Thinking about the future in February...

We blinked and February ran out the door…

But it left an interesting trail of thinking on its way out, opening our eyes to divergent ideas and challenging our mental models on not only where we are at but where we want to go. 

We have all found ourselves having to plan for future outcomes, or realising that the lack thereof had caught up with us along the way. And it seems that planning is a difficult thing for most people. 

Perhaps due to the human element of expectation and the pressure we place on ourselves and others to turn these plans into reality. 

Life happens. Things change. You have to be willing to pivot. Example 101: COVID-19. 

Our talented speakers, Dale Willams and Tim Willard, reminded us that you can’t necessarily know the future but you can plan in such a way to ensure that your future is owned by you, by shifting focus from being right to truly examining and understanding the current reality to ensure that you are almost never wrong.

This is encapsulated in this concept called “Scenario planning” which ultimately, as they explained it, takes a focal question and pivots it on an axis which allows convergent thinking about a divergent possibility of futures.

In the curious biographical drama film ‘A beautiful day in the neighbourhood’ starring Tom Hanks and Matthew Rhys, Hanks pipes up with some profound wisdom in one particularly poignant scene - “Anything human is mentionable and anything mentionable is manageable”.

It seems that using the tool of scenario planning allows you to think the unthinkable. It allows you to give a voice to uncertainty, to make it real in such a way that makes it manageable. As Dale and Tim said, in order for it to work, you have to be prepared to get it wrong, to unlearn and re-learn. 

And as Alvin Toffler said “The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those that cannot read and write, but those that cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.” 

It’s a beautiful thing about being human. We get to experience a multitude of diversities in one vessel. It is vulnerable but it is empowering because experience brings perspective and in turn, using that can lead to effective planning for more empowered decision making. 

It teaches us to read (the reality) and write (the story). Basically, going back to the basics. 

Dale and Tim used the data provided by our audience in response to the question “What will the future of creativity look like in 2025?” and found that from this group there was a whopping total of 300+ years of creative experience where the majority spend more than half of their time using this experience to further create careers and lead organisations. 

Inputs were grouped by theme and then categorised by meta-themes, depending on the importance and impact of each theme. Finally these led to the emergence of four key stories, balanced on the axes of “Openness of society” (individuals being distributed or controlled) and the “Development of technology” (being innovative or stagnant).

Take a listen to the recording for the detailed narration of the four stories and the examples of the indicators (flags) that lead to their eventual outcome. 

But in a nutshell, they go something like this:

• The story of “Frustrated - Creativity Squandered”: The future is more of the same and although we have amazing technological capabilities, it is not being used to solve complex problems or take leaps of faith in creativity.  
• The story of “Strangled - Creativity Constrained”: The use of technology becomes more restrictive since governing bodies are trying to control its usage and force transparency.. 
• The story of “Paint by numbers - Competitive Creatives”: Technology is a competitive space where governments, countries and companies come up with incredible innovations but in the furtherance of privatisation and selfish interests. 
• The story of “Roaring 20’s - Boundary Breaking”: Technological advancements merge with creativity in fantastic ways allowing virtual realities to emerge. The openness to collaboration and sharing of information acts as a catalyst to creating possibilities between the analog and digital worlds. 

We will have to live to see what the future holds for us but in the meantime, we get to use this wonderful tool of scenario planning in our own lives by taking the following steps:

1. Select your focal question;
2. Outline all the influences on this topic;
3. Plot out the different scenarios that could emerge; and
4. Identify the indicators or flags that would lead to each scenario becoming a reality.

Why do this exercise? Because “great minds think differently” and the world needs your perspective.  

Success stories are born out of individuals knowing themselves and knowing how to rigorously collaborate to grow together and learn to:

• Challenge the mental models of the world;
• Understand the environment and the factors at play;
• Tell their creative story; and
• Identify the blind spots that need some attention.

You will learn to unlearn, and re-learn. 

So, let the creativity flow through you beautiful humans. 

 We look forward to your story.