MEGA MIND

John Naisbitt was the guy who authored books such as Megatrends, Megatrends 2000 and High Tech High Touch among others. John's ability to describe future scenarios is amazing and extremely interesting since most came to pass. His work sparked my interest into scenario planning and such. Over the weekend I finally read his book Mindset that has been on my bookshelves for some time (14 years). I must have missed it somehow. It's still relevant and made sense. Here are the 11 to help us "see" the future:

1. "While many things change, most things remain constant" - same same but different and change is the only constant.

2. "The future is embedded in the present" - start from where you are, you can already see where things are going, eg demographics, etc.

3. "Focus on the score of the game" - keep an eye on key measures, sector performances, new / dead industries, etc.

4. "Understand how powerful it is not to have to be right" - a relief since most get it wrong anyway, but do try.

5. "See the future as a picture puzzle" - connect different/random thoughts and see where the story leads.

6. "Don't go so far ahead of the parade that people don't know you're in it" - don't go all crazy.

7. "Resistance to change falls if benefits are real" - benefits drive opportunities for change.

8. "Things that we expect to happen always happen more slowly" - speed of change can take time, no pressure.

9. "You don't get results by solving problem but by exploiting opportunities" - kinda related to 7.

10. "Don't add unless you subtract" - don't go all over the place, think about limits / consequences.

11. "Don't forget the ecology of the technology" - everything is connected / ecosystem.