Deep in my heart, I feel like a rebel. I am a very well-behaved rebel and I comply with laws, rules and social conventions. But deep down, I feel waves of resistance to the way things are, the way things are supposed to be, the things we are supposed to believe in and strive for.
My career journey has been all over the place, from financial services in a corporate setting, to working with entrepreneurs, to my own franchise outlet, to training and professional speaking, teaching social media, working with associations and now investing myself in future thinking.
My neater title is that I am an International Futurist Keynote Speaker and Workshop Leader, but we will know that behind a neat title is years of experimentation and a messy, although very interesting journey.
So how do I reconcile future thinking with being a rebel? Maybe I should start with what is ‘futures thinking’? We all think about the future but many of us think about it in a way that says “I wonder what is going to happen next”. A futurist is a person who says “Let's apply these models of thinking and determine the most likely course of the future, and if we don’t like that, let's change things now so that we can end up somewhere different.”
While I am a professional futurist, I believe that we are all natural futurists and that we can become better with some intention and learning.
When I see how many people are anxious about the future, worrying about their jobs, their livelihood, their children’s education, as well as all the big issues like politics, invasions, the environment, then I get frustrated that we don’t have more access to futures thinking.
What is future’s thinking?
Future’s Thinking is an established academic discipline, closely aligned to, or often referred to as Strategic Foresight. We know about strategic thinking, but strategic foresight means that we are approaching our thinking about and planning for the future, in a strategic way.
Multinationals and governments often make use of futures thinking models and tools in their planning for the future, but these tools are often presented in a way that seems inaccessible to smaller organizations and individuals.
My goal is to make futures thinking accessible to everyone. Everyone should be able to tap into these models and see how they work, and how flexible they are.
From how we raise children and prepare their education, through our own careers and businesses, to preparing for our own retirement, futures thinking has tools we can use. Those same tools can be used to prepare for the future of a company, a club or non-profit organization, or a local municipality.
So what is this rebellious streak of mine? It is to take these ideas, this futures language, these mindsets, toolsets and skillsets and put them into the hands of anyone who wants them. I want to see children taught futures thinking at school. I want to see small businesses use these tools to create more robust businesses. And I want to see people who are invested in professional development, tap into this language to become more valuable to their clients or employers.
The 4 Steps to a Futures Plan
Where do we start?
Step 1 - Gather intelligence. The first step is discovering that futures thinking exists. Become aware of how you think and speak about the future. Look for people writing about trends and drivers of change. Explore what is happening in your business sector in other parts of the world.
Step 2 - Manage change. Know that change is inevitable, it is messy, it is often unexpected but you can anticipate that change of some kind will happen. Explore your own reactions to change and see if you embrace it or resist it and find better ways to respond.
Step 3 - Describe the future. Define your ideal future, for yourself or for your organisation. Then outline a worst case scenario. Picture a world where there are even more challenges than today. Deal with the inevitable emotions that will rise up from both of those scenarios, and after the motions, start making some logical plans in case you need to use them.
Step 4 - Test your plan. Explore how you will respond to the future you have outlined and then test whether your plans will get you to where you want to go, or help you avoid the problems you don’t want.
Those four steps, as simple as they are, are the foundation for any futures plan. Of course you may want to develop this further, but this will be where you start. Join me for an expedition into the future!