Flex Into Alternate Futures
A Futurist isn’t someone who predicts the future. Futurists anticipate and adapt to the future. Flexing their perspective while inspiring and equipping others to do the same.
With that in mind we’re all capable of being Futurists regardless of what our job title may be. One of the most useful tools to think like a Futurist is a Futuremap. It guides your thought patterns through the four distinct Mindflexes that are used to anticipate and adapt to change with greater agility.
For example we now live in a world where the operating environment shifts through disruptive levels of constraints. In the same way we’ve learnt to adapt our ways of thinking and working when it rains and when night falls, we’ve rapidly had to adapt to a new biological pattern.
As a result greater progress can now be made by flexing forward into alternate futures. Holding onto a desire for the past to return – while letting go of the desire for the past to return. As the writer F. Scott Fitzgerald once framed it, “the test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function.”
And retaining the ability to function is what the world needs now.
Greater stability can be created by re-anchoring on what you’re really in the business of. In our case as a Futurist I’m not in the business of speaking or standing on stages – we’re in the business of inspiring, equipping and guiding teams to create the future, now flexing at a moment’s notice between digital and physical spaces.
If for example you’re a restaurant owner operating through disruptive conditions, this Mindflex can lift your thinking and the resulting strategy above the physical constraints of a short-term holding pattern, such as lower-margin takeaways.
Instead lift and inspire your team and customers by reframing your purpose, such as being in the business of hosting meaningful moments with shared meals – whether it’s at your place or theirs.
Creating greater possibilities to innovate new ways of delivering in-home dining experiences. Testing different price-points with a customer base who’s already demonstrated a willingness to pay a premium for higher-quality experiences.
So right now, whatever form of the present you’re operating in, take a moment to also flex your thinking forward into the alternate futures we now live in.
Visioning and then creating a greater future for us all.
Confronted with new challenges and a shifting future?
To schedule a call with Futurist Dave Wild to explore Futuready Leadership for a Fast-changing World please contact our Business Manager at andrea@dave-wild.com