Futurist Jim Carroll<p>"Don't try to get back to normal. Get better at what's next!" - Futurist Jim Carroll</p><p>One thing that strikes me about these times is that I see a lot of people saying that they can't wait for things to get back to normal.</p><p>Me too.</p><p>But there is a trap in this thinking: the new normal won't be the same as the old normal. While you are busy waiting to get back to it, 'it' will have changed.</p><p>This means we need to confront a fundamental truth about how we navigate disruption, uncertainty, and the accelerating pace of change that defines our era. That's the key theme I've been capturing in my new book 𝐷𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑅𝑎𝑖𝑛. I just read the latest version of the manuscript yesterday after the edit by my wife and business partner, and I must say it's pretty good! </p><p>What became apparent is that this concept of 'getting better at what's next' has emerged as one of the central themes found within its pages. Here are some foundational ideas from the book that illuminate why this mindset is so critical:</p><p>Nostalgia is a sedative, not a strategy: I point this out: "Nostalgia is a powerful drug. But nostalgia is not a strategy. It's a sedative." Clinging to what once was prevents you from moving forward.</p><p>The familiar is actively failing all around us: Old industries are dying, old skills are becoming irrelevant, old knowledge is going out of date, and old jobs are disappearing. This means returning to old ways is not a viable option.</p><p>The future arrives regardless of our readiness for it." It "does not wait for comfort" and "does not slow down in a recession - it speeds up." Tomorrow is going to happen - will you be part of it?</p><p>Crises reshape the ambitions of winners: Recessions and disruptions are not the time to shrink your ambition. They are a time to reshape it. They force a focus on "what could be."</p><p>Growth stems from disruption, not past optimization: Growth does not come from optimizing what used to work, it comes from disrupting it! Organizations must "redesign, not refine" and "reinvent, not recover."</p><p>Right now, this philosophy matters more than ever. Accepting that change is constant and focusing on future improvement, helps you to build resilience.</p><p>"Getting better at what's next" inherently demands innovation.</p><p>---<br>𝐽𝑖𝑚 𝐶𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑙𝑙 𝑖𝑠 𝑎 𝑓𝑢𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑡, 𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑛𝑛𝑜𝑣𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑡, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑢𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑢𝑝𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑏𝑜𝑜𝑘 “𝐷𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑅𝑎𝑖𝑛.” 𝐻𝑒 ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑝𝑠 𝑜𝑟𝑔𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑧𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑛𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑔𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑟𝑢𝑝𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑓𝑢𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦</p><p>**<a href="https://mastodon.futurist.info/tags/Change" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Change</span></a>** **<a href="https://mastodon.futurist.info/tags/Future" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Future</span></a>** **<a href="https://mastodon.futurist.info/tags/Innovation" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Innovation</span></a>** **<a href="https://mastodon.futurist.info/tags/Adaptation" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Adaptation</span></a>** **<a href="https://mastodon.futurist.info/tags/Progress" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Progress</span></a>** **<a href="https://mastodon.futurist.info/tags/Resilience" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Resilience</span></a>** **<a href="https://mastodon.futurist.info/tags/Growth" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Growth</span></a>** **<a href="https://mastodon.futurist.info/tags/Transformation" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Transformation</span></a>** **<a href="https://mastodon.futurist.info/tags/Evolution" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Evolution</span></a>** **<a href="https://mastodon.futurist.info/tags/Forward" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Forward</span></a>**</p><p>Original post: <a href="https://jimcarroll.com/2025/06/decoding-tomorrow-your-daily-future-inspiration-resilient-leadership-dont-try-to-get-back-to-normal-get-better-at-whats-next/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">jimcarroll.com/2025/06/decodin</span><span class="invisible">g-tomorrow-your-daily-future-inspiration-resilient-leadership-dont-try-to-get-back-to-normal-get-better-at-whats-next/</span></a></p>