Futurist Jim Carroll<p>Megatrend **#30** - The Acceleration Paradox: "As change accelerates exponentially, our challenge is to steer this incredible power toward a more humane and hopeful future, rather than increasing the destructive impacts we've seen so far!" - Futurist Jim Carroll</p><p>(Futurist Jim Carroll is writing a series on 30 Megatrends, which he first outlined in his book Dancing in the Rain: How Bold Leaders Grow Stronger in Stormy Times. The trends were shared in the book as a way of demonstrating that, despite any period of economic volatility, there is always long-term opportunity to be found. The book is now in print - learn more at dancing.jimcarroll.com)</p><p>We live in a time of incredible promise and yet one of terrible peril.</p><p>We are the most advanced species we have ever been, and yet, we are ultimately capable of not living up to the demands for success that history places upon us.</p><p>It seems that we are failing the test.</p><p>As someone who has built his career on. The issue of speed - how leaders can align to it, companies can adapt to it, and people can respond to it - I thought it fitting that the final megatrend in my series should have to do with this issue. Right now, accelerating technological change is reshaping our world, creating unprecedented progress and fueling significant societal instability and risk. The coming decade will intensify this trend, demanding we adapt to steer progress and manage systemic risks.</p><p>So what's it all about? The world is changing at an unprecedented pace, a phenomenon I call the Acceleration Paradox. We are witnessing not just incremental progress but an exponential surge in technological capabilities that presents both incredible opportunities and profound challenges. Put it another way, we're doing well at discovering new things, but aren't good at dealing with the reality of those things. Your PDF for the full report is here.</p><p><a href="https://pdf.jimcarroll.com/Megatrend30-TheAccelerationParadox.pdf" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">pdf.jimcarroll.com/Megatrend30</span><span class="invisible">-TheAccelerationParadox.pdf</span></a></p><p>We are, as they say, living in the best of times, but doing our best to make it the worst of times!</p><p>Let's start here by considering just a few of the things around us that keep moving faster, and then consider how it is all going off the rails as entire nations turn their back on the promise of tomorrow.<br>Read the full post.</p><p>---</p><p>Futurist Jim Carroll has focused on the issue of 'speed' in many of his books: The Future Belongs to Those Who Are Fast; Thing Big, Start Small, Scale Fast; and Ready, Set Done. Even his book, What I Learned from Frogs in Texas, featured a quirky story of what happens when you don't align yourself with the speed of change.</p><p>**<a href="https://mastodon.futurist.info/tags/Acceleration" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Acceleration</span></a>** **<a href="https://mastodon.futurist.info/tags/Paradox" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Paradox</span></a>** **<a href="https://mastodon.futurist.info/tags/Technology" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Technology</span></a>** **<a href="https://mastodon.futurist.info/tags/Change" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Change</span></a>** **<a href="https://mastodon.futurist.info/tags/Innovation" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Innovation</span></a>** **<a href="https://mastodon.futurist.info/tags/Progress" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Progress</span></a>** **<a href="https://mastodon.futurist.info/tags/Disruption" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Disruption</span></a>** **<a href="https://mastodon.futurist.info/tags/Future" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Future</span></a>** **<a href="https://mastodon.futurist.info/tags/Adaptation" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Adaptation</span></a>** **<a href="https://mastodon.futurist.info/tags/Speed" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Speed</span></a>**</p><p>Original post: <a href="https://jimcarroll.com/2025/08/decoding-tomorrow-30-megatrends-30-the-acceleration-dilemma-as-change-accelerates-exponentially-our-challenge-is-to-steer-this-incredible-power-toward-a-more-humane-and-hopeful-future-rather/" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">jimcarroll.com/2025/08/decodin</span><span class="invisible">g-tomorrow-30-megatrends-30-the-acceleration-dilemma-as-change-accelerates-exponentially-our-challenge-is-to-steer-this-incredible-power-toward-a-more-humane-and-hopeful-future-rather/</span></a></p>