Creating Foresight Fueled Action: Sahana Chattopadhyay
Foresight is a global practice, with communities across the world. The latest episode of our Creating Foresight Fueled Action series – connecting TFSX principal Frank Spencer in Florida with speaker, writer, systems thinker, and pattern seeker Sahana Chattopadhyay in Mumbai is evidence of this global reach. In their insightful and profound conversation, Frank and Sahana discuss the essence of community, leadership, and the imperative of embracing “pluriversal” perspectives. Sahana draws from her corporate community management experience, emphasizing that authentic communities…
Ten Tips From Disney’s (Ex) Futurist
As Disney’s futurist, and in the decade following my tenure with the mouse, I’ve successfully championed foresight efforts across corporate, non-profit, and governmental sectors. This real world experience is woven throughout our custom client engagements, as well as in our capacity building and certification programs. If I had to boil these 25+ years of experience into a more digestible “top 10” list, this would be the result! 1. Ask for forgiveness, not permission I’ve seen so many foresight efforts stall…
In Our Futurist Eras
Unless you’ve been living under a rock recently, you’ve experienced the Taylor Swift Effect. Between her album re-releases (Taylor’s Version), her NFL take-over (she put Travis Kelce on the map), and, of course, her record breaking Eras Tour (now a feature film), there’s been no escaping Tay-Tay’s impact. What you may not know, unless you’re a die hard Swiftie, is that her sold out concert takes fans through a tour of all of her past album releases, or “eras.” (Even…
My Futurist Era: Nicole’s Version
Chapter One – Dancing on my own, I make the moves up as I go My foresight journey began on a Marley dance floor. While I studied dance formally throughout my entire young life, I never felt like I really fit the mold of a traditional dancer. I wanted to bend differently, respecting my technique while ultimately telling an immersive story to the audience in a way that felt fluid and organic. Two milestones finally made me feel validated that…
My Futurist Era: Frank’s Version
Chapter One – I Was a Teenage Sci-Fi Geek The year was 1979, about 10 years before the birth of Taylor Swift herself, and I was building my own back-yard special effects department (better known as the family garage) where, along with a gang of after-school make-up artists, set designers, monster creators, shoe-string FX developers, and week-end model makers (better known as my elementary school friends), we created the world’s greatest Super-8 sci-fi and horror films (according to the unbiased…
My Futurist Era: Yvette’s Version
Chapter One – This is life before you know who you’re going to be Every famous artist can look back at the “before times,” representing their lives prior to their big break. Similarly, futurists can pinpoint a “before foresight” and “after foresight” in their own timeline. I find it interesting, however, to reflect on my past self and recognize all of the underlying futurist traits and behaviors I demonstrated while being blissfully unaware that the field of foresight even existed. …
Emily In Paris: Exploring Liminalities With The World Futures Studies Federation World Conference
This October, I had the incredible opportunity to attend and speak at the WFSF’s Global Conference in Paris. Although I had previously attended several smaller foresight events, this was my first time experiencing such a large collection of futurists from around the world. It was an absolutely incredible experience in which I had the opportunity to learn and speak with some amazing people. Here are my takeaways from the event: The Best Conversations Would you like to be immortal? Several…
Tool Spotlight – Futures Wheels: Reimagined!
Futures Wheels are simple. In the center of the tool is the issue to be explored, surrounded by a series of concentric circles that increase in time further away from the subject. The exercise begins with identifying immediate consequences that result from the initial issue. Each ring that follows is further out in time and includes consequences of the ones before, like ripples from a pebble in a lake.
Creating Foresight-Fueled Action: Sophie Howe
Former Future Generations Commissioner for Wales, Sophie Howe, shares her vision with TFSX Co-Founder Frank Spencer in this latest installment of Creating Foresight-Fueled Action. Her “Manifesto for the Future” proposes bold ideas like universal basic income to tackle the challenges of an aging population in a changing economy. Sophie believes embedding a foresight culture is key to driving progress. She states that we must nurture a system where leaders can lift their heads above today’s crises to envision – and…
Tool Spotlight – Level Up Your Scanning
What Can Crime Investigations Teach Us About Futures Intelligence? What does hunting for a killer have in common with hunting for signals? I’m so glad you asked! If you’ve watched any crime dramas or murder mystery flicks then you know the fearless detective always ends up standing in front of an evidence board, meticulously stretching yarn across push pins, noting connections between seemingly unrelated data points. https://vimeo.com/870049103/a0e8e8c1d0?share=copy With images, notes, and headlines connected with string or yarn, these visual collages…
