“It is difficult to make predictions, especially about the future.”
— Popular quote attributed to a Danish philosopher.¹

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This is 2015. It is a momentous year for many reasons, not the least of which is that it is the very year that is celebrated by the greatest time travel movie series of all time — Back to the Future. That series starred Michael J. Fox as Marty McFly and Christopher Lloyd as Doctor Emmett Brown.

In the movie, Back to the Future Part II, Marty, and his future wife Jennifer, are taken from 1985 by Doc Brown in a flying DeLorean car — turned time machine — to October 21, 2015. In that movie, we saw several manifestations of what people of 1985 predicted would be around in 2015.

Well, as another old saying goes, “The future ain’t what it used to be.”²

As a journalist and professional speaker, I’m amazed at how what we thought could be feasible in 1985 is quite different today. I’m also amazed at what they got right.

What Back to the Future Part II, Got Wrong

Flying cars. This is the first one that people mention. Peter Thiel said, “We thought we’d have flying cars. Instead we ended up with 140 characters.” Well, we actually do have flying cars. Check out the Terrafuga, www.terrafugia.com, and the AeroMobil, www.aeromobil.com. It’s just that these cars are not as commonplace as we saw in the movie.

Abolished lawyers. Doc Brown said that the justice system was swift in 2015 because they had abolished all lawyers. I’m sure those facing trial will appreciate having a good lawyer in their corner.

No mention of the Internet. This is their most glaring oversight in my mind. Even Bill Gates didn’t see this one coming back in the 1990s. The Internet has changed our world more than any single force. Embrace it. Learn what you can do with it. Leverage it. I predict it will stick around for a while!

No mention of social media. Of course, this is a cheap shot. How could anyone in 1985 know that networks like Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin and others would so dramatically change how business is done? That is just the point. There will probably come many other developments that we can’t predict. Stay nimble. Keep learning. Be open to whatever might happen and learn how to help others with it. You’ll do pretty well with that strategy under your belt.

Inside-out pants. Doc Brown said that kids in the future wear their pants inside-out. Well, I haven’t seen much of that, but I hear some wear their pants way too low! Hopefully that will change with time.

Faxes in our homes. When Marty’s boss wanted to fire him, he sent a fax to Marty’s home. Somehow, the Internet eliminated the desire for fax machines!

What Back to the Future Part II, Got Right

There will still be rascals out there. Griff (Biff’s grandson) caused Marty McFly and his 2015 son lots of grief. Be cautious but always professional.

Knowing what to do is important. Knowing what not to do can be more important. Doc Brown knew to avoid “at all costs” some events and people. He was (is) a wise man.

You gotta’ take action. Knowing what to do (or not do) is nice, but nothing happens in any time line unless you take the right kind of action based on knowledge. In the movie they had Gray’s Sport Almanac that had all the scores for college and professional sports games from 1950-2000. We don’t have the 2000-2050 version of Gray’s Sports Almanac handy (If you have a copy, please scan and send me a PDF!). However, we can predict that there will be some absolutes for us to succeed.

Keep learning. Yes, our world is changing and we can’t rest on what worked yesterday.

Stay connected. Success in business is and always will be about relationships. Stay in touch and use e-mail, video, and whatever necessary to stay in touch. Hey, if you can get one of those floating “hoverboards” to travel and visit, go for it!

Back to the Future Part II — What Could Still Happen

I had to smile when I saw the man in the town square of Hill Valley (the mythical California town where the movie is set to happen) say that the big news is that the Chicago Cubs win the World Series. As of this writing, that is still technically possible. I’m sure that MANA President, Charley Cohon, would be happy about that. Best of luck, Charley, to you and all the Cubby fans!

When Doc, Marty and Jennifer jumped into the DeLorean to leave 2015, the time machine meter showed their destination time to be October 21, 2015, at 7:28 p.m. (California time, of course). Who knows what will happen at that moment?

What I can predict is that the future does look good. I like the way the late, great professional speaker, Jim Rohn, said that the future is full of possibilities, with lots of challenges (I’m paraphrasing here). You can make your future today. I don’t think we have that DeLorean (yet) to take us into the future, or the past. However, we have the Internet. Plan for the future and keep checking reality.

The future looks very good. Happy flying to you! As Doc Brown said as he launched the DeLorean to head from 1985 to 2015, “Roads? Where we’re going, we don’t need roads.”

¹ http://quoteinvestigator.com/2013/10/20/no-predict/Quote on “Difficult to make predictions, especially about the future.”

² http://quoteinvestigator.com/2012/12/06/future-not-used/Quote — “Future not what it used to be.”