People. Interactions. Groups. Relationships. Communities. Participation. Togetherness. Systems.
With System we generally defined a group of entities that operates within the same boundaries, which informs/defines are doing. At a macro scale, we have society, at a smaller scale there is an organisation, or even smaller a family. But who designs these systems, boundaries, rules? Were different voices taken into considerations? Was enough weight given to everyone’s perspective? Did everyone feel comfortable to speak up? What could be the consequences? What are the foundational values of that system? These are some of the questions we should ask ourself while designing for a more inclusive future. Today I am joined by a friend and colleague to chat about some of these points. Please, let me welcome to The Briefing.Today family: John Sweeney.

Turbulence and uncertainty are still strongly prevalent in our professional and personal lives. How we see, think and explore trends is influencing the way we imagine possible future scenarios, eventually informing our decision. Today I am joined by a friend and colleague David Kalisz to go beyond the classic 2by2 matrix scenario exploring a novel approach to scenario design. David is associate professor at the department of management and strategy, Paris School of Business. He merges futures studies and economics.

Envisioning futures that are non-linear from the present isn’t that hard. Teams need different tools and reasoning to think laterally. By combining human ingenuity with nature’s genius, the possibilities of envisioning alternative futures are infinite. Nature is the only real model that shows us a truly sustainable process creation. Today I am joined by Ilaria Mazzoleni to explore the following question: How can teams use biomimicry to envision and design for sustainable futures?. Ilaria is an architect, founder of IM Studio which is based in Milano and Los Angeles and operates worldwide. Her expertise is in biomimicry, bio-inspired design and sustainable architecture.

Frank Snowden once said “all pandemics afflict societies through the specific vulnerabilities people have created by their relationships with the environment, other species, and each other.”. Today such vulnerabilities show the lack of inclusion, anticipation and adaptation of human beings. The economy and the society at large are mainly built off a single mindset. Diversity is often not included when thinking, designing and making decisions for and of the futures. Today I am joined by Jose Ramos who has extensive experience futures studies. Jose is founder at Action Foresight, and Senior Consulting Editor at Journal of Futures Studies.

Paradigms are shifting. We cannot stress it more: things are evolving for the good or the bad. Currently, we do not know how things will unfold in the long term. Too many uncertainties. Yet, we as a collective are required to engage in more sustainable and inclusive practices. When it comes to decision-makings, we, however are biased and decision makers can fall trap on them. I am pleased to be here with Betina Szkudlarek to explore more of this matter. Betina has consulted for the United Nations Alliance of Civilization and has extensive experience on sustainable and growth strategy.

Designers are the creators of new products, services, applications and so on. Simply put, designers are the creators of the things we interact in our daily life. Each new addition to the system means that known and unknown consequences will follow. Today I am joined by John Rousseau to explore the underlying steps of responsible design and the beauty of systems in flux. John is partner at Artefact, and leads teams in strategic foresight and speculative design.

We know that there is more than one possible future. Now we have adjusted to what has been called The New Normal, however we are asked to further adapt to a New New Normal. Today I am joined by Peter Black for a practical talk to discuss Deep Drivers of change. Peter is Director of Essential Foresight and has extensive expertise in foresight and emerging infectious diseases. Previously Peter was a veterinary epidemiologist and worked on emerging infectious diseases for 25 years.

“Hyper-Learning is cognitive, behavioral, and emotional. Yes, Hyper-Learning is behavioral. It is how you think, how you listen, how you connect and relate to people emotionally and how you collaborate. It starts with mindset.” I am citing Ed Hess who is here with me today to chat about human adaptation in the digital era and continuous high-quality learning-unlearning and relearning. Ed is professor of Business Administrator as Darden Graduate School of Business.

The future is Uncertain, Ambiguous, Unknown, Challenging, Novel. In the past months, how many times have you heard these ‘frightening’ words? Today I’m joined by Loes Damhof whose expertise relates to teaching the use-of-futures to innovate in the present. Loes teaches at Hanze University and is UNESCO Chair, Futures Literacy in Higher Education.

The 21st century is dictated by complex, ambiguous and fast changing societal scenarios. Innovation requires new reasoning capabilities to deal with these entangled dynamics. Today I’m joined by colleague and friend Massimo Garbuio to chat key reasoning to strategically design innovative futures. Massimo is Associate Professor in Entrepreneurship at the University of Sydney.