A typology of futurists

September 30, 2011

I had the pleasure, recently, of collaborating with five other futurists at a 2-day workshop. We had a superb time and I am sure we delivered a ton of value to our client, who has taken up a significant new strategic exploration. Spending time with my colleagues, some of whom I have known for years, [...]

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Simple triage to keep sane while scanning

September 21, 2011

If you work at anticipating and understanding the future, you are in a permanent, 24/7, 365 day-a-year environmental scan. It's what you do, on the job or off.  But that means endless opportunity to distract yourself, if you are doing a good, broad scan of lots of sources of information. That kind of scan, done [...]

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I am a futurist. Leave off the quote marks!

September 15, 2011

Please don't put quotes around the name of my profession. And don't make the air quotes with your fingers, either. Futurists are bona fide experts in exploring change, and we give our colleagues and clients enormous value. –>A futurist is the person who helps you think past what's in your inbox, right now –>A futurist [...]

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How to work your way past your thinking blockages

July 14, 2011

"The real barrier to strategic innovation is more than denial – it’s a matrix of deeply held beliefs about the inherent superiority of a business model, beliefs that have been validated by millions of customers; beliefs that have been enshrined in physical infrastructure and operating handbooks; beliefs that have been hardened into religious convictions; beliefs [...]

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Don’t be a sheep in wolf’s clothing

July 1, 2011

If you say you are going to take a look at the future, you should mean it. Far too often, organizations put together a program called, "The future of ____________" But then they build something that is, at best, about what's going on today. That's a missed opportunity and it's false advertising! I have just [...]

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A view of the future has to speak to today

May 24, 2011

To be useful, a vision of the future has to speak to today. It has to help you decide on things to do right now. Savvy foresight clients always say to me that they need the "what for" in the work we do for them. They mean, they want insights and help figuring out what [...]

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50+@Work, part 2

May 24, 2011

Three scenarios for 2020 A core part of our focus on “50+@Work,” is a set of 2020 scenarios that explore a range of possible ways employers may be handling older workers in the near-term future. Each is highly plausible, and our 2020 situation may, in fact, be a blend of the three, depending on the [...]

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5 critical things in foresight

May 20, 2011

What you must have for success in foresight: A purpose — Why are you exploring the future? The answer will guide what you do, and how you do it A mindset — The future matters, there are alternative possible futures, and we need to think new thoughts and make new connections to be successful A [...]

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Real change is a changed mind

May 19, 2011

I've shared my thoughts on "Getting beyond the low-hanging fruit" lately in several forms (see Here and Here), and I use my model for that with clients all the time. It's about taking the vision, leadership, and often courage to make substantial changes to the systems we are a part of: products, processes, organizations, and [...]

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50+@Work, part 1

May 18, 2011

Changing how we think about older workers People have trouble imagining the lives of people 65+ including ongoing, meaningful work. That is despite plenty of examples of happy, vital, productive older people. And it’s probably true even for a lot of people in range of that age—they accept the conventions in society that say when [...]

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