The concept
The rate at which useful knowledge is created, updated, distributed and made obsolete.
Why Daily Inspiration matters to the lineage
A named concept rarely arrives fully formed. Daily Inspiration gives us dated evidence of the language, examples and applications surrounding the idea as it developed.
The entries below are not presented as proof that every use is identical. They are a concept genealogy: places where the underlying thought appears, is tested, is applied to a different context, or becomes more explicit.
Evolution through the series
2019-06-03 — Daily Inspiration: “You need to deliver knowledge … that doesn’t exist .. and do it yesterday!”
“You need to deliver knowledge that you aren’t yet aware of, for jobs that don’t yet exist, to a group of people who don’t know that they will need it. And you need to do it yesterday!” - Futurist Jim Carroll I’m in New Orleans this morning and will deliver the opening keynote for the annual Career Education Colleges & Universities annual conference. The quote pretty well sums up my keynote and captures the essence of the issues the education industry faces today.
2020-01-14 — Daily Inspiration: “When pessimists prevail, accelerate your ideas!”
“When pessimists prevail, accelerate your ideas!” - Futurist Jim Carroll Have you ever noticed that you are often surrounded by negative people? They’re everywhere! And for ever silver lining, they see massive rainfall.
2021-05-20 — Daily Inspiration: “‘Just-in-time knowledge’ - your ability to access the right knowledge, at the right time, for the right purpose - will be the key to your more complex future!”
“‘Just-in-time knowledge’ - your ability to access the right knowledge, at the right time, for the right purpose - will be the key to success in your more complex future!” - Futurist Jim Carroll Flashback - I’m on stage on this day in 2015 to open a meeting for the global human resource leadership executives for Honeywell. My focus was on emerging skills and HR trends in the aerospace, materials science, and building technology industries. Like most others, each of these industries face major skills challenges in a world of relentless, accelerating change.
2021-08-12 — Daily Inspiration: “Faster knowledge obsolescence. The rapid emergence of new knowledge. The disappearance of existing careers, and the rapid emergence of new careers. THIS is the future of skills!”
“Faster knowledge obsolescence. The rapid emergence of new knowledge. The disappearance of existing careers, and the rapid emergence of new careers.
2022-06-07 — Daily Inspiration: “The most important skill you should develop is the ability to continually master new skills!”
“The most important skill you should develop is the ability to continually master new skills!” - Futurist Jim Carroll I spoke to several hundred CIOs - Chief Information Officers - for community colleges at a dinner talk last night. The goal was to cover the future of education - but I didn’t talk about that! I spoke instead about the future of careers and knowledge - because that will define the future of education!
2022-08-11 — Daily Inspiration: “Everything you know is instantly, suddenly obsolete!”
“Everything you know is instantly, suddenly obsolete!” - Futurist Jim Carroll Let’s consider skills and knowledge. I purchased one of the very first internet-enabled thermostats almost two decades ago, long before they became mainstream as Nest or ecobee devices. I always took great delight in telling the story on stage when my HVAC contractor came into our house for the installation, looked at it, and said “Wow, this is kind of complicated.
2022-12-12 — Daily Inspiration: “It used to be about what you know. Now it’s not only about what you know, but how fast you need to know it!”
“It used to be about what you know. Now it’s not only about what you know, but how fast you need to know it!” - Futurist Jim Carroll The acceleration of knowledge - the impact of trend #8 of my “23 Trends for 2023” will continue to be one of the most defining trends that organizations will face in the year to come - particularly as they continue to try to manage the impact of trend #9 - faster work back pushback! Knowledge velocity?
2022-12-13 — Daily Inspiration: “It’s probably a good time to accept the fact they aren’t coming back!”
“It’s probably a good time to accept the fact they aren’t coming back!” - Futurist Jim Carroll It’s all about trying to get people back to the office! But many of them don’t want to come back - freedom, once attained, is always fought hard for. That’s why trend #9 of my ‘23 Trends for 2023’ - the issues that executives and companies need to watch for - is Entrenched Workback Pushback.
2023-11-29 — Daily Inspiration: 24 Strategies for 2024 #3 - “Be furiously focused, but gloriously distracted!”
“Be furiously focused, but gloriously distracted!” - 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) There’s a lot of new stuff.
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.
2025-06-30 — Decoding Tomorrow: 30 Megatrends - #5 Knowledge Acceleration: “It’s not what you know - it’s knowing what you need to know, and knowing how to know it!”
“It’s not what you know - it’s knowing what you need to know, and knowing how to know it!” - Futurist Jim Carroll For those of you who are fans of whom we have come to call “Little Guy,” here’s the essence of today’s post. The longer version? Knowledge has a rapidly shrinking half-life; the volume of knowledge is now doubling at a furious pace.
2025-08-20 — Decoding Tomorrow: Your Daily Future Inspiration - The Future of Work: “When your canaries flee, it’s a sign your innovation oxygen is dying.”
“When your canaries flee, it’s a sign your innovation oxygen is dying.” - Futurist Jim Carroll As CEOs rush to get their people back to the office, they are forgetting one key thing: the best ones aren’t excited about coming back to widely dysfunctional organizations. And since they have the skills that are needed the most, they’ll choose who to work for, where they’ll do the work, and the corporate ‘culture’ they’ll choose to subscribe to. In other words, the CEOs still aren’t necessarily in charge.
2025-11-17 — Decoding Tomorrow: Daily Inspiration – “Invest in your next future, not your previous one!”
“Invest in your next future, not your previous one!” - Futurist Jim Carroll Too many people live for yesterday, today, instead of living today for tomorrow. Think about that. You know it’s true if you can go through this list of the 10 we make when we invest more in “yesterday” (the past) than in “tomorrow” (the future).
2025-12-01 — Decoding Tomorrow: Mastering 2026 – #8 “The greatest risk today isn’t the speed of change: it’s your failure to pick up your pace.”
“The greatest risk today isn’t the speed of change: it’s your failure to pick up your pace.” - Futurist Jim Carroll We are on Day 8. You’ve committed to the pivot (Day 7). Now, you have to run.
What the lineage shows
Across these dated receipts, knowledge velocity belongs to a recurring way of thinking about adaptation: notice change early, challenge inherited assumptions, learn through action and build the capacity to move before circumstances remove the choice.
Strategic question
Where does this concept show up in our own operating model, and what evidence would tell us it is becoming more important?