May I offer some bad advice about the future?
At times, it seems repetitive to tell people how to look at the future. In many ways, like golf, it’s a simple process you must practice. No shortcuts. Giving the same advice time and time again can feel like a nag.
However, how about giving people bad advice they can ignore? This is a new pedagogical approach, one I am working on for my next book. The power of negative thinking!
I am partially inspired in this effort by this all-too-true blog post on how to lose wars American style.
If you really want to lose a war, follow these easy steps:
- Underestimate the enemy.
- Avoid learning anything about the enemy.
- Explain the invasion to the American public in simple moral terms suitable for middle-school children at an evangelical summer camp.
- A misunderstanding of military history helps. Besides, comprehension would only lead to depression.
- Do not forget that a military’s reason for existence is to close with the enemy and destroy him. An army is not in the social-services business.
- Intellectual insularity should be a primary goal, as it avoids distraction.
- Keep up to date with the latest nostrums and silver bullets. Organize your military as a lean, mean, high-tech force characterized by lightning mobility, enormous firepower, and extraordinary unsuitability for the kind of wars it will actually have to fight.
- It is a good idea to bracket your exposure. Be ready for wars past and future, but not present.
- Insist that the US military never loses wars. Instead, it is betrayed, stabbed in the back, and brought low by treason.
- Avoid institutional memory. Not having lost of course means that there is nothing to remember.
Mindset is more important than capital, more important than information.
Comments
About Eric Garland
Eric is one of the world's pre-eminent thoughtleaders in forecasting and strategy. He helps leaders of business and government make critical decisions about their futures.About Dan Vecchi
Dan Vecchi is the director of economic risk analysis for Competitive Futures. He helps leaders examine their investments in countries around the world, exploring future options and ensuring profitability in the years to come. He speaks natively fluent English, Spanish, Italian and works regularly in South America as well as Europe.New project: Manufacturing 2020!
Competitive Futures is
proud to announce a new research project on the future of manufacturing in North America through 2020. Download a prospectus today and learn where to invest for the next decade.Connect with us
Read Future Inc.
Learn
a time-tested, profitable method of discovering business opportunities in the future with Eric Garland's groundbreaking Future Inc: How Businesses Can Anticipate and Profit from What's Next, available at Amazon and fine independent booksellers.
