Welcome to the April issue of The Exponential Executive.

In this Issue

	You are the Future ... So Act Like It!
	Constant Disruption is Our New Reality
	Unlearn Your Position

In Other News

This past month I delivered keynote presentations at both the National Association of Supply Chain Drug Stores' annual meeting in Orlando and the Rocky Mountain Corporate Growth Conference in Denver. For a glimpse into what I was saying you can listen to either of these two interviews (here and here).

If you're interested in getting a peek at the future of the construction, health care, retail or utility industries, just click on the associated link.

Remember: You can also now follow me at Twitter.com/jumpthecurve.

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You are the Future ... So Act Like It!

With apologies to the 1980's one-hit wonder band, Timbuk 3, sometimes "the future is so bright, I’ve got to wear shades.” I’m positively optimistic about the future—and so should you.

Before I explain why, let me say that like many of you I’m not immune to the economic downturn. My speaking engagements are off for the year and I recently had a publisher renege on a signed book deal.

I remain optimistic, however, because I realize the future doesn’t just happen to us. It is not the economy; a lack of money; technology; President Obama; or any host of other factors that ultimately determine our future. The future is created by—drum-roll, please—us!

We are not passive bystanders to the future. We are active participants and it is through our actions that the future is created.

If you’re looking for some perspective and a good laugh watch this hilarious 4-minute video clip of the comedian Louis CK on the Conan O’Brien Show explaining why "Everything is Amazing, and Nobody is Happy.” For a more inspirational video I recommend this 12-minute presentation by Ulei Gegenschatz. It is a tribute to the human spirit and a testament to the heights we can soar to -- literally -- when we have the capacity to dream and the courage to act.

Constant Disruption is Our New Reality

John Seely Brown, John Hagel and Lang Davidson recently wrote an article entitled "The New Reality: Constant Disruption.” The basic premise isn’t new to anyone who has read Jump the Curve or The Singularity is Near , and that is that society is now headed into a new era whereby change (and economic disruption) is a constant and accelerating reality. This is replacing an era where disruption was followed by periods of stabilization. In other words, in the past, people, businesses and society had an opportunity to catch their breath and develop and orchestrate plans before the next new paradigm-shifting technological change arrived.  If you doubt this radical transformation is real, lets just use March 31, 2009, as a recent example. (To finish reading the whole article, click here.)
 

Unlearn Your Position

This past weekend I had the opportunity to watch an American film classic "12 Angry Men" with Henry Fonda. For anyone interested in unlearning, it is a great and entertaining tutorial.

My favorite scene occurs when one juror (Juror #11) decided to switch his vote from guilty to not guilty.

Here's his reponse to Juror #3 when he was angrily asked this question: "Look, you voted guilty. What side are you on?"

"I don't believe I have to be loyal to one side or the other. I'm simply asking questions."

The moral of the story? Don't let old, established loyalities get in the way of asking new -- and sometimes difficult and uncomfortable -- questions. Why? Because, as the previous post suggests, the future is unlikely to resemble the past and it will likely dismantle many of the assumptions upon which our existing loyalities were created.