"When the world slows down, winners speed up" - Futurist Jim Carroll
Here’s the truth: downturns don’t slow the future. They compress it.
They intensify it. They accelerate it.
When the world slows down, winners speed up. Downturns don’t delay the future—they accelerate it.
With that being the case, speed isn’t reckless. In a recession, it’s your superpower. That's because, during a downturn, it’s not just the ideas that matter, it’s how fast you move on them.
In times of uncertainty, there’s an instinct to slow down. Pause. Delay decisions. Wait for clarity.
But history—and recent experience—shows that’s exactly the wrong move. When the environment slows, the smartest companies speed up.
We just witnessed that reality on a global scale in the last few years as the pandemic took hold. If you think back to those first few months, the fact is we compressed ten years of change into just six months. Retailers became digital-first overnight. Healthcare embraced telemedicine in an instant. Manufacturers pivoted supply chains on a dime.
So what happened that allowed for this? Major trends accelerated as organizations learned something new about speed! Agility and flexibility became critical because business models shifted faster. Customers changed quickly as people became more adaptable to new interaction methods! Overall, corporate cultures that were once used to working slowly had to embrace speed - with the result that the attitude ‘it can’t be done!’ disappeared, decision-making paralysis disappeared, the slow structure was put under a microscope, old barriers to new ideas disappeared, and "get it done" became the rallying cry!
It was a fascinating time since it showed what true organizational agility looks like. Necessity didn’t just breed invention—it demanded acceleration. The rallying cry wasn’t “What if?” It was: “What’s next—and how fast can we make it real?”
That wasn't an isolated circumstance though, because history shows that speed wins in uncertainty. Research from multiple downturns tells the same story: Resilient companies move faster. They make bolder decisions. They simplify governance. They respond rapidly to cost shifts and market shocks. They act while others analyze. They reorganize for velocity and enable frontline decision-making. They accelerate when others stall.
Ask yourself:
- are we simplifying decision-making to increase speed?
- are we empowering teams to act in real-time?
- are we using volatility to break down bureaucratic barriers?
- are we rewarding speed of learning over perfection of planning?
Because one thing is certain: the winners of tomorrow are already moving faster today.
#Speed #Acceleration #Resilience #Agility #Opportunity #Future #Decisiveness #Momentum #Crisis #Velocity
Original post: https://jimcarroll.com/2025/05/decoding-tomorrow-your-daily-future-inspiration-when-the-world-slows-down-winners-speed-up/
WIST Quotations Has Moved!
Futurist Jim Carroll
Futurist Jim Carroll
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