Richard Watson (author of Future Minds and Future Files) is today's featured guest.

Topics: How sales people are hurt by cell phones and the Internet; how we are all rapidly killing privacy; the excessive pandering to gradeschoolers; the bad (and some good) aspects of telecommuting; the elusive paperless office; reading on paper verses on screens; why stupid things we post online remain searchable forever; the benefits of moderate chaos; and the eternal question: If a clean desk is a clean mind, is an empty desk an empty mind?

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the November 24, 2010 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 43 minutes] This interview was recorded on November 13, 2010.

Richard Watson is a writer, speaker and consultant who advises organisations on the future, focusing particularly on scenario planning and the impact of trends on long-term strategy. He has worked on scenario planning, horizon scanning and innovation projects with, amongst others, IBM, Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, Nestle, Samsung and The Department of Education (in the United Kingdom and Australia). He is the author of the best selling book Future Files (sixteen worldwide editions) and writes for a number of leading business publications worldwide. His latest book launches today (November 17, 2010) and is titled: Future Minds; and subtitled: How the digital age is changing our minds, why this matters and what we can do about it.