Systemic changes are happening all around us and the need for preparedness for an uncertain future has never been more salient. While operational plans and strategy are critical, psychological preparedness is just as important. Preparedness is anticipating certain kinds of events and outcomes tied to those events. Let’s look at environmental issues. For example, every …
Canadian wildfires are ravaging millions of hectares of forests prompting the evacuation of thousands of people and smoke plumes that are affecting millions. It’s a case study in how we address the psychology of climate change, invoke systems thinking about health, and apply what we know about design to it all. In a recent interview …
Wildfires: When Sparks Lead to Flames Across Systems Read More »
“Set it and forget it” might be a phrase that works with late-night infomercial products, but it’s not fitting for modern design. Next is now and that requires a new way to seeing, thinking, and making. Let me start by saying that this article ends with practical options for action and suggestions, but I need …
Strategic Design For What’s Now, Next and Beyond Read More »
Far from being messy, the meta middle is the space we are in where we can see the disruption coming and aren’t sure where we need to steer things so we navigate through it. The Messy Middle is a phrase used to describe the part of a project where we’re prone to get lost, mess …
The AI Revolution is here. How we can adapt our nervous systems to deal with the pace and scope of the changes around us? Charlie Warzel’s Galaxy Brain newsletter from The Atlantic is among the best venues for insights into the cultural issues associated with technology. Warzel’s astute observations and commentary on not just what …
Strategic Foresight can do more than help us to see what might come, it can help us to live better lives today. Using the example of well-being we look at how design with foresight can help us create a better present while shaping our preferred future. What if we could live in the future today? …
Foresight can be an enormously powerful vehicle for shaping strategy and nurturing innovative thinking if used properly. The problem is that it is rarely ever used. Strategic foresight combines trend research and design together to help envision possible futures and help guide our strategy in the process. It’s an attractive proposition. Here’s what it looks …
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 …
Strategic innovation is not immune to the same trends in consumption and use as we see in products and services. What does it mean when the way we approach our work is more curation than an event? Let’s look at how drips might be the new drops for strategic innovation. I recently read an article …
Only by understanding our past can we properly design for a future that’s different from it. When we think about the past there’s a tendency toward thinking about things that are often unpleasant, even old-fashioned. Future-thinking is exciting, filled with possibility, and is characterized more by optimism, technology, and ‘shiny things’ at its most cartoonish. …
