Articles

“Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or to take arms against a sea of troubles and by opposing, end them.” Imagine, if you will, a dark and stormy night. Terror crackles or rips, or snaps through the streets like a live wire. Panicked voices cry from every corner. Newscasters with shaky voices urge the public to remain calm, to no avail. Then out of the darkness, with flashing eyes and gnashing…

By: Joana Lenkova During the Warring States period (475-221 BC) in Chinese history characterized by perpetual wars between divided states, strategists offered advice on how to conduct war, receiving payment for their services. These first strategy consultants were a group of traveling philosophers inclusive of people such as Confucius and Sun Tzu. Today in strategy, we often use the metaphor of war quoting Sun Tzu. However, “The Art of War” was written 2500 years ago and while the statements might…

“What problem are you solving?” The question is so important because of the big world problems that each and every one of us must address such as climate change, economic inequality and population displacement. However, it’s also a question for the hoard of tech-crazed unicorn chasers who are creating the next wave of supposedly indispensable gadgets. Are they solving problems, or creating solutions where no problems exist? The definition of success in the land of technotopia certainly feels a little…

In this vlog, Kedge Founder and The Futures School Co-Founder Frank Spencer discusses the need to go beyond data and “plausible futures” in order to create transformational change and aspirational futures.

When doing this for a Future of Work project, I was able to identify multiple key points that struck me as being critical for setting us up for success in the face of the the ambiguous challenges of the future.  

Developing and executing business strategy, products and innovative ideas in our current environment demands new approaches and mindsets. Linear methods that rely solely on the extrapolation of historical results are completely ineffective as technological advancements, economic uncertainty, and increased systematic risk become the new normal. To effectively drive understanding, performance, and execution of strategic initiatives, organizations must think and act in “simultaneous multiples” – pressure-testing their strategies in diverse operating environments. 

The Futures School Co-Founder Frank Spencer explains the concept of Creative Complexity, and why it’s critical to good foresight, innovation, strategy and organizational development.

Mashups result from the creative blend of two or more songs, overlaying lyrics from one hit onto the instrumental beats of another.

Public libraries have long been considered to be on the brink of irrelevancy and extinction, fending off assertions that Google would replace librarians – the original “search engines” – or that eBooks would replace print books. Thus, it’s easy for the technophiles to imagine that libraries as “repositories” would no longer be necessary. Nevertheless, libraries were fundamentally designed to evolve and transform into places and platforms of innovation and collaboration. What sets libraries apart from most organizations and institutions is…

Marty Vanags, President of the Saratoga Partnership, and Tim Giuliani, President and CEO of the Orlando Economic Partnership share both a common purpose in pioneering the transformation of the economic development field, and a passion for creating the future. As TFSX Alumni (Marty – Denver 2017 and Tim – Orlando 2018), they began building a collaborative partnership founded on their common purpose and passion shortly after meeting one another through the TFSX Alumni Network Group. Vanags, Giuliani and one of…