirt is sold in a small boutique clothing store not far from where I live!

Not only that, but it also involves a wonderful story of a mother / daughter team creating a retail store with active wear:

It's a wonderful story of initiative and innovation, and as someone who believes in acton-based empowerment, the phrase on the shirt immediately caught my eye! I can imagine that at moments along the way, the mom/daughter combination worked hard to ensure they didn't just talk about their plans to create a business - but acted upon it.

They believed they could do it - so they did!

Empowerment and action, wrapped together in a dream achieved. Powerful stuff! Hey - do this - give them an order! Buy the shirt here. It would make for a wonderful gift for that someone special in your life - or for yourself. Tell them Jim sent you! (I don't know these people, and just came to realize their store is very close to my home once I started searching for the origin of the phrase on the shirt!)

In my mind, once I saw the phrase, I began to turn the idea behind it into something I could use in my Daily Inspiration post - the result of which was "Believe that you can so that you know you will do!"

#BelieveAndAchieve #EmpowermentJourney #DreamBigActBigger #ActionBasedSuccess #EntrepreneurialSpirit #CommunityImpact #InspirationDaily #MindsetMatters #BelieveYouCan #WomenInBusiness #MomDaughterDuo #FitnessFashion #TakeAction #ChaseYourDreams

Original post: https://jimcarroll.com/2024/10/daily-inspiration-the-criticality-of-action-believe-that-you-can-so-that-you-know-you-will-do/

Daily Inspiration: "Disappointment is a necessary exercise designed to strengthen your resilience" - Futurist Jim Carroll

There is never any progress without disappointment along the way!

You'll never achieve anything if you never encounter a few hurdles in your path. As soon as you get your hopes up, you should always be in the right mindset to bounce back quickly in case those hopes are dashed!

Right about now, at the very moment I am writing this post, I should have been on this plane going over Europe.

I'm not.

Instead, I'm sitting on my deck at home, writing this post.

The backstory? I was set to keynote a major conference, and as things sometimes go, it was canceled at the very last minute. I mean, very last minute! That's actually kind of ironic because one of the slides in my deck references the idea that 'volatility is the new normal, uncertainty is our new reality, and resilience is our new agility.' Without going into any details, and after a Zoom conversation with the client, I certainly understand this unique situation and the reasons for the fast turn of events.

Even so, I'm pretty disappointed that my role in the event is not going ahead, but I've also learned how to take these types of things in stride and roll with the flow.

Here's what I have learned -> see the post.

#Resilience #EmbraceDisappointment #BounceBack #KeepMovingForward #GrowthMindset #SilverLinings #PositiveMindset #Adaptability #FutureThinking #ResilientLeadership #OptimismInAction #CareerUpsAndDowns #ShiftYourMindset #LearningThroughChallenges #GrowthThroughSetbacks #RollingWithThePunches #FindThePositives #DisappointmentToSuccess #FocusOnProgress

Original post: https://jimcarroll.com/2024/10/daily-inspiration-moving-on-disappointment-is-a-necessary-exercise-designed-to-strengthen-your-resilience/

Boo!