Editor’s Note: As many of you know, I have been doing a good deal of “soul” searching and reflecting this past year. As a result, my thinking is changing, morphing and, I feel, growing. To this end, I intend to add two new components to my regular “Friday Future 15” newsletter. The first is called “Thought Leadership.” In this new section, I intend to share new ideas which may spark a thought in you. Lao Tzu once offered these wise words: “Watch your thoughts, they become your words; Watch your words, they become your actions; Watch your actions, they become your habits; Watch your habits, they become your character; Watch your character, it becomes your destiny.” It is my hope that by offering a new, fresh, unique and, perhaps, wise thought, we can move ever more swiftly in the direction of a better destiny.
The second new category is called “Thoughts from Beyond.” I have said it before, but I am convinced the future will increasingly be influenced and governed by spiritual thoughts–not just the “hard” trends of technology, economics, politics and demographics. In this new category of “thinking,” I intend to offer thoughts inspired, shaped and informed by my faith. (I don’t expect everyone to share my faith and it is not my intention to use this newsletter to evangelize, I simply want to share my whole self–heart, soul, spirit and mind–with you.)
Thought Leadership: “Larry Ellison’s Bid to Change Farming Has Been a Bust.” Unfortunately, this link to the Wall Street Journal article may be behind a paywall. The gist of the article is that Larry Ellison’s (He is the CEO of Oracle) efforts to transform agriculture through artificial intelligence, data, sensors, robotics, and various other vertical farming technologies have proven less-than–successful. This does not mean that he and his company, Sensi, will never be successful. It does suggest that farming and technology may be a less-than-perfect fit. If Ellison wishes to be successful, I encourage him and his team to look into regenerative agriculture. They may also want to explore biodynamic farming. The reason I suggest the latter two ideas is because much of the 140-square-mile island Ellison is seeking to develop was rendered “largely inhospitable to commercial farming” by its previous owner (Dole had a pineapple plantation on the island for about 100 years). My point is this: Ellison and his team should keep exploring technological solutions but may also want to try working with nature and, in the case of biodynamic farming, working in harmony with the water, soil, insects and pollinators.
Think the Unthinkable: I am neither an economist, nor am I a financial advisor; so please take my advice with these caveats in mind. I am a futurist and it is my responsibility to help you think better about risk and uncertainty. To this end, I believe Walmart’s recent news about slowing earnings, Warren Buffett’s decision to hoard cash, the rapidly growing national deficit (interest payments on the national now exceed spending on national defense), the $1 trillion in debt consumers owe on their credits, as well as the large labor force reductions at Google, Starbucks, Salesforce and Meta, do NOT bode well for a continued bullish stock market. (Of course, I may be wrong so consult your financial advisor before doing anything!) It is, however, the latter news–the layoffs–which most concerns me. I believe these laid off workers were mostly middle managers whose jobs and tasks have now been replaced by AI. As the middle class shrinks, the stock market could very well shrink with it.
Think Again: Don’t think the advances in artificial intelligence are moving fast? I encourage you to spend 90 seconds watching this video. The idea that AI agents are “speaking” to one another with no human intervention is both exciting and terrifying.
Think Harder: Last week, I meant to share this article about the latest advance in quantum computing. This week, the Wall Street Journal ran a good primer on quantum computing and two things caught my attention. First, this week the CEO of Microsoft said this: “Imagine a chip that can fit in the palm of your hand yet is capable of solving problems that even all the computers on earth today combined could not.” Well, I can imagine that. Here is also what I can imagine: That same technology could render encryption as we know obsolete. If encryption is obsolete, that means our computers, banks, and utility grids are very exposed to risk. One real-world scenario: Bitcoin may grow to $1 million in value by, say, 2030. In 2031, Bitcoin could drop to zero because the digital infrastructure upon which it relies has been hacked. Forewarned is forearmed.
Thinking About Leadership: Personally, I like this definition of leadership from Seth Godin: “Making good decisions with and for a group of people who believe us is called leadership.” It is, of course, not the perfect definition, nor is it even a complete definition; but Godin’s definition hints at this idea: Trust will become an even more important component of leadership in the future. My question to you is: Are you developing and building that trust within your team, organization or company? The world is moving fast and if you don’t have it, your future may be unnecessarily rocky.
Thoughts from Beyond: Four years ago, I wrote this article: The Key to Unlocking Your Soul. I posted it on Medium because I did not want to share “spiritual” thoughts on my professional website or newsletter. Well, I now do and hope a few of you may find some value in my thoughts.
Afterthought: “Perhaps the most important single factor will be a spiritual regeneration to develop goodwill, faith and understanding among nations.”–General George C. Marshall upon the acceptance of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1953 for his efforts on behalf of “The Marshall Plan.”
