A new term has been circulating in policy circles that reflects a changing way of viewing conflict, crisis, and complexity: polycrisis. Let’s look at what it might mean for people looking to plan, evaluate, and act in a world filled with turmoil. Polycrisis is not a term that inspires much hope. I’m not one for …
What happens when the global pandemic gets forgotten, and our organizations, communities and bodies still remember? How might we design institutions that help us recover from what’s happened and thrive in what’s to come? The World Health Organization is meeting this week to discuss whether the emergency phase of the global COVID-19 pandemic response is …
At the time of this writing, Russia has just invaded Ukraine, protesters have just left a 3-week occupation of the Canadian capital, and we’re leaving the most devastating wave of COVID. Foresight and futures work was unhelpful in all cases and that says a lot about the field and the humans using it. The Russian …
It’s easy to say a lesson was learned and far more difficult to show it to be true. What can we do to best to learn from what’s happened to us and not allow often difficult, painful, hard-fought lessons to go unlearned? When the student is ready, the teacher will appear Unknown A lesson is …
Lessons Taught, Learned, Forgotten, and Ignored Read More »
The COVID-19 pandemic and its effects provide a perfect example of similarity and difference in strategy, outcome, and impact. Are you tired yet? If you’re reading this in 2022, the answer is probably: “yes.” COVID-19 has tested humanity’s collective ability to adapt and strategize collectively. The Omicron variant that spread across the globe at the …
When Strategy Solutions Are Hidden in Plain Sight Read More »
While this title is ridiculous, the practice of futures work is not and is more important than ever to support the kind of innovation we need for the planet. Unfortunately, too many futurists seem to be content to make broad proclamations instead of demonstrating their value. Anytime you see a title that says “The Future …
Producing a podcast in 2011 was novel; not in 2021 – although the lessons learned from 10 years of trying might be timeless. In this post and upcoming series I explore the factors that influence change and innovation by applying psychological science to my own struggle to innovate on one particular topic: podcasting. It’s finally …
Sensemaking practice is social, interactive, and focused on strategies to work through what we think, know, and imagine. In our previous post we introduced the idea of sensemaking and it’s connection to the process of design. In this post we look at the practical aspects of doing sensemaking and why it matters. Sensemaking is about …
Identity shapes design of products and services so why ignore it when we are designing for humans lives? Who we are, who we think we are, or who we see ourselves to be all shapes how we act. Our identity is among the most powerful forces that influence our behaviour. Research on change has shown …
The idea of entanglements is central to understanding complexity in systems and the knots that they generate The idea of entanglements and systems is at the heart of our understanding of complexity as it’s experienced in the world. Much of the literature on complexity speaks of entanglements as complications that arise to challenge our ideas …
