The way we frame our thinking highly influences the very way we reason. The way we act is consequently influenced by the way we think. And then, we give a meaning, we define our surroundings based on such framing. The combination of framing and reasoning affect the way we create hypotheses of the future, whether this is considered probable, possible, plausible and so on. Today I am grateful for the opportunity to welcome Peter Scoblic at The Briefing.Today to talk about long term anticipatory thinking. Peter is co-founder at Event Horizon Strategies.

Time goes by and elements of the past are carried over into the future becoming heritage. Decisions are made on what to carry and what to leave behind, maybe some will be forgotten. How do we make such a decision on what to carry across? What do we as humans look for in making a heritage decision? Today we will talk about the concept of heritage mindset with Richard Sandford, Professor at UCL in Heritage Evidence, Foresight and Policy. Richard has a diverse array of experience: coding, education, futures studies, futures literacy, policy, ethnographic research.

How do we apply futures studies? Why do we need to look into different futures? What is the impact in the present? Today I am thrilled to be joined by Nicklas Larsen, Senior Advisor at the Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies, one of the oldest think tanks studying the future, in the world.

Biases are part of our day-to-day thinking and decision making. There are also futures fallacies which sways us from envisioning, using Dorr’s terms, “realistic” futures in an effective and efficient manner. These are common errors we fall trap while reasoning about futures. Today I am joined by Ivana Milojević, director at Metafuture and Metafuture School, who has extensive experience researching and experimenting on the subject matter.

Episodic foresight is identified as the primary neural mechanism that enables humans to construct images of the futures, providing explanatory power to further define and understand the processes that are invoked in futures studies and foresight activities. These enlightening words are from Maree Conway who joins us to chat about How humans can imagine and construct images of the future, and what happens in our brain. Maree has extensive expertise on foresight in practice, and she is founder of Foresight Futures, a consultancy studio on strategic foresight.

Technology and innovation are constantly shaping our lives, often for the better. Yet, today’s security landscape is volatile, subject to unexpected shock. From terrorism to cybercrime, unparalleled criminal activities can quickly emerge on the radar. I am pleased to be joined by Director of INTERPOL Innovation Centre, Anita Hazenberg to explore police futures. Anita has extensive experience in policing and brought the discipline of foresight into law enforcement

Mission-oriented innovation and market-shaping policies have recently been adopted by policymakers around the world in international bodies like the EU and UN, national governments, and institutions. Missions can be designed and implemented as a policy tool. Using missions to drive national strategy or innovation means focusing less on sectors, but more on problems that matter to all. The mission must set clear objectives that can only be achieved by a portfolio of projects and supportive policy interventions.
The mission approach is useful for thinking about how to redirect strategies (or realize futures scenarios) so that it fosters new forms of collaborations across different forms of organizations and a wide variety of sectors. Mission-oriented thinking requires understanding the difference between (1) broad challenges, (2) missions, (3) sectors and (4) specific solutions.
Hence, complex and fast changing environments, and the uncertain causal relationship of consequences demand a radical shift in mindset. Today I am joined by Susann Roth, Chief of Knowledge Advisory Services Center at the Asian Development Bank (ADB). Susann’s focus is on anticipatory thinking and design thinking in the context of resilient development strategy.

“Chaos and catastrophe by their very definition do not repeat but it is important to realise that there are different types and levels of uncertainty that we need to be aware of. It is not always about being rational or having a process in place: being aware of our limits in what we are able to see and comprehend as possibilities is as important as planning.
Indeed, in some contexts, planning may make us more vulnerable than improvising, as it exposes us to inattentional bias” writes Dave Snowden and Alessandro Rancati. Today I am here with Dave, founder at Cognitive Edge, who designed the Cynefin [ku-nev-in] Framework and expertise sits at the intersection of knowledge management, complexity science and system theory.

People. Interactions. Groups. Relationships. Communities. Participation. Togetherness. Systems.
With System we generally defined a group of entities that operates within the same boundaries, which informs/defines are doing. At a macro scale, we have society, at a smaller scale there is an organisation, or even smaller a family. But who designs these systems, boundaries, rules? Were different voices taken into considerations? Was enough weight given to everyone’s perspective? Did everyone feel comfortable to speak up? What could be the consequences? What are the foundational values of that system? These are some of the questions we should ask ourself while designing for a more inclusive future. Today I am joined by a friend and colleague to chat about some of these points. Please, let me welcome to The Briefing.Today family: John Sweeney.

Turbulence and uncertainty are still strongly prevalent in our professional and personal lives. How we see, think and explore trends is influencing the way we imagine possible future scenarios, eventually informing our decision. Today I am joined by a friend and colleague David Kalisz to go beyond the classic 2by2 matrix scenario exploring a novel approach to scenario design. David is associate professor at the department of management and strategy, Paris School of Business. He merges futures studies and economics.

Envisioning futures that are non-linear from the present isn’t that hard. Teams need different tools and reasoning to think laterally. By combining human ingenuity with nature’s genius, the possibilities of envisioning alternative futures are infinite. Nature is the only real model that shows us a truly sustainable process creation. Today I am joined by Ilaria Mazzoleni to explore the following question: How can teams use biomimicry to envision and design for sustainable futures?. Ilaria is an architect, founder of IM Studio which is based in Milano and Los Angeles and operates worldwide. Her expertise is in biomimicry, bio-inspired design and sustainable architecture.

Frank Snowden once said “all pandemics afflict societies through the specific vulnerabilities people have created by their relationships with the environment, other species, and each other.”. Today such vulnerabilities show the lack of inclusion, anticipation and adaptation of human beings. The economy and the society at large are mainly built off a single mindset. Diversity is often not included when thinking, designing and making decisions for and of the futures. Today I am joined by Jose Ramos who has extensive experience futures studies. Jose is founder at Action Foresight, and Senior Consulting Editor at Journal of Futures Studies.

Paradigms are shifting. We cannot stress it more: things are evolving for the good or the bad. Currently, we do not know how things will unfold in the long term. Too many uncertainties. Yet, we as a collective are required to engage in more sustainable and inclusive practices. When it comes to decision-makings, we, however are biased and decision makers can fall trap on them. I am pleased to be here with Betina Szkudlarek to explore more of this matter. Betina has consulted for the United Nations Alliance of Civilization and has extensive experience on sustainable and growth strategy.

Designers are the creators of new products, services, applications and so on. Simply put, designers are the creators of the things we interact in our daily life. Each new addition to the system means that known and unknown consequences will follow. Today I am joined by John Rousseau to explore the underlying steps of responsible design and the beauty of systems in flux. John is partner at Artefact, and leads teams in strategic foresight and speculative design.

We know that there is more than one possible future. Now we have adjusted to what has been called The New Normal, however we are asked to further adapt to a New New Normal. Today I am joined by Peter Black for a practical talk to discuss Deep Drivers of change. Peter is Director of Essential Foresight and has extensive expertise in foresight and emerging infectious diseases. Previously Peter was a veterinary epidemiologist and worked on emerging infectious diseases for 25 years.

“Hyper-Learning is cognitive, behavioral, and emotional. Yes, Hyper-Learning is behavioral. It is how you think, how you listen, how you connect and relate to people emotionally and how you collaborate. It starts with mindset.” I am citing Ed Hess who is here with me today to chat about human adaptation in the digital era and continuous high-quality learning-unlearning and relearning. Ed is professor of Business Administrator as Darden Graduate School of Business.

The future is Uncertain, Ambiguous, Unknown, Challenging, Novel. In the past months, how many times have you heard these ‘frightening’ words? Today I’m joined by Loes Damhof whose expertise relates to teaching the use-of-futures to innovate in the present. Loes teaches at Hanze University and is UNESCO Chair, Futures Literacy in Higher Education.

The 21st century is dictated by complex, ambiguous and fast changing societal scenarios. Innovation requires new reasoning capabilities to deal with these entangled dynamics. Today I’m joined by colleague and friend Massimo Garbuio to chat key reasoning to strategically design innovative futures. Massimo is Associate Professor in Entrepreneurship at the University of Sydney.