What Jim Carroll Talks About:

THINK BIG, START SMALL, SCALE FAST: ALIGNING YOURSELF FOR THE ERA OF ACCELERATION
We live in a time of massive challenge, and yet one of massive opportunity. We’re faced with deep and complex issues – involving the environment, health care, water and food. At the same time, every industry is faced with upheaval and disruption. In this context, every industry is being redefined at blinding speed by technology, globalization, the rapid emergence of new competitors, new forms of collaborative global R&D – and countless other challenges! The speed with which these changes occur are now being increasingly driven by the arrival of a younger, more entrepreneurial generation – a group that seems determined to change the world to reflect their ideas and concept of opportunity. They’ve grown up networked, wired, and are collaborative in ways that no previous generation seems to be.

And therein lies the challenge.

Most organizations are bound up in tradition, process, certain defined ways of doing things – rules that have helped them succeed in the past. Over time, they have developed a corporate culture which might have worked at the slower paced world of the past – but now has them on the sick-bed, suffering from an organizational sclerosis that clogs up their ability to try to do anything new. Those very things which worked for them in the past might be the anchors that could now hold them back – as the future rushes at them with ever increasing speed. They are being challenged in a fundamental way by those who think big, and by some really big, transformative trends.

How to cope with accelerating change? In this keynote, Jim outlines his simple but transformative structure – think big, start small and scale fast! The new model for going forward in the era of accelerating change involves aligning yourself to the big opportunities of today – through bold, transformative thinking; the small scale steps that you can take today to align yourself to this future, and focusing on a culture of speed and agility that can help you to get there at the right time!

In this riveting keynote, Jim Carroll covers the major trends and opportunities that come from “thinking big, starting small, and scaling fast” – by addressing some of the fundamental changes that are underway. It’s based on his latest book of the same name.

ACCELERATING CREATIVITY: HOW TO RETHINK, REDO, REALIGN AND RETHINK YOUR FUTURE!
We will see more change in every industry in the next 10 years than we have seen in the last 100 – as transformation and disruption sweeps the world.

Every company is faced with the rapid emergence of new competitors, significant new business models, more challenging consumers, the acceleration of science, a race to the pricing bottom – and a transition to the speed of innovation that will define their future. How do you get ahead? By turning on your innovation engine, firing your creativity thruster’s – and strapping in for a rocket ride into your faster future.

Innovative organizations accelerate their creativity by turning their innovation engines upside down – focusing on customer oriented innovation and other unique models. They excel at sourcing ideas from the outside, turning that unique insight into fuel for their internal innovation factories. They challenge themselves on speed by getting into an iterative process of constantly rethinking, adjusting and redoing – in order to discover the next best thing. They challenge themselves on business cycles, time to market and more.

In accelerated organizations, partnership is a key focus, collaboration is critical, agility is oxygen – and imagination is relentless.

Launch yourself into the faster future with this unique, high energy keynote for global futurist, trends & innovation expert Jim Carroll!

The Lessons of Powerful Optimism: Rethinking the Future Right Now
We have seen more change in the last 5 years than we have seen in the last 100 – and yet there is so much more to come. But with economic, political, career and business model volatility all around us, it’s all too easy to fall prey to a swirl of negative thinking – with the result that you lose sight of the fascinating opportunities from what comes next.

The best antidote? An uplifting, hopeful and motivational view into the future with futurist Jim Carroll. In this engaging, humorous and yet powerfully refreshing keynote – he takes you on a tour of the trends which are reshaping our world in a great way.

A renaissance in thinking and imagination – enabled by 3D printing, advanced robotics and self-driving cars, space tourism, and concepts involving asteroid mining, vertical farming, and other fascinating trends. An era that provides opportunities for the transformation of entire industries – such as healthcare, retail, agriculture, sports and transportation through big bold thinking. The acceleration of ideas with scientific advancements that are allowing us to solve some of the biggest challenges of our time – having to do with education, the environment, energy and water. A generation of millennials – who know that it is a great time to think big ideas and do great things with their boundless enthusiasm and global awareness!

It’s time to turn your mind to the future once again, restore a sense of hope and optimism – and link yourself to the fast paced trends which energize your outlook on opportunity!

In this keynote, Jim takes you on a voyage to the future, and promises to leave you with a limitless sense of optimism and passion for what comes next!

DRIVING THE FUTURE – LINKING THE ACCELERATION OF GOLF TO THE SPEED OF BUSINESS
Is your corporate leadership meeting at a resort, with a little bit of networking on the side? As part of the event, do you need some unique business insight that will align with your overall theme? In Jim Carroll, you’ve found the perfect playing partner! He can provide you with a fascinating leadership keynote – to help your team or clients understand the accelerated future of disruption, challenge and opportunity! And as a 17 handicap, with a passion for the game – he can share his thoughts with you during your networking time!

The PGA of America, one of the largest working professional sports organizations in the world – has engaged Jim Carroll twice to help them align and adjust their focus to a fast paced future. A world that involves the 3D printing of customized golf clubs perfectly matched to a players stance. Course tee time yield management systems – that now rival in sophistication those of leading hotels and airlines. An industry in which GPS golf analysis technology such as GameGolf, fast-moving golf entertainment complexes such as TopGolf, and smart clothing technologies – are leading the game to new opportunities for growth. Social media posts involving Instagram stars and Youtube clips are leading to accelerated interest in the game. Forget the idea of golf being a slow moving, traditional game – it is being disrupted to its core and is being positioned for growth through a relentless drive for innovation and high velocity trends.

In this fascinating presentation, Jim Carroll takes you on a fast paced cart-ride of a voyage into the new realities of business – by carefully linking the accelerated trends impacting the traditionally slow game of golf to the new world of business. One that is driven by the acceleration of business cycles, chipped away by the constant arrival of new technologies and competitors – and carefully stroked to success through perfectly aimed strategies. Don’t miss the opportunity to hear this fascinating presentation, carefully customized for those attending your corporate leadership meeting.

WHAT DO WORLD-CLASS INNOVATORS DO THAT OTHERS DON’T DO?
Business model disruption. The rapid emergence of new competitors. The challenging impact of social media. Rapid prototyping and the global idea machine. The digitization of everything – and the impact of hyper connectivity. Rapid technological change. All of these trends and more – require that organizations pick up the pace when it comes to their innovation efforts.

They can do so by learning what the world’s leaders are doing with their innovation efforts. For over 25 years, Jim Carroll has had the opportunity to study what makes some organizations excel at the concept of innovation – while others do not. He has carefully catalogued their approaches, attitudes, leadership styles and strategies – into a concise overview that is the secret-sauce of innovative thinking.

World class innovators possess a relentless focus on growth, continually transitioning their revenue source – and solving customer problems before the customer knows it’s a problem. They focus on upside down innovation by sourcing innovation ideas through their customers. They concentrate on ingesting fast ideas; checking their speed and focusing on corporate agility – and focusing on long term wins through constant incremental improvements. They know that skills partnerships are a key success factor. Most importantly, world class innovators aren’t afraid to back away from big ideas – they know that right now is a great time to make bold decisions, and to take decisive advantage to forge aggressive new paths against their competitors.

While everyone else wallows in aggressive indecision and organizational sclerosis – world class innovators know that it is a great time to do great things!

In this keynote, Jim Carroll will provide you with unique insight into what these world-class organizations and high-caliber leaders are doing – to position themselves for a future in which the velocity of change is the new normal, acceleration is the reality, agility is the core, and adaptation is the necessity!

DISRUPTING AMAZON: ACCELERATING STRATEGIES FOR SUCCESS IN THE ERA OF INDUSTRY TRANSFORMATION
Amazon is the elephant in every industry room. They will challenge and disrupt your business model – and shake your belief in the future to the core. It’s better to disrupt yourself before you are disrupted!

Why not change that before it changes you? Don’t wait for Amazon to disrupt you – disrupt yourself and disrupt Amazon first! As we witness the Amazonification of industries, deep insight into this massive-but-cheetah-like-elephant is critical, a fast strategy is required. Futurist Jim Carroll has a key message: Don’t compete – transform! When Amazonian scale disruption occurs, you can’t hope to compete on price, the sophistication of the online interaction – or the other areas in which Amazon (and similar disruptors) clearly excel. You need a different proposition, different ideas and a different strategy. In many cases, this will come about through an implicit decision to compete based on the unique value you can bring to the relationship – service, support, personal interaction and other factors. In doing so, you specifically choose to not compete based on a race to the bottom and price.

Futurist Jim Carroll has headlined ‘Amazonification strategies’ – at a wide variety of corporate leadership meetings and association events in the medical, dental and veterinary industries; in the global optometric industry; in the agricultural dealer market, in the home renovation sector, and many more. He has provided deep insight on the transformative strategies and mindset that needs to be pursued.

The acceleration of disintermediation via Amazon is a cruel reality of our modern day world. Think about the business model of a group of agricultural dealers who sell products to farmers. The simplistic view is that they buy products from the manufacturer – and then sell them to the farmer, with an obvious markup in price. Amazon could do this (and will) with a more sophisticated online system – and avoid the cost of the markup, thereby offering a lower cost alternative. How to compete? Become an invaluable partner to the farmer in terms of advice, expertise and personal support for new initiatives, products and ideas.

In the era of Amazon, you can’t hope to compete on price – because you will watch your business disappear! Futurist and innovation expert Jim Carroll outlines the key trends, strategies and opportunities to be pursued in the era of Amazonian acceleration!

THE MASTERS IN BUSINESS IMAGINATION: MOTIVATIONAL GUIDANCE FOR THE ERA OF FAST!
In an era of dramatic and relentless change – people and organizations are scrambling to align themselves for a new, topsy-turvy world. Jim Carroll comes to the rescue with his keynote, The Masters in Business Imagination – that will inspire your team to adopt relentless creativity and innovation as core virtues. Once you ‘graduate’ from his MBI class – you’ll possess the skills common to this critical degree of the 21st century economy, by linking your initiatives to a carefully calibrated curriculum of change-oriented thinking.

MBI’s see things differently – they don’t look at things like most people. MBI’s spur creativity in other people – they inspire others to develop similar levels of imaginative thinking. They focus on opportunity, not threat – and realize that action, not inaction, is the driving force for the future. They refuse to accept the status quo and are prepared to eliminate habit. MBI’s bring big ideas to life – and paint pictures of where the organization is going to go, rather than focusing on where it has been in the past. They learn and unlearn, forgoing the dangerous assumption that what they know today will carry them into tomorrow. Most important of all, they refuse to say the word CAN’T. They know that barriers – perceived or otherwise, are simply temporary roadblocks they can get around with fresh insight, imaginative analysis, and creative thinking!

Fire up your enthusiasm, energy and innovation spirit with a unique motivational keynote by futurist Jim Carroll. “It’s time to move beyond the thinking that has led us to a world of MBA’s, Masters of Business Administration – and focus upon the critical skill that will take you into tomorrow. The world doesn’t need more administrators. It needs more MBI’s – Masters of Business Imagination!”