The Top 3 Questions and Answers for the Future

Well as I’ve discovered them! These three questions (and my normal answers) are based on what I get asked consistently when I’m presenting or facilitating a session about Strategic Planning, ‘the future of…’, and how societies might look five, ten or twenty years from now: Question One – ‘What is the most important thing to know about the future?’

 

My Answer: ‘That there will be one!‘ Now that might sound a bit obvious and please appreciate the answer for what it entails. The reality for most people is that they do NOT take the future into any real consideration and as such, make choices and take actions that will not help them to get the kind of life they would rather have.

Question Two – ‘What is the future of (enter subject here, i.e technology, company, industry sector, country, lifestyle…). My Answer: ‘That all things known right now, it is likely to seem very similar to what it is now, even IF it is fundamentally different than what it is right now.’  This answer reflects how we as a species generally approach the idea of change. Prior to the change we wail at the clouds, wring our hands and scream to the wind. And then the change happens, we experience a period of somewhat uncomfortable adjustment (or as more often happens, ‘no noticeable adjustment’) and get on with life. Usually, ‘five minutes’ later we are already experiencing the new normal. We are a far more flexible species than we give ourselves credit for, something many leaders seem to ignore.

Question Three – ‘Why are there no flying cars like you futurists promised years ago?’ My Answer: Because when there is a simpler solution, the simpler solution will alway win out. My answer here takes a not so gentle swipe at people who like to make things more complex than they need to be. So if you plan to design a future, look to include the least possible components that you truly need because you’ll likely maximise the chances of getting what you want. Sometimes what is needed are complex solutions to complex challenges. But RARELY are complex answers the best things for SIMPLE challenges.

Xmas and all that paper

Dec 24, 2015

In parts of the world it’s Christmas day, a time for excusing your retail spending on a ‘worthy cause’. Which is fun in some ways and delusional in others 🙂 Don’t allow my grinchness deter you from enjoying today. As for me, I’m delighted that a) my present was wrapped in old newspaper and b)…

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Victorian Election – who should you* vote for?

Nov 25, 2015

Part of being effective as a futurist is being able to assess potential issues and their impact over time. The Victorian State Election is on this Saturday and though many say that State elections have little bearing on issues we face, our system means that the fluctuations at a Federal level are often countered by…

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Curing Brain Cancer One Fund-Raiser at a Time

Oct 16, 2015

‘m wrapped to be acting as EmCee for the third year in a row at Blackwood 8’s Celebration of Hope event, raising money to find a Cure for Brain Cancer. And delighted that the event has sold out. But fret not – you can still bid for some great auction items online or make a…

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Memo PM Turnbull – Your First 100 Hours

Sep 14, 2015

The major party in Australia’s dual party Government, the Liberal Party, has removed their leader Tony Abbott, replacing him with the previous leader, Malcolm Turnbull. PM designate Turnbull may be inclined to spend the first few days appeasing and reassuring his party members that everything will be okay. And that would be a mistake. Public…

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Picking the Right Futurist for Your Strategic Insights

Sep 11, 2015

When I look at my overall client types, it seems to me that I have two main types of client. The first is a client that has a good business and is generally successful and wants a futurist to help keep them ahead of emerging issues and opportunities. The second main client type is one…

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The Outsider’s view of the Inside Futures

Aug 26, 2015

As a consultant, one of the great puzzles I consistently discover is the mindset many clients hold with regard to their own abilities to conceive of and pursue, their own approach to futures thinking. I know this is not an issues restricted to futurists as where some clients have a ‘not invented here’ approach to…

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What the Weather Bureau can do to help this Drought

Aug 17, 2015

I’m going to come back to an idea I first floated back in 2004. By and large it is hard to change societal perceptions. Doing so requires on going effort, time and often resources like money to create marketing campaigns of some description. Unless you have a crisis. And right now it might be fair…

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How to Stop Japanese Whaling in its Tracks

Aug 17, 2015

Whilst I appreciate the efforts that Greenpeace, Sea Shepherd and the various Australian Governments have given regarding their aims to have the Japanese cease their annual whale harvests, I’m not quite sure they are tackling the issue through the best means available. Sure the confrontational approach of ramming ships, climbing aboard vessels, getting in the…

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The Quick Low-Down of Corporate Visions and why they Fail

Jul 2, 2015

I’ve just read an article about Corporate Visions and getting employees on the same page. And as happens so often, I shook my head because it offered the same flawed advice about what a leader needs to do to get their employees to buy into the Vision. And therein lays the fatal flaw You CANNOT…

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How California can Learn from the Australian Experience of Drought

Jun 3, 2015

As the drought in California continues to bite hard on the lives of millions, a recent article on Triple Pundit suggested that many people want to help save water, they just don’t know what else to do. Which is why California needs to look beyond its borders to the driest inhabited continent on the planet…

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