One to One with Bill Goodman:
Ed Barlow
premiered September 30, 2007
On this edition of One to One, host Bill Goodman talks with Ed Barlow, president of Creating the Future Inc., a company designed to give professionals a better understanding of future influences on their businesses.
Barlow, who has held executive positions in health care, business, and higher education, delivers his vision of the future in keynote speeches, think-tank discussions, seminars, and strategic planning activities. His study of long-term trends includes the examination of upcoming changes in technology, communication, pressure on natural resources, and the diversity of populations. For example, Barlow urges people to consider how Kentucky’s emerging Hispanic population will change the way they do business.
He also argues that in order for America to continue to compete on an international level, students must learn the cultures and languages of the populations with which they will eventually be living and doing business. He proposes that some of the most important languages for U.S. students are Spanish, Mandarin Chinese, and Arabic. The school system, Barlow says, must be willing to change its traditional methods and expose students to these languages through new classes, distance learning, or even self-instructional products supervised by a teacher.
