"Consistency is only a virtue if the path is still relevant." - Futurist Jim Carroll
Here's something you already know: doing the same old thing puts you on the road to the same old destination.
Keeping that in mind, here are some simple rules to avoid consistency:
- Don’t wait for clarity because speed is the only certainty (we don't know where we're going, but we're making great time)
- Don’t fear the pivot because the straight path is extinct (volatility is the new normal!)
- Don’t ignore the rebels because they see what you’re missing (think about that one - you know it's true!)
- Don’t rely on your history because it won’t write your future (legacy is a death sentence)
- Don’t prioritize your process because the world prioritizes your progress (be creatively disorganized)
- Don’t mistake activity for achievement because movement isn't always forward (invest in free time)
- Don’t wait for clarity because speed is the only certainty (jump without knowing!)
- Don’t fear the pivot because the straight path is extinct (change yourself already!)
- Don’t seek the 'perfect' plan because agility beats perfection every time (you can't plan in a fast future)
- Don’t build for today because tomorrow is already here (live forward...)
- Don’t settle for the comfortable because growth only happens in discomfort (comfort zone stuff)
How do you do that?
- Abandon the roadmap - it was made for a different time
- Abandon your assumptions - because they are already anchors
- Abandon the tried and true for new things
- Abandon perfection because mistakes are your new knowledge opportunities
- Abandon yesterday’s logic since it is now basically tomorrow's illogical foundation
- Abandon the status quo because it's already obsolete
- Abandon what you know to find what you don't know
- Abandon the safe plan for the risky unknown
- Abandon the analysis and go with your gut
- Abandon what you've already done to find what you need to do next
What's the phrase we often hear? I heard it in a song yesterday while driving: "Today is only yesterday's tomorrow.' It's from Uriah Heep, a great 70s band.
Rethink it: "Tomorrow is yesterday's missed opportunity" if you don't change things up!
Futurist Jim Carroll has seen many companies fail at innovation because consistency is central to their culture.