Daily Inspiration: “A futurist ? We are your beacon of hope in a world gone mad, an anchor for your sanity!”

“A futurist ? We are your beacon of hope in a world gone mad, an anchor for your sanity!” – Futurist Jim Carroll

Hot damn, it was fun to talk about 2030 again!

And it was wonderful to hit the realization that people really ARE ready to think and talk about the future again. it’s going to be a fantastically busy 2021 – in a virtual way of course!

Yesterday I spoke to several hundred energy executives on the future of their industry : the impact of accelerating micro-grid technology within the electrical utility sector, the continued future dominance of clean energy, the acceleration of electric vehicles, batteries and storage technology and so much more. The overall theme? “Disrupting Energy: Why Accelerating Science and Technology is Disrupting the Future of Energy, Faster Than You Think!”

They caught a photo of my joy before I ‘hit my stage!’

People want to know what comes next – and this is happening as leadership teams everywhere are now moving in a new and more complex phase.

First, they need to continue to manage the complicated logistics, health risks and massive new challenges that come with a distributed, virtualized workforce – and they will be doing this still for a long time yet to come. But second, they also know they need to realign their strategic plan, goals, structure, skills, capabilities, product and service lines, infrastructure and more, to their post pandemic future.

That’s the precise type of guidance I provided in my two most recent virtual keynotes – one for a healthcare group, last week, and this one within the energy industry. I’ve settled on a good formula and structure for the talks. I’ll still open with my Jetsons’s story, but now mix it up with the Jetsons in the era of Covid, Get Smart and the Cone of Silence and a bit more fun! Then, I hit upon the theme of ‘your future pre-Covid’, to rehash the general and specific industry trends we were focused on B.C. (Before Covid.)

People need a refresher – and I’ve become the global rock-start in content-rich, industry specific future guidance. (That’s why organizations like Disney, NASA, the World Bank and Pfizer have had me in for senior leadership events. Some organizations go with general trend pap and crap from economists – that’s like getting warmed over cookies that are kind of bland….)

Then, I build into two more key themes: how has Covid changed business and society in a general way – and I’ve got some great content and insight that you will have seen in this blog over the last few months.

And then, I launch into a section on “your industry P.C. (post-Covid)” – which covers the specific trends on how the global pandemic has shifted, twisted and changed the trends B.C. – and the new trends it has launched. For example, yesterday, I took a look at some of the de-urbanization trends that seem to be taking hold, as the corporate world comes to recognize that a virtual workforce truly can be massively geographically distributed.

It’s so much fun to be back at it, and I gotta’ say – the 2,000+ hours invested in working with my virtual studio have led to the arrival of the top virtual keynote speaker products in the world today. And it’s not just me saying that – that’s the reaction I’m getting from quite a few of my speaker bureau partners, agents and meeting planners.

Beacon’s of hope. Anchors of sanity. Powerful tools for todays P.C. Post-Covid world!