Don’t Confuse Forecasting with Foresight

In a world that is enamored with short-term actions, incremental innovation, and quantifying everything, it’s important to understand that “forecasting” and “foresight” are not the same thing. They may have the future in common, but that does not make them equals. Forecasting uses quantitative data and trends in an attempt to fill in gaps and extrapolate outcomes. However, data by its very nature is a snapshot of the past (just as trends are the present – you know about them…

Yvette and Frank-enstein Bust Foresight Monsters

If you’re a Wicked Opportunities Podcast listener or a TFS alumni then you probably know that our founder’s favorite holiday is Halloween. Sorry, All-Hallows Eve as Frank would say! This year we celebrate spooky season by walking down the wickedest memory lane. Our podcast hosts looked under society’s bed and found a lot of scary critters- zombies, mad scientists, and aliens! They didn’t destroy these monsters, but they did reframe them into inspiring visions across multiple futures. Get cozy in…

Reflections from our Inaugural Transformations Retreat

It was here in Bell Valley that team members from The Futures School gathered in the Fall of 2022 with fourteen brilliant and kind individuals for a truly unique experience based on rethinking, redefining and reframing foresight for broad-based prosperity, emerging consciousness and cocreation of transformational realities. We called this retreat Transformations of Natural Foresight®.

3 Skills You Need to Make Future-Fit Career Moves

In this volatile environment, people are searching for new ways to explore their options and plan their careers. However, employees must change the way they approach the situation if they are going to successfully move to new opportunities and thrive amidst our changing world. To chart a future-ready career path, there are three skills individuals can adopt: sense, mesh, transform.

Design Thinking Must Be Futures Empowered

Leaders and companies often tell me how much they love design thinking. It provides them a tangible way to “think outside of the box” and create new pathways toward innovative action. However, once they integrate it into their organizational strategy and processes, they also tell me that they feel like a key element is still missing.

Where can I find the future?

Environmental scanning is the most critical practice for all foresight practitioners. But where to begin with sourcing interesting scan hits? The internet is an endless ocean of information, littered with misinformation and distractions. Even if you have a solid grip on how to conduct quality futures intelligence, good scan hits can be hard to come by– that is, until you know where to look. Below is a list of our favorite sources along with our community’s. Use it to kick-start…