"The future rewards those who adapt under pressure, not those who break because of it" - Futurist Jim Carroll

Over the last five days, I’ve shared how we lead ourselves and our organizations through this moment of global volatility—one shaped by economic uncertainty, political instability, and cultural retreat from the future.

Beginning by reaffirming belief in progress, even when it feels stalled

Confronting fear with action

Challenging nostalgia with vision

Spotlighting innovation as the antidote to inertia

Emphasizing the importance of thinking across time horizons—managing today while preparing for tomorrow

But there's something deeper that sits underneath all of that: pressure..
That’s the real test—managing this moment. Keeping our heads on straight. Not letting the negativity consume us or define our future. If there’s one constant through every downturn, disruption, or crisis, it’s this: stress is the defining force of the moment. And how we respond to that stress—organizationally, personally, and strategically—determines whether we fall back, freeze up, or forge forward into what’s next.

That’s why today, it’s not just about planning for the future.

It’s about learning to adapt under pressure.

Every moment of disruption applies pressure. And pressure reveals everything. It reveals which organizations and individuals have foundations that flex, and which ones crumble. It reveals leaders who focus forward—and those who fold under volatility.

Right now, we’re not just navigating an economic downturn. We’re navigating a world defined by compounding stress—market stress, leadership stress, and system stress. But stress, when met with strategy, becomes fuel for the future.

I’ve written about this before: “It’s in our response to volatility that our future is defined.”

The most future-ready companies don’t panic. They channel pressure into progress. They don’t crumble under stress—they restructure, refocus, and realign. They transform pressure into precision—cutting noise, not capacity. They rethink agility, not just in structure but in mindset. They use stress as a forcing function—to do what needed doing all along.

My advice is clear: You don’t rebuild your organization for the next crisis. You rebuild during this one—for the world that follows.

Stress is unavoidable. But breaking is not.

**#Adaptation** **#Pressure** **#Resilience** **#Stress** **#Future** **#Crisis** **#Leadership** **#Growth** **#Strategy** **#Volatility**

Original post: https://jimcarroll.com/2025/04/decoding-tomorrow-your-daily-future-inspiration-the-future-rewards-those-who-adapt-under-pressure-not-those-who-break-because-of-it/

“The silencing of pro-Palestinian or anti-genocide voices is the reason why this genocide is still going on after 10 months.”
Ghassan Abu-Sittah, Rector of the University of Glasgow, 1 August 2024
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https://www.securityincontext.org/posts/hegemony-factories-or-independent-thinkers (source: [1])

It contains a HUGE misunderstanding:
"pro-Palestinian" and "anti-genocide" voices are two *VERY* different things.

Perhaps NOT from the PoV of Palestinians, but DEFINITELY from the viewpoint of most west-EU citizens, their media and their governments.

Sunday I joined a protest in Rotterdam that was announced as an emergy protest "do not let Gaza starve" (in Dutch: [2]).

However, *AGAIN* it was a *PRO-PALESTINE* protest (see the video I made in https://infosec.exchange/@ErikvanStraten/114291502939774579).

West-EU people, and possibly "their" think tanks, are made to believe that they have to choose between *either* Palestine *or* Israel to exist "from the river to the sea".

Enormously affecting western thinking, the Israeli propaganda machine does their utter best to continuously remind us of the Holocaust, and to make us believe that anyone who denies Israel from "defending themselves against terrorism" is a Holocaust-denier and/or an antisemite. Unfortunately, this *just works*.

On Dutch TV viewers are reminded of WWII *every day*. It simply is #Hasbara without viewers noticing it, and even the media fail to see their bias.

[Note: my grandfather, born in 1900, was a Jew. He was sent to nazi labour camps (instead of Auschwitz) because he was maried to a Dutch woman. His family was murdered by the nazi's. I do not hate non-Zionist Jews.]

Pro-Palestine demonstrations have been counter-productive from the start. If the most extremist arguments are not removed, like shouting "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free", I will remain one of the very few Dutch people who is willing to join such protests. And I'm getting tired, because it feels pointless.

IMO #FrancescaAlbaneseIsRight - but her PoV is considered to be too extremistic, in particular when taking into account the immense failure of EU-countries to protect Jews during WWII. It is why hasbara works so well (in Germany in particular).

The cold blooded execution of the rescue workers made it to the news on Dutch TV, but the murder of approx. 17,000 Gazan children and the starvation of 2 million hardly gets any attention.

If polarization is not reduced RIGHT NOW, the media will turn away again. In particular because this year it's 80 years ago WWII ended in NL (victim remembrance day is on May 4), the tone of the debate needs to change. NOW.

If not, 2 million Gazans will die.

[1] Bilal Barakat (@bifouba) in https://kolektiva.social/@bifouba/114302380048285492

[2] https://acties.todon.nl/event/noodprotest-laat-gaza-niet-uithongeren

@joenepraat : do you know how to get my message to the protest organizers?

@palestine