Where are you skating?

Wayne Gretsky is credited with saying that "he skates to where the puck is going to be, not where it

is." I understand Steve Jobs loved to quote this passage as a product development principle. The simplicity of the principle masks the complexity in the vision required to know where the puck is going to be, but none the less the passage speaks volumes to me.

For example, I recently licensed a patent on vertical search technology from the University of Kansas. At the signing, I was asked what I thought was the current market for the technology. I replied, paraphrasing only a little, that the current market was zero. Nada.

Product development, even personal development, requires a forecast of what the future looks like 5 years out. Then you develop your products or your personal skills to match the future landscape. You must plant the seeds for the future to reap the rewards.

My vision is that search technology will be disrupted again by search agents working from images, e.g. photos from smartphones, rather than search terms. And that explains my interest in licensing the KU search technology.

Make your forecast for 2020. How are your building skills and products for the 2020 landscape?

For me, I am skating to where the puck is going to be too.

Webtalkwithbob.