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The Best Way To Predict The Future Is To Invent It.

By Ken Stewart on September 21, 2008

Penned by computer scientist, Alan Kay famously said,

The best way to predict the future is to invent it.

Invent the future? Wow, I’m not entirely sure whether that is pompous or prophetic! However, it was just what I needed to hear.

Have you ever been searching for an answer and stumbled across a chorus in a song, a letter from a friend, or a verse of scripture that caused a light-bulb moment? Well, that just happened to me as I was browsing through my feeds on FriendFeed when I happened across a small post that I almost scrolled past by Louis Gray on the democratization of data over at Google’s Blog.

As I stare down the barrel of some personal adversity and unexpected changes within my own life, this statement spoke to me like few others I have come across in the recent past. While I no longer hold with the notion that I can create my own destiny, perhaps another quote by Randy Pausch sums up my outlook:

Be prepared. Luck is truly where preparation meets opportunity.

Be prepared.

Notice that small statement ends with a period – not a comma, hyphen or exclamation point. It is a binary statement, as you either are or are not. There is no middle ground here, folks!

I have been warned… and now, so have you. Always be vigilant and do not allow yourself the luxury of complacency.

Ken Stewart’s blog, ChangeForge.com, focuses on the collision between the constantly changing worlds of business and technology. Ken is also the Director of Technology at Kearns Business Solutions.


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Ken Stewart

People-focused, business-minded, technology-savvy leader who likes to ask: "Why?"

  • You are completely right! I completely agree that, the best way to predict the future is to invent it!! I am kind of following the same strategy, thanks.
  • Thanks for stopping by, Kiteboarding.
  • I couldn't agree more, Ken...

    That's why I said, "Be prepared. Luck is truly where preparation meets opportunity." It was a real debate as to whether I should have retitled the post actually ;-)
  • kallan
    Tēnā koe Ken!

    I am in six figure agreement here. But . . .

    In the futuristic world of opportunity, it's how you are prepared that's the key. Unfortunately in education today, there is a deal of weight given to the 'just in time' approach to teaching and learning. I have often wondered if that approach is education, for it's certainly not training.

    Many educators have quoted the mantra, "education is knowing what to do when you don't know what to do." It sounds conundrumish, but one can almost separate the yoke fom the chicken. But how do you predict the outcome before you pull the wishbone?

    In any path where the result has two outcomes it is conceivable that two contingency plans can be arranged - in part, this is like predicting the future. As the number of outcomes increases for any given path, the array of contingency plans required can become unwieldy, especially if the possible future conditions are vague or completely unknown. This is where training starts to wear a bit thin and there is more reliance on the initiative of the travellers who have to know what to do when they don't know what to do.

    Ka kite
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