Curated Quote Redux - A great quote about the future!
“We should try to be the parents of our future rather than the offspring of our past” —Miguel de Unamuno (1864-19) Spanish essayist, novelist, poet, playwright, and philosopher
As a futurist, I have seen many quotes about the future and think that this one is the absolute best. We should all focus on parenting our future rather than being the children of our past. With CEOs I have paraphrased this to state: You should try to be the parent of the future of your business rather than the offspring of your business’s past.
One of the key concepts in my speaking and writing is the concept of Legacy Thinking. [There is a column in the archives about this] Legacy thinking is thoughts from the past, such as “we have always done it this way” “our company was founded in 1903” in business. As people we often lean on legacy thinking as a way to navigate life. The teams we root for as adults are often the teams we rooted for as children. The definition of what a good time is in one’s 20s may still be held as the definition on one’s 40s as the past is driving us forward.
The future starts in the now. The future starts today. If one is being an offspring of one’s past, it will be hard for that individual to parent the future, as she is living in the past with her thoughts and therefore actions.
I think that you will find a reason to soon use this quote. If you want to learn more about Miguel de Unamuno, please go here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miguel_de_Unamuno
There is an interesting side-story to this quote. The Spanish empire was winding down in the latter part of the 19th century. There was a great sense of loss and retreat that the Spanish people felt. It was to this sense of loss that de Unamuno spoke these words to his nation.