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The Flaws in Demand & Supply thinking
Let me start by saying that my Masters of Science qualification is NOT held in economics and…
Cultured Meat’s potential for energy and water reductions
Below you’ll find this afternoon’s discussion with ABC Darwin radio in which host Vicki Kerrigan chats with…
Speaking of the Future at the World Futures Conference
Continuing the futures discussions on ABC Darwin Radio, this time with Paul Dale who is filling in…
Getting Your Future Right
My slides from today’s presentation on ‘Getting You Future Right’ can be found at the link below…
The Future of You Part 2
Here’s the upload of my conversation with Vicki Kerrigan at ABC Radio Darwin. In it I offer…
The future of… You
Futurist Marcus Barber will be joining ABC’s Vicki Kerrigan in Darwin for the first of an ongoing…
Innovation in Manufacturing – there really IS a Future! But action needs to happen NOW!
The panel session at the National Manufacturing Week 2011 went well though with four of us on…
Building on Innovation for a vibrant and sustainable future – a focus for future manufacturing
On Thursday I’ll be part of the panel that wraps up the National Manufacturing Week 2011 in…
What Australia Can learn from Finland’s Education System
There’s lots to like about borrowing ideas from other areas especially where those ideas can lead to…
The role of Environmental Scanning in planning departments
Environmental Scanning (ES) is the process of paying attention to the world in which you operate in…
What Victoria can learn from Western Australia’s weather
When it comes to water management, there’s something of potential value that Victoria could learn from Western…
What natural disasters tell us about societies
The natural disasters we’ve seen recently around the world have shown us much about the communities in…
What to do when phone lines go down
Hi everyone – a quick note to let you know that our phones lines have been down…
Can GM Foods feed the world?
ABC journalist Adam Stephen interviews Marcus Barber on the subject of GM foods and whether they might…
A Vision for Australian Manufacturing
South East Business Networks, the City of Greater Dandenong’s longest running business development program, is an exceptional…
What to do When a Policeman loses touch with Humanity?
Today some friends are burying their father who died last week after his health took a sudden…
Could Yasi be worse than expected?
Cyclone Yasi heads towards Queenslands North East coast this morning with significant concerns for residents. There is…
Getting Customer Service Right – EastLink – International Year of Solutions
As promised, the wash-up to my experience with the toll-road operator Eastlink and what I regard as…
Once the Floods are Over, then what?
The floods are under way throughout the majority of Queensland and now into northern New South Wales…
Futurist calls 2011: International Year of Solutions
Reckon it’s time we had a focus on getting things done and so I am declaring 2011…
Customer Service – why the future is BEGGING you to get it right today
Another stream of consciousness on the customer service theme that I come back to frequently. If you’ve…
Active TV slowly emerging
A shift is underway in television in Australia and it has nothing to do with digital versus…
Do fairytales come true?
That will be the question many will be asking leading up to the replay of the AFL…
A quick plug for Google Chrome
Being someone who questions the value of technology before climbing on board, I’ve been perhaps a tad…
What Businesses can learn from Tourism (and vice versa)
In preparation for work with a couple of clients in the past fortnight I’ve had to throw…
Why who the next Prime Minister is might be of little importance
Whilst the counting of votes is over the election is yet to be completed. Right now the…
May we get the Goverment we both deserve AND need
If you’ve seen any of the media campaigns for the Australian Federal Election you could have come…
Is Mainstream media a reliable guide to the 2010 Australian Federal Election?
If you’ve been following any of the mainstream media election coverage here in Australia (stuff in the…
‘Us’ or ‘Them’ – how to tell the customer they are irrelevant on your website
This great little cartoon/graphic says it all and although looking at the subject of Universities, there is…
Preparing for your future corporate strategy
A series of recent activities has me writing on the idea of ‘future strategy’ and how different…
The Crisis of Capital
Stephen Downes is one the handful of bloggers I follow consistently. I do so because Downes (unlike…
Catching Up on some ‘Light Reading’
Coming off what has been undoubtedly my busiest period (3 months) in the past decade, I’m in…
Nanotechnology Moves from idea to Application
Every now and again you have an opportunity to listen to some rare insights to an industry…
Another side to the Super tax on Mining
The ‘Supertax’ debate is an interesting one and as expected, both parties are heavily invested in their…
Design Thinking as a Competitive Advantage
As more organisations look to gain an understanding of how to both identify and prepare for their…
Surviving the Hoons
One of the current affairs TV programs did a story recently on the efforts by NSW police…
Hamilton Hoons and Five more die
Lewis Hamilton, the former automotive Formula One ‘number one’ had his car impounded on Friday night for…
The Future of Australia’s Dairy Industry
Following on from the highly rated ‘Skimming the Cream’ forum in Brisbane on the 9th of February,…
Thinking outside the cloud – a new tourism angle for Queensland
Queensland is one state that leverages its weather to the hilt – and the fact is the…
Terrorism the Games wild card
In a recent article in The Age, Clive Williams of Macquarie University’s Centre for Policing, Intelligence and…
For Valentines Day, its Tigers all ’round
If my information is correct, the 14th of February is the start of the New Year and…
What can we expect in the next decade?
Had any thoughts yet? I have – plenty and judging from the number of media inquiries it…
Copenhagen Consensus is likely – just not the type we want.
I’m tipping that Consensus will be reached at Copenhagen this week. Alas it will be a consensus…
Counter Mantra to Christmas Credit
The cycle of consumption rears its head as it has done for quite some time. Consumption is…
What kids can teach us about Goal Directed futures
Our son has just celebrated his fifth birthday and although we don’t make a huge fuss about…
How Will You Prove You Are Who You Say You Are?
Here’s a little something I’d like you to think about. Are you really who you say you…
Can GM food rescue the planet’s appetite for Food?a
‘World – we have a problem’ (apologies to astronaut James Lovell). We are killing ourselves with food…
2009 September rainfall – still ‘above average’?
Anyone looking at the final rainfall figures for Melbourne’s rainfall might be heartened by the news that…
Marcus Barber at ANTOR discusses the future of travel
Strategic Futurist Marcus Barber discussed the future of travel at the ANTOR session at The American Club…
Singapore – The Hub of Great Futures Work
I’m heading to Singapore for a few days to facilitate a scenario planning workshop on behalf of…
The risks of ‘greenwashing’ in a recession
Greenwashing is a term used to define marketing actions by organisations, claiming to take an environmental approach…
Marcus Barber to Keynote at Australian Computer Society Conference
Strategic Futurist Marcus Barber will be the key note speaker at the Australian Computer Society’s annual conference…
Adelaide Advanced Strategic Planning One Day Workshop
The next Advanced Strategic Planning one-day workshop being run by The Australian Strategic Planning Institute will take…
The Bubble to end all Bubbles?
Hands up if you remember the dot com bubble? Or how about the Y2K bubble? Housing bubble?…
Advanced Strategic Planning Workshop in Melbourne
Just a handful of places are left for The Australian Strategic Planning Institute’s one day Advanced Strategic…
Vale Richard Pratt
Richard Pratt has succumbed to a battle with prostate cancer and there’s no doubt that many words…
How to Spend your $900 – think about your future needs first
Thousands of Australians are just receiving or are about to receive a pretty handsome cheque from the…
Australia 2020 – one year on, now what?
It is almost a year since the Australia 2020 Summit was held in Canberra and it is…
Wearable Technologies coming to some clothing near you
A few years ago whilst researching and generating ideas for the National Geographic Channel’s futures based TV…
When a Car Insurance company leaves a bad taste in your mouth
It is a tad unfortunate that in the past couple of weeks I’ve had to experience the…
Recession Proof Marketing – how to survive and thrive in a recession
Marcus Barber has teamed up with Marketing expert Tod O’Reilly to write ‘Recession Proof Marketing – how…
2009 – Living with an economic downturn – a view from Russia
At the Long Now group run by Stewart Brand, they have regular guest speakers on a whole…
2009 – a year for Playing ‘Catch-Up’ (Part 1)
This is Part one with Part two (looking at who will probably better off at this time…
Ahead for 2009 on 774 ABC’s conversation hour
What’s emerging for 2009? What might shape the near term future, what can we do about it…
2008 – what a year it was!
Yes you read right – thinking ahead I’m anticipating an amazing 2008. Happy new year to all…
Australian Strategic Planning Institute work shop in Sydney fully booked
The Advanced one day Strategic Planning Workshop in Sydney on the 11th of December at Rydges World…
Heading down the drain with the ‘4 Minute Shower’
Every now and again what sounds like a really good idea turns out to be less beneficial…
Blackwood 8 fundraiser assists the Ludwig Institute for Cancer research
The second annual fund raiser was held in late October and attended by almost 300 people. Marcus…
Regional Produce Summit slides now available
The slides used as part of Marcus Barber’s key note address to the Regional Produce Summit are…
Victorian State Culinary Tourism Conference in Wangaratta
Strategic Futurist Marcus Barber will be kicking off proceedings at the 2008 Regional Produce Summit in Wangaratta…
Eco Industrial Parks & Community Development
Strategic Futurist Marcus Barber will both key note and act as Master of Ceremonies at the Lockhart…
Marcus Barber discussing the Future on 774 ABC Melbourne
Marcus Barber joined host Tim Cox and co-host, author and writer Andrew Peglar on the Conversation hour…
Your Future Requires Planning – and so does ours!
Members of the Futures Foundation and the AFFA will be congregating in Pearl Beach in the coming…
Robots of the Future
One of our many Nordic watchers, Are Thorsteinsson, has posted the Future Matters segment looking at the…
Asking the unaskable question – Do we have a right not to die?
Strategic Futurist Marcus Barber has contributed a chapter to Volume Five of the ‘Death and Anti-Death’ Anthology…
Biofuels and Global Starvation
One of the challenges for one aspect of the world is fuel and the price of fuel…
Marcus Barber to Open Supply Chain and Logistics Conference
With the theme ‘Moving Forward, Supply Chains of the Future’, Strategic Futurist Marcus Barber will open the…
Book Recommendation – Gang Leader for a Day
When it comes to quality strategic futures work as part of making the pragmatic decisions that shifts…
Marcus Barber on 774 ABC Melbourne Conversation Hour discussing Australia 2020 Futurists Summit
Strategic Futurist Marcus Barber was well and truly forced to justify the existence of his profession when…
Australia’s 2020 Future – the Futurist’s report
You’d think that given a focus on the future, you’d ask specialists in the future to have…
Australia’s 2020 Future – the Futurist’s report goes ‘live’ tomorrow
Some of Australia’s leading futurists gathered in Melbourne in March to provide a specialist Futures approach to…
Marcus Barber to join Jon Faine for the Conversation Hour on ABC Melbourne
Strategic Futurist Marcus Barber will meet with eminent ABC radio presenter Jon Faine on Wednesday the 16th…
2020 Australia – Futurist’s Report
A group of leading Australian Futurists gathered over the weekend to consider the 10 core themes set…
Australia’s 2020 Future – the Futurist’s report
As preparations continue for the Prime Minister Rudd’s ‘1000 heads’ ideas summit in Canberra in April, a…
Are Interest Rate Rises Too Clumsy to Help a Teetering Economy?
A few thoughts on what steps could be taken to overcome the ‘treat everyone like a nail’…
How to Stop Japanese Whaling in its Tracks
Marcus Barber offers his thoughts on How to Stop Japanese Whaling in its Tracks and suggests that…
Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony Blanketed by Dust Storm
If an ‘Inconvenient Truth’ raised the profile of global warming to the general population, it appears that…
Marcus Barber to be Interviewed on 774 ABC
Strategic Futurist Marcus Barber will join Tim Cox on 774 ABC as part of the conversation hour…
From Foresight Foreplay to Corporate Consummation
At the AustForesight 2007 Conference, Strategic Futurist Marcus Barber and fellow Futurist Steve Tighe presented their take…
Melbourne Cup Predictions
Futurists often get asked things like ‘Okay then – who’s going to win the ‘flag’ this year’….
Applying Strategic Foresight to Organisational Change
Does your organisation suffer what Futurists call ‘Operational Sleepwalking’? That most organisations (and people) willingly sleepwalk their…
The Australian Strategic Planning Institute Gets a Boost
Maree Conway, of ‘University Futures’ has joined the Australian Strategic Planning Institute as a lead facilitator for…
How to Catch a Stealth Bomber & Other iiBubbles
The latest edition of Fast Thinking has hit the streets and includes another tool for those seeking…
Talented Futurist Celebrates a Birthday
Looking Up Feeling Good would like to wish the very talented and focused futurist, Sophie Barber a…
Leading Sustainability through Corporate Real Estate Hypothetical
The CoreNet Global Melbourne 2007 Summit incorporated a thought provoking Hypothetical panel discussion on the future of…
Innovation in Employee Engagement
Among other great articles, the winter 2007 edition of Fast Thinking magazine highlights the ‘8 Factor’ model…
Housing Crisis and A Difference to a Difference of Opinion
Last night the ABC program ‘A Difference of Opinion’ looked at the issues of the housing affordability…
Sustainability as a Source of Competitive Advantage
Dan Atkins, former manager of Environmental policy at Toyota and now Director of Sustainable Business Practises and…
Future Alerts Subscription Service now Monthly
Looking Up Feeling Good’s advanced signals reporting service ‘Future Alerts’ is now available as a monthly subscription…
Marcus Barber invited to attend World Water Week in Stockholm 2007
Futurist Marcus Barber has been invited to present at the Stockholm International Water Institute’s prestigious World Water…
