For years I’d been relying on the World Values Survey data that showed that when one is poor more money increases …
It will take work to get to post-work
There is no magic wand. There is no switch to flip. It’s more than a few policy tweaks. It’s more than good …
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The Red and Blue Values Split
Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich recently wrote about “Facing America's Second Civil War.” While he sees it more as a …
Gathering Together Again … At Last
Houston Foresight had its annual [face-to-face] Spring Gathering two weekends ago for the first time in three years. Not …
Think critically and integrally
I saw a slogan today to “demand data and think critically.” Demands for data too often serve as a lazy substitute for …
Are we caring less about our jobs?
I’ve been trying to understand what’s going on with the “Great Resignation.” Boomers are [finally] retiring. More people …
Images and Utopia Tests
I really enjoyed the excellent work of Rutger Bregman on utopias (reviewed here). Let's focus on his point on how …
Adaptive and transformative futures
This is one of the questions futurists wrestle with periodically. What is our proper purpose? Should we be helping our …
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Virtual Professional Certificate in Foresight Starts April 6th!
We still have spots open for our next Foresight seminar starting April 6th! This virtual boot camp immerses you in the …
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Futurist Calls to Action
As so often happens in the classroom, the best ideas come from the students. In a reflection on playing with a climate …
Ten Books for Prospective Futurists, Updated
It’s time to update my list of ten books that a prospective futurist should read. The principle is the individual is …
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Futurists and their thirsty horses
You can take the horse to water, but you can’t make it drink! How many times have we futurists said this or something …
Post-work: Can We and Should We?
Readers know my answer, but what do you think? [Be great to hear your views]. Here’s my blog-sized case for “yes and …
Top Ten Drivers of the Future?
I recently had the opportunity to brief a group on the key drivers shaping World Futures. I have taught a class by that …
2021 APF “Most Significant Futures Works” Winners
[NOTE: Sorry for the absence, but as you can see Hinesight got a much needed-facelift!] Back in 2007 I got together with …
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Looking forward rather than backward
I’ve talked about the mean green meme a few times in the last year as an unfortunate detour in the long-term development …
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State of Foresight in the US Government
If you've heard me talk about the state of foresight over the last few years, you'll not be surprised by the …
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Futurists, get in the box!
For a lifetime we have heard, and likely been advising, that we and our clients should “get out of the box.” In …
Purposes of Foresight work and Time Horizons
What are the purposes of foresight work? Back in 2009 futurist Richard Slaughter attempted to answer that question by …
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Futurists and naming the field 2021
Here we are again -- having the "what should we call, or not call, our field?" conversation. Why does this keep coming …
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What’s your Foresight Sauce?
In Futures Research class last week, we reviewed our Framework Foresight method from A to Z. I emphasize that my goal …
Change: Confusing movement with progress
[we are guilty of] confusing rapid movement with meaningful progress. Oh my … having truer words been spoken? We have …
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Foresight Slides for a Desert Island
You are exiled to a desert island and you were given permission to print out three slides to take with you. What would …
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The Houston Foresight Vision
We just finished our visioning module in Strategies class. So it seems time to review the vision of our beloved Houston …
Recent After Capitalism Scanning Ain’t Pretty
I continue to lightly scan for After Capitalism even though I’m heavy into the writing phase. I periodically check in to …
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Polak’s Image Criteria and After Capitalism
I recognize the danger of including a reference to Polak’s work in the title. It surely cuts the audience down to those …
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Foresight Emotions: Hmmms, Oooos, Dangs, and No-ways
As futurists, we must pay strict attention to emotional reactions from our clients (and ourselves). Hmmms -- an …
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Monitoring … The Time Has Come!
We’ve talked at a high level about no surprises, wildcard insurance policies, indicator bingo, and even a curse! The …
Tribalism as a Lubricant for Collapse
Tribalism is being used as an umbrella term to capture strong group loyalties that have been making it difficult for the …
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The unbreakable rule: Know your audience
In foresight, rules are made to be broken. Futurists are rule-breakers by nature. We do have some rules at Houston …
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