What’s going to change in the next 10 years?

Jeff Bezos would like to know…

After our last post on technology, Big Boss sent me a truly amazing quote by Jeff Bezos.

Enter Jeff:

“I very frequently get the question: ‘What’s going to change in the next 10 years?’ And that is a very interesting question; it’s a very common one. I almost never get the question: ‘What’s not going to change in the next 10 years?’

And I submit to you that the second question is actually the more important of the two — because you can build a business strategy around the things that are stable in time. …

In our retail business, we know that customers want low prices, and I know that’s going to be true 10 years from now. They want fast delivery; they want vast selection. It’s impossible to imagine a future 10 years from now where a customer comes up and says, ‘Jeff I love Amazon; I just wish the prices were a little higher,’ [or] ‘I love Amazon; I just wish you’d deliver a little more slowly.’ Impossible. And so the effort we put into those things, spinning those things up, we know the energy we put into it today will still be paying off dividends for our customers 10 years from now.

When you have something that you know is true, even over the long term, you can afford to put a lot of energy into it.”

Boom. You can instantly see how much easier it becomes for Amazon to pick the technologies that will drive their future.

• Should we invest in drones?
• Build fully automated storage spaces?
• Make a mobile, blockchain-driven, IoT-supported social network of quantum computers? Hmm…

If you know what will not change, you might be able to get something right on things that will change.

Why am I telling you this?

Coincidentally — this is also the reason why I believe in looking for timeless pieces of wisdom.
In an ever-changing world, you can run crazy with every trend… Or focus on principles, and build your way up from there.

I think this is powerful advice for people who work in industries that are being “disrupted” (yes I said it) or are disrupting others themselves. Might also be helpful for young people who still have no clue what they really want to do with their life — like me. :)

Have a great week!
Gilles & Thomas

Why Timeless?

As you may know, we’re trying to find and preserve truly valuable content on the web. The first blog post gives some more context on the idea of an open database of “wisdom”. In short: we’re trying to separate the signal from the noise on the web. We’re not looking for the next hype or trend; we’re looking for principles that can be applied in many different circumstances.