The argument
Innovation is not a department and creativity is not decoration. Across the Daily Inspiration archive, Jim repeatedly treats them as organizational capabilities: ways of seeing, experimenting, learning, collaborating and moving.
This collection isolates one recurring dimension of that argument: Creativity And Imagination.
What keeps recurring
The posts below repeatedly return to several practical themes: ideas need permission and pathways; experiments should create learning; culture can either accelerate or suffocate possibility; outside knowledge matters; and speed without curiosity simply produces faster execution of old assumptions.
Archive evidence
2022-08-30 — Daily Inspiration: “Mastering the future? It’s more about awareness than it is about genius!”
“Mastering the future? It’s more about awareness than it is about genius!” - Futurist Jim Carroll I’ve spent a lot of time with the media over the years, and I was reminded of this on Saturday when I golfed with a fellow — and we realized that I actually wrote a regular column for about a year in a publication his wife managed way back in 1992! I’ve been on both sides of the media - newspaper columns for many years in national newspapers (the Globe and Mail and National Post), national radio shows (traditional radio as well as a show running on Air Canada’s in-flight network), and countless other magazine columns and articles.
2022-09-15 — Daily Inspiration: “If you can’t acknowledge your competition, you won’t acknowledge your future!”
“If you can’t acknowledge your competition, you won’t acknowledge your future!” - Futurist Jim Carroll In 1989, I was almost fired from my job for a global professional services firm as the result of a magazine cover story about e-mail featuring me. The other day, I noticed that my wife got rid of the mailbox at our front door - and with that, it’s the end of the era! The two stories are essentially interlinked, 33 years apart, and I share them below.
2022-10-27 — Daily Inspiration: “Milestones are valuable markers of progress made but also reminders of goals yet to be achieved!”
“Milestones are valuable markers of progress made but also reminders of goals yet to be achieved!” - Futurist Jim Carroll A few photos of my online career from the time I signed on in 1982, through the ’90s and ’00s, up to today’s stage work. hey, I still have hair! Yesterday was a big day, and while reminding myself for the last many months that the date was coming up, I almost missed it!
2022-12-30 — Daily Inspiration: “A little bit of inspiration never hurt anyone!”
“A little bit of inspiration never hurt anyone!” - Futurist Jim Carroll Why not start your day with a little bit of inspiration? I do! And in fact, this post today is #264 for the year, one for each and every workday - except for September 8, 2022 - the day Queen Elizabeth died.
2023-01-11 — Daily Inspiration: “It’s time to move from triage to tomorrow!”
“It’s time to move from triage to tomorrow!” - Futurist Jim Carroll Next month will mark 3 years since individuals and organizations began to go through the largest disruption they will ever know. With lockdowns, a staggering loss of human life, work-from-home, and the rapid emergence of a digital lifestyle and e-commerce infrastructure - we all had to learn to adapt quickly. As I close out this series of 23 Trends for 2023, I’ve been thinking long and hard as to what the final, all-encompassing trend should be; to be honest, I’ve had several.
2023-02-28 — Daily Inspiration: “Judge your success by what you actually do. Not just by what you plan to do!”
“Judge your success by what you actually do. Not just by what you plan to do!” - Futurist Jim Carroll You know you’ve got a problem but you don’t fix it. You there are opportunities but you don’t chase them.
2023-06-06 — Daily Inspiration: “You’ll never get to the future if you never attempt the future!”
“You’ll never get to the future if you never attempt the future! ”- Futurist Jim Carroll If you are into that type of thing you might have tuned into Apple’s WWDC event yesterday to get a first look at their new VR/AR headset - or, what they are calling their new spatial computing device. And if you are like me, you would have been pretty shocked by the price at $3,499 (or about $5,000 Canadian, my home country.) You would have been really disappointed in the tether wire necessary for longer-lasting battery power.
2023-10-23 — Daily Inspiration: Innovation and Culture - “Give yourself permission to try new things!
“Give yourself permission to try new things!” - Futurist Jim Carroll My wife and I attended the Celebration of Life for the father of one of our good friends at our ski chalet, Cedric Gyles. Although we only briefly met the man once, we knew that the relationship that our good friend John had with his dad was special and that this was a significant loss; we thought it important that we show John and his wife Jane our respect by attending. We ended up with so much more than we expected, learning more about a man who did justice to the phrase ‘a life well lived.’ My good friend Scott Kress, who we also ski with, commented: “When you read his ob
2023-12-01 — Daily Inspiration: 24 Strategies for 2024 #5 - “Elevate your enthusiasm!”
“Elevate your enthusiasm!” - Futurist Jim Carroll Futurist Jim Carroll is running a series that began November 27, 2023, and will end on January 1, 2024 - ‘24 Strategies for 2024.’ Rather than running a trend series for the upcoming year as he has previously, this series will examine a number of his personal beliefs on how to best align yourself with the future. There will be a post each weekday, excluding weekends and holidays, until the series runs its course. You will find it on his blog at https://blog.jimcarroll.com, or on the website https://2024.jimcarroll.com For all the whining and complaining of those around you, it’s a great time t
2023-12-18 — Daily Inspiration: 24 Strategies for 2024 #16 - “Fail at fewer first impression failures”
“Fail at fewer first impression failures” - Futurist Jim Carroll Futurist Jim Carroll is running a series that began November 27, 2023, and will end on January 1, 2024 - ‘24 Strategies for 2024.’ Rather than running a trend series for the upcoming year as he has previously, this series will examine a number of his personal beliefs on how to best align yourself with the future. There will be a post each weekday, excluding weekends and holidays, until the series runs its course. You will find it on his blog at https://blog.jimcarroll.com, or on the website https://2024.jimcarroll.com The people you meet are often not who you think - we all suff
2023-12-22 — Daily Inspiration: 24 Strategies for 2024 #20 - “Honor every learning curve”
“Honor every learning curve” - Futurist Jim Carroll Futurist Jim Carroll is running a series that began November 27, 2023, and will end on January 1, 2024 - ‘24 Strategies for 2024.’ Rather than running a trend series for the upcoming year as he has previously, this series will examine a number of his personal beliefs on how to best align yourself with the future. There will be a post each weekday, excluding weekends and holidays, until the series runs its course. You will find it on his blog at https://blog.jimcarroll.com, or on the website https://2024.jimcarroll.com As we head into the Christmas break, I wanted to wish everyone both a wond
2024-01-02 — Daily Inspiration: “10 Great Words for 2024”
“10 Great Words for 2024 - Explore, Imagine, Embrace, Challenge, Strategize, Create, Defy, Avoid, Persevere, Do!” - Futurist Jim Carroll Happy New Year! Keeping up with a tradition that began back in 2006 - starting each year with ‘10 Great Words’ - here’s what I’m thinking for 2024! I had a little bit of fun this year, in that I used an AI to help generate the list; I had it read through the 279 Daily Inspiration posts I wrote this year, analyzing them for the most common words and themes that I used throughout 2023.
2024-01-15 — Daily Inspiration: Healthcare and the Future - “You can always look forward by looking back!”
“You can always look forward by looking back!” - Futurist Jim Carroll “16 years ago, Futurist Jim Carroll spoke in Washington DC on the future of healthcare. He challenged the audience to think about what the world of healthcare would look like one day in the future - picking an arbitrary, random date of January 15, 2020. Now, 16 years later, take a look at how he did with his predictions!
2024-03-04 — Daily Inspiration: Frogs in Texas - “Have you ever thought that perhaps you have been looking in the wrong direction, at the wrong time, at the wrong threat?”
“Have you ever thought that perhaps you have been looking in the wrong direction, at the wrong time, at the wrong threat?” - Futurist Jim Carroll It’s book week! Each day, a post involving one of my books! That’s because there are TWO big milestones this week.
2024-03-06 — Daily Inspiration: Skills & Reinvention - “Every failure is in reality a critical step in a successful reinvention!”
“Every failure is in reality a critical step in a successful reinvention!” - Futurist Jim Carroll It’s book week! Each day, a post involving one of my books! Today, my biggest book failure!
2024-10-07 — Daily Inspiration - Creativity & Innovation : “See differently and you’ll innovate brilliantly!”
“See differently and you’ll innovate brilliantly!” - Futurist Jim Carroll Most people see a ketchup bottle. Creative people see trends & innovation! Last week, I spoke at the Manufacturers Association for Plastic Processors conference in Indianapolis; my topic was the impact and opportunity of artificial intelligence technologies in the manufacturing industry.
2024-12-31 — Daily Inspiration: 25 Things for 2025 – #24: “Be spectacularly misfocused and gloriously distracted!”
“Be spectacularly misfocused and gloriously distracted!” - Futurist Jim Carroll Futurist Jim Carroll is writing a series, “25 Things I’ve Learned That Will Carry Me Into 2025.” He is putting this together based on his 30-year career as a futurist, trends, and innovation expert, advising leaders of some of the world’s most prestigious organizations on how to align to a faster future. He intends for the series to provide valuable guidance to others eager to learn how to move through a year that promises to be volatile, unpredictable, and full of uncertainty. Each day, the post goes out on multiple mailing lists, social media networks, and to th
2025-05-09 — Decoding Tomorrow: Your Daily Future Inspiration - “While others wait for normal, the bold invent what’s next.”
“While others wait for normal, the bold invent what’s next.” - Futurist Jim Carroll Know what you don’t know about tomorrow. Find out what you need to know. Know it.
2025-05-23 — Decoding Tomorrow: Your Daily Future Inspiration – “You can escape the mediocrity you once embraced, but will you ever fully eradicate it?”
“You can escape the mediocrity you once embraced, but will you ever fully eradicate it?” - Futurist Jim Carroll It’s been a wild voyage bringing these two books to print in just a few months, and I’m loving the feedback and comments from those who have picked up copies. (Are you in? You can grab copies at the Mediocrity website !) But while working on them, I’m always thinking.
2025-05-29 — Decoding Tomorrow: Your Daily Future Inspiration – “There is no shortage of big opportunities.. There is a shortage of bold leadership!”
“There is no shortage of big opportunities.. There is a shortage of bold leadership!” = Futurist Jim Carroll One of my fellow futurists recently included this line in a post I read - “We should be pulling more photons from the sun.” He wrote it as an observation when he was flying into an American city, and saw an absolute dearth of solar panels on the roofs of homes and buildings. Solar energy - the infrastructure at least - has become desperately cheap and tremendously productive, and we are missing such a big opportunity.
2025-09-23 — Decoding Tomorrow: The Way Forward: #1 Manufacturing - “The most valuable part of a modern manufacturing operation is the part you can’t see: the algorithms that optimize flow, the data that predicts failure, and the agility that makes the entire process intelligent.”
“The most valuable part of a modern manufacturing operation is the part you can’t see: the algorithms that optimize flow, the data that predicts failure, and the agility that makes the entire process intelligent.” - Futurist Jim Carroll In September 2025, the headwinds are severe, and the path forward seems shrouded in fog. We’re living through one of the most volatile and unpredictable periods in recent memory. With that being the case, I am writing this new series, The Way Forward: A Trends and Transformation Series, taking a look at the trends redefining industries, and actionable strategies organizations must pursue to align to these real
2025-12-11 — Decoding Tomorrow: Mastering 2026 – #16 Scale-blindness: “Your brain is built for addition. The future is built on multiplication.”
“Your brain is built for addition. The future is built on multiplication.” - Futurist Jim Carroll When exponential change arrives, it never goes well. That’s because most people fail to understand what it means and don’t act, which is a problem.
2025-12-12 — Decoding Tomorrow: Mastering 2026 – #17 Unapologetic Uniqueness: “Always remember that conformity is where tomorrow’s greatness goes to die.”
“Always remember that conformity is where tomorrow’s greatness goes to die.” - Futurist Jim Carroll I’ve long suggested that one of the best ways to align with the future is through this thinking: when everybody is running one way, run the other way! Be the contrarian. The hole in the bucket, the square peg with a bunch of round holes, the one who says “why not?’ when everyone else is saying ‘why?’ We are on Day 17.
2025-12-22 — Decoding Tomorrow: Mastering 2026 – #23 Algorithmic Partnership: “Don’t ‘learn’ AI. Redesign your personal productivity around it.”
“Don’t ‘learn’ AI. Redesign your personal productivity around it.” - Futurist Jim Carroll Like it or not, you will have to learn to live with “The Machine.” We are on Day 24. You have the radar (Day 21), the open road (Day 22), and many principles I’ve shared before that.
Leadership implication
The useful question is not whether an organization claims to value innovation. It is whether its structures make it easier to notice ideas, test them, learn from them and scale what works.
Strategic question
What in our current operating system makes a good idea more likely to survive? What makes it more likely to die?