Leaders who practice foresight stay ahead of the innovation curve

Leadership qualities tend to be timeless. It’s why we look back through history at the esteemed individuals who led successful businesses, governments and social initiatives. The thinking goes that, if we can emulate these trailblazers, we will be successful leaders too.

If all constraints were removed…

the year of free is over but Our mission remains In 2022 we launched a grand experiment, granting free tuition, access, and inspiration for the entire year. By all measures, the Year of Free was an unbelievable success, with our community growing and more individuals gaining the skills and mindsets to create more equitable futures. But all good things must come to an end, right? As its name declared, the YEAR of Free was always meant to have a specific…

4 Ways The Future Will Surprise You

Do you love or hate surprises? Is your love language an unexpected gift or do you start distributing your prioritized Amazon wish list well in advance of your birthday?   If you enjoy being surprised, you probably embrace uncertainty and are open to considering different possibilities for the future. But if surprises make you cringe, then the future can seem unsettling. We live in a volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) world that will be full of surprises IF we don’t…

Reflections from our Inaugural Transformations Retreat

It was here in Bell Valley that team members from The Futures School gathered in the Fall of 2022 with fourteen brilliant and kind individuals for a truly unique experience based on rethinking, redefining and reframing foresight for broad-based prosperity, emerging consciousness and cocreation of transformational realities. We called this retreat Transformations of Natural Foresight®.

Not Just Competitive Intelligence, but Futures Intelligence

VUCA—volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous—is an acronym coined by the U.S. military to describe the geo-political environment after the Cold War. Today, business leaders have adopted the term to describe their Monday mornings.

We don’t talk about futures…no, no, no

Foresight Lessons from Disney’s Encanto Surely by now you’ve watched or at least heard of the new Disney animated film, “Encanto.” Having been quarantined over Christmas with my 14-year old, I had the pleasure of experiencing the tale of the Madrigals, an enchanted family from Colombia, more times than I care to admit. Due to my repeated viewings as I sheltered in-place on the precipice of COVID’s two-year anniversary, I couldn’t help but draw parallels between one of the movie’s…

“Say Goodbye to Frank and Yvette”​

“Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.” T.S. Elliot A growing body of research suggests that our playgrounds are too safe. Apparently, giving children the ability to fail and recover builds not only resilience, but creativity and overall health. It may seem counterintuitive, but consider that if we don’t allow kids the opportunity to push the boundaries on their abilities (to “test the fences,” if you will), then when they…

Foresight = Data + Intuition + Research + Creativity

In a recent Forbes article, Industrial and Organizational Psychologist, Sesil Pir, toutes why foresight is a critical skill set for all 21st century leaders. “We never experienced the volatility, ambiguity and complexity in managing all of our tasks. It is no secret we all struggle to find the capacity to meet different demands in our roles and have a growing need to be able to think and decide more holistically.” We could not agree more with Pir’s statement. We need…

It’s Time To Drop The F-Bomb On Culture

We know what you’re probably thinking: “Wow! Quite the title for a post. They went for it,” or “These guys have finally lost it… they’re nuts!” Well, we might be nuts. But that’s not the point. The point is that it’s time to f_____ culture. Of course, we’re not referring to any group’s national or societal culture. Rather, we’re talking about the system of shared values, beliefs and assumptions that governs how people behave within a company. You know, the…