Great Client Feedback
Some Positive Thoughts from our Clients and others that have used our skills appear below. You are probably also an organisation that is looking for some expertise to help answer some key questions for your future and want to feel comfortable knowing you’ll get the results you want. Read for yourself what others have said and then contact us with any questions you may have: Email or 613 96 444 588
An excellent facilitator, an inspiring speaker and a knowledgeable mentor! It has been a pleasure to work with Marcus Barber on the City of Greater Dandenong Ignite 2021 Program. His experience with start-ups, and excellent mentoring and coaching, have allowed our participants to start their businesses, with more confidence, networks and knowledge
Greater Dandenong
Economic Development Team
2021
‘We appreciate the time and effort you spent in preparing for your role as MC and providing a futurist’s view on the conference content. Delegates have commented to me on the smooth running of the event, and we found that your engagement and insights stimulated a great deal of discussion during the Conference.’
Tony Wright
CEO
Victorian Water Association
June 2017
Brilliant – thanks for your presentation last night Marcus, a Platinum highlight for 2013!’!
Andrew Gardner
Managing Director
Investor’s Edge
Justin Mansfield @joininthechorus
.@rightfuture thx 4 fascinating, energetic presentation @ #v21 today. Enjoyed it immensely, despite (or because of?) being dragged on stage!
Wordsbyjessica @wordsbymissjess
Marcus Barber from @rightfuture was THAT good … #V21 Note. Change the world … Stop being a douche!
agency marou @AgencyMarou
RT @twenty4_digital: Great presentation by Marcus Barber. We’re busy not productive. #v21 @rightfuture pic.twitter.com/abQvI72Jcj
Rowan Barnes @RowanBarnes
@rightfuture Really enjoyed your preso at #v21. Both entertaining and thought-provoking; I feel inspired to do better things!
Murray Galbraith @MurrayDG
@rightfuture Just wow.
Brad Paton @Brad_Paton
Incredibly thought provoking presentation by Marcus Barber @rightfuture at #V21
Kylie Eddy @KylieEddy
@rightfuture let’s stamp out ‘hairy eyeballs’ syndrome. Inspirational presentation! #v21
Laney Galligan @laneygalligan
@rightfuture thanks for getting the brain ticking. Am working on sorting out a few of the issues you raised today #flexiblework
Marcus the Victorian Industry Water Association (VicWater) would like to express its most sincere gratitude on behalf of the Sustainability Task Group…Your presentation provided high quality and pertinent information to the delegates on how to do more with less, balance priorities and engage customers and stakeholders in the sustainability debate…’
Tony Wright
Chief Executive Officer
Dear Marcus,
Thank you for the outstanding presentation you gave at our recent conference at the Grand Chancellor in Hobart.
Your captivating talk was inspiring and insightful, there was so much useful information that was of benefit to all those who attended on the day.
You were a big hit with all of our delegates, your energy and enthusiasm was infectious, thank you for such a memorable and enjoyable presentation.
Regards,
Leon Staropoli
National New Business
Development Manager
Australian Scholarships Group – Supporting Children’s Education
Good morning Marcus,
A belated thank-you for your contribution last week at the Victorian Regional Produce Summit held in Wangaratta. Your energy and enthusiasm were
definite factors in making the day the huge success that it was. Feedback has been extremely positive and everyone enjoyed the opportunity to think
outside the square for a few hours. Thank you also for your time the following day meeting with Council senior officers to bounce ideas around.
Your customer service in the lead up and during the event was exceptional and greatly appreciated.
Kind regards,
Kate Green
Manager – Tourism Development
Rural City of Wangaratta
“On behalf of the Progress Association and the Industrial Park Committee we would like to thank you for doing such as wonderful job as MC and giving such a thought provoking presentation making us think about ideas that will shape the years to come. You were able to cleverly pull together several threads that were explored in different presentations.
Judging from the positive feedback we have received from the Community, your contribution played a major factor in the success of the day. We have had many comments about the friendly yet professional way you handled the day, and we are sure that the other speakers and audience all appreciated your skill of keeping the program to time. Your expertise was very much appreciated and we would also like to thank you for your other contributions in the lead up to the Forum and post Forum assistance.”
Max Day
President Lockhart & District Progress Association.
“It was a pleasure to meet you this morning. As a last-minute replacement to this morning’s breakfast I wasn’t sure what to expect. I found your presentation to be very informative, inspiring and it was quite eye opening. You’re clearly very passionate about driving change and sustainability and definitely got me thinking. I’d love to keep in touch and would be happy to recommend you to clients and other colleagues.”
Alice Morden
Principal Consultant
Boston Kennedy
| Australian Building & Construction Commission (ABCC)
“A presentation that was both relevant to our sector and stretched us to think outside it. The delivery style was excellent and engaging combining facts and complex ideas with humour and audience involvement resulting in a session that matched or exceeded expectations of all involved” Felicity McGrath Southport Engineering Pty Ltd Marcus I just wish to thank you for providing such an interesting, informative & entertaining session AND for all the information I wasn’t able to write down. I’ve never taken so many notes at a breakfast meeting in my life, nor will I ever take so few again. I can already see many opportunities to apply your teachings with one of them being a presentation on Monday. Thanks heaps… Best Regards Gold Coast Water ‘…Marcus’s facilitation skills were probably some of the best I’ve seen to date. A combination of broad multi-disciplinary knowledge and high calibre interpersonal skills were evident in his ability to facilitate and contribute to the industry related discussion without imposing on the clientele…” Ben Sheppard
Fosters Australia Foresight Group ‘The Accelerated Scenarios process was enthusiastically embraced by the team here at Foster’s. This approach to futures thinking led to a re-perceiving of where we saw the market heading and the future opportunities and threats…” Steve Tighe Foresight Manager Fosters Australia Foresight Group “Through his teachings Marcus has left a legacy at Foster’s. Over the past year we have learnt that looking for insights in the ‘safe areas’ provides less value than looking for ‘signals’ in the ‘right’ areas. This changed perspective has been largely due to the influence of Marcus” Steve Tighe Gold Coast Water Frontier Media & Marketing Selbys UNESCO sponsored ‘ Committing Universities to Sustainable Development’ conference Fosters Australia Functional Beverages South East Business Networks “In the multi-company sessions that Marcus facilitated for us, he displayed the uncanny ability to challenge the very essence of the participants’ thinking process and the potential (and often untapped) opportunities within their business, allowing them to leave with not only theory, but the ability to implement!” Sandra George These are among the many clients and training sessions available – ask away… |
Our Experience Means You Benefit
Acquiring this level of skill can only come through well developed ‘travels’ across industry sectors, positions, functions and outcomes. It requires a willingness to walk the ‘paths less travelled’ and to show how the richness of the journey can be of benefit to those who have enjoyed the alternative.
With direct exposure to the Financial Services, Policing, Education, Advertising, Manufacturing, and Recruitment sectors, we are able to draw upon functional understanding across businesses of all types and purposes.
This means you get access to our ability to identify the very best of ‘cross industry’ opportunities – customer retention strategies; employee engagement methods; sales processes; strategic development initiatives; marketing excellence; innovation creation and many, many more.
The really important thing to note is that we do not bring a ‘cookie cutter’ with us. Whilst your business may share similarities with others in the same sector or different sectors, it is unique. Applying ‘model x’ regardless of what you really need is not our style. EVERYTHING will be tailored specifically to what you need and for the purpose you need it.
Key Personnel
All of our personnel and facilitators bring with them extensive trainng and real life operational experience. Specifically it is probable that our personnel will have qualifications in at least one of the following disciplines:
- Post Graduate Qualifications in Strategic Foresight
- Certification in Spiral Dynamics from the National Values Centre in the United States
- Certification in Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP)
When you add these exquisite and precise thinking skills to extensive experience across a wide variety of business sectors, you have available to you an exceptional business asset that will transfer skills into your business.
Queensland Rail Strategic Foresight & Planning Session
There’s a little problem with food production in the world that not many people want to talk about. About half the world is being starved to death whilst we are seeing a spike in obesity due to over-consumption of food. The strange thing about that issue is that both ends of the food consumption divide…
Read More >My most recent long term client contract had me specialise in Employee Engagement, something I’d done consistently at the Senior and Middle Managers level. But this client need was across the board and at a time when major changes were occuring. With a previous survey of their staff in two states and across three…
Read More >Great to see some quality collaboration between the City of Casey and City of Greater Dandenong aimed at addressing or tackling Social Issues and importantly bridging the divide between ‘our area’ and ‘their area’ artificial boundaries. Well done to both Councils Here’s the oveview of what they’re doing. This one looks to be an…
Read More >Most people who’ve been involved in planning and strategy development will have heard of VUCA – Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguous. Emerging out of the US War College in 1987, it’s come to be more widely used by consultancies aiming to at least ‘sound smart’. But that’s not the main problem with its usage Instead…
Read More >In short – ‘No’. In days of yore manufacturing data meant jobs being done, employed people being paid, sales being made. But with robotics and off-shoring in many parts of Australian manufacturing, it’s no longer the value indicator it once was. In the US it is an even less reliable indicator because in the…
Read More >I’ve writen a fair bit over the years about the need to move futures thinking out of a theoretical approach and into a more applied model. Recently I’ve come off a 6 month project working with the Asian Productivity Organisation, an entity that brings together 20 member countries and their core government policy…
Read More >Every where we look we are being given clear signs of the blatant stupidity and arguably outright criminality of a toxic system of decision making. The Menindee Lakes and Darling River disaster is one example A couple of years ago I was invited to speak at a Private Equity conference at a lovely resort…
Read More >Every year I aim to identify what I think a major focus of the upcoming year will be and in that light I’m declaring 2019 the International Year of the Cooperative. I’m prompted by a multitude of signals that my daily research has uncovered, many of which will be familiar to you – Cost of…
Read More >Here we are with the last posting of the year looking at the potential for wide ranging strategy for a country like the United States. Arguably the United States is undergoing its own version of #Brexit though without the vote of the people. Instead the dictatorial nature of what I see as an incompetent strategic…
Read More >I’m reluctant to make predictions but am getting a few calls so: My tip is on a March 2019 election – the 9th or 16th But that will be an attempt to protect the existing NSW Government hoping that voters will have sufficiently vented. That said though, it also required a Federal Minoroty Government to…
Read More >