Unlocking Tomorrow: The Metalogic Futures Model for Radical Change

Are you ready to move beyond "business as usual" and truly transform your organization or community? In this episode, we explore the groundbreaking "metalogic futures model". Developed by Fleener, Vojnovich, and Berardinelli, this framework offers a powerful approach to navigating our complex, "postnormal times"—a world grappling with global warming, conflict, and the rise of AI.

This isn't just about predicting the future; it's about actively creating transformational change. The model is built on three crucial pillars:

• The Metalogic Process: Drawing from Gregory Bateson's concept, this is a "recursive process" designed to challenge existing paradigms and "dormitive thinking". It's not a rigid method but a "meta-strategy" that balances structure and openness, encouraging "complicated conversations" where dissent and paradox are welcome to foster true innovation and emergent ideas.
• Futures Literacy (FL): The model directly supports the development of FL, which is the crucial ability to use the future in the present. It helps us understand that the future isn't merely an extension of today, requiring different ways of thinking and strategy.
• Transformational Learning Theory: Incorporating adult learning scholarship, the model addresses deep, "irreversible changes" across six dimensions: worldview, identity, epistemology (how knowledge is constructed), ontology (how one exists in the world), behavior, and capacity. These changes must have depth, breadth, and stability to be truly transformative.

The "metalogic futures model" also accounts for Inayatullah's Futures Typology, recognizing different levels of "readiness" to engage with the future. From those who want to "recreate the castle" (Tomorrow 1) to those seeking "a new kind of kingdom" (Tomorrow 3), the framework provides a "scaffold" for engaging diverse perspectives and fostering conversations that push beyond risk mitigation to genuinely "create new visions" for possibilities. It emphasizes the importance of diverse voices, sustained recursive conversations, and creating "protected spaces for innovation" to support radical change.

Join us to learn how this framework can guide efforts for radical organizational and social transformation, helping us address the "unknown unknowns" and shape a more sustainable future for individuals, organizations, and society. We'll even touch on real-world examples of organizations like Netflix and IBM that have successfully navigated profound transformations.

Ref:

Fleener, M. J., Vojnovich, V., & Berardinelli, P. (2025). The metalogic futures model: A framework for transformational organizational and social change. European Journal of Futures Research, 13(1), 6. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40309-025-00249-5