The New Abnormal

Series Four

This episode of 'The New Abnormal' podcast features the political scientist and university professor Sohail Inayatullah, who is the inaugural UNESCO Chair in Futures Studies at the Sejahtera Centre for Sustainability & Humanity, and instructs at the Metafuture think tank. 

He helps individuals and organisations create alternative and preferred futures, theorises how the future is constructed, and develops futures methodologies. 

Editor in Chief of the Journal of Futures Studies, he's also contributed to the Macmillan Encyclopedia of the Future, the Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, and the Oxford Encyclopedia of Peace. 

In this fascinating interview, he explains his renowned approach to 'Futures Thinking' and whilst doing so discusses the Futures Triangle, S-Curves, Causal Layered Analysis, and the Six Pillars approach...

The conversation also includes references to those such as Dator, Marx, and Hegel, whilst linking to issues such as Spiritual Cities, Poverty v Abundance, Wants vs Needs, Used & Disowned Futures, and Population Dynamics. 

So...I hope you enjoy listening to Sohail as much as I did!

Series Four

This episode of the New Abnormal podcast features Toronto-based Alexis Tennent, who is an innovative leader, design & foresight strategist. She firmly believes that foresight should not be confined to the realms of academia, politics, or privilege; rather, it should be an opportunity accessible to all. 

That's why Alexis aims to inspire inclusivity in foresight work, fostering empathy for those who engage in it voluntarily, despite how much it asks of us intellectually, psychologically, and emotionally. 

We discuss her work, including how she initiates the establishment of futures-oriented cultures within large-scale organisations, instilling a forward-thinking mindset across all levels, fostering innovation and adaptability. 

To do so, she leads cultural transformation, integrates innovation and design principles, and directs innovative programs. A current example of this is the work on which she's currently collaborating to 'Future with Nature'. 

Finally, we also discuss her MA project, where she explored memory, conceptions of time, and plurality in futures narratives...

Series Four 

This episode of The New Abnormal podcast features the renowned futurist and speculative designer, Monika Bielskyte. 

She's also the founder of Protopia Futures, a life-centric design and collaborative foresight platform that centres previously marginalised perspectives. The project's mission is to inspire a new wave of future visions showcasing how a transcultural and interdisciplinary approach, alongside disability and neurodivergence inclusion, can foster regenerative economies for the decades to come and chart an actionable path towards a positively interdependent and compassionate future world.

Her work is firmly anchored in contextual, complex realities on the ground, rather than one-size-fits-all techno-solutionism, prone to short-term hype cycles and rapid obsolescence. As a speculative designer, Monika prototypes culturally expansive, socially and environmentally engaged future world designs that take lessons from visually and narratively captivating Science Fiction entertainment and apply them to make real-world future literacy more compelling. 

She's a deeply interesting individual, so I found it fascinating listening to her viewpoints and hope you do too! 

Series Four

This episode of The New Abnormal features the leading social philosopher Roman Krznaric, whose books focus on the power of ideas to create change. His international bestsellers, which include The Good Ancestor, Empathy, and Carpe Diem Regained, have been published in more than twenty-five languages.

His new book History for Tomorrow is out now, and in it he unearths fascinating insights and inspiration from the last 1000 years of world history that could help us confront the most urgent challenges facing humanity in the twenty-first century. 

Roman believes that history offers a vision of radical hope that could turn out to be our most vital tool for surviving and thriving in the turbulent decades ahead. We therefore discuss a wide range of viewpoints that he illuminates in a suitably dynamic manner. I found it to be a fascinating conversation, and hope you will too!

Series Four

This episode of The New Abnormal podcast features the designer, researcher, and educator Lesley-Ann Noel, who is the author of Design Social Change and co-editor of The Black Experience in Design. She’s also created several design tools for critical reflection, such as The Designer’s Critical Alphabet and the Positionality Wheel. 

Lesley-Ann has a bachelor’s in Industrial Design from Universidade Federal do Paraná in Brazil, a Master’s in Business Administration from the University of the West Indies in Trinidad and Tobago, and a PhD in Design from North Carolina State University. She was awarded honorary doctorates for service to the field of design by the University of the Arts London and the Pacific Northwest College of Art. 

Lesley-Ann is the Dean of Design at OCAD University (Aug 2024). Before OCAD-U, she taught at North Carolina State University, Tulane University, Stanford University, and the University of the West Indies.

In this deeply interesting conversation, she outlines her dynamic work, and discusses her book which has just been selected by McKinsey as one of their '2024 Annual Book Recommendations' as chosen by CEO's, founders, editors in chief, and other global leaders... 

Series Four

This episode of The New Abnormal podcast features Falk Fuhrmann, Executive Director at Shanghai HuiLue Business Consulting Co, and Visiting Professor teaching International Brand Communication & Innovation, Consumer Behaviour & Insights, at the China Academy of Art in Hangzhou.

He also is an award-winning creative strategist with more than 20 years of experience, who led the strategic planning department of TBWA when they opened their Berlin office. Later as head of strategy with DDB, he developed & championed the agency’s philosophy of creative business solutions. For nearly a decade, Falk led strategy development for P&G in CEMEA, APAC & Greater China. 

So, we discuss all of the above in this fascinating discussion, which naturally takes in Daoism and Confucianism. Re: the former (and perhaps the latter) we had to struggle our way through some loud building activity in the background during some of this recording, so please channel your inner-harmony at those stages!

Series Four

This episode of The New Abnormal features Julian Boulding, Owner of The Network One. They provide “open source creativity” and communications services from around 1200 independent agencies in 109 countries, worldwide. 

His annual review of the Cannes Lions Festival is always eagerly sought after, and the actual version will be sent out after this podcast goes live. In it, Julian discusses the latest industry trends and issues as discussed at this years event. 

So, if you want to hear whether Cannes has changed (and if so, for better or worse) along with his views on agencies that are on the way up and those on the way down, the next big thing in client/agency relationships, which international markets are the ones to watch, and whether an average day involved a five hour lunch when Julian joined the industry, then please listen in. 

Series Four

This episode of The New Abnormal features Catherine Roy, Foresight & Design Leader at Thales. 

She sets their foresight and design strategy, and helps to drive futures thinking & business growth. Overall, she aligns futures, business, product and service strategy with the needs of users / consumers in order to achieve goals. 

In this podcast, she explains her approach to the above, by illuminating some dynamic case histories regarding projects covering foresight, risk and innovation. 

Along the way, we discuss issues including social acceptability, soft power, storytelling, co-creation and destruction, hype cycles, future consciousness, shapeshifting, meaningful disruption, and dynamic leadership. 

Oh, and why it's important for futurists to 'find your tribe' within an organisation...

Series Four

This episode of 'The New Abnormal' podcast features Chloe Markowicz, Editor at Contagious, which helps agencies and brands supercharge their marketing by learning from the world's most creative and effective companies and campaigns.  They do that via their IQ intelligence platform, consulting services, training and events. 

We discuss a range of issues including the latest 'Contagious Pioneers' report, which highlights agencies that set the standard for creative excellence in advertising and marketing - and where the likes of BETC (Paris) / Colenso BBDO (Auckland) / Gut (Buenos Aires) / Howatson+Company (Sydney) / Lucky Generals (London) / Ogilvy India (Mumbai) / Rethink (Toronto) / Uncommon Creative Studio (London) were the winners.

Chloe also discusses industry trends, big thinkers / dreamers / doers, and the imminent Cannes Lions Festival, where the Contagious team will be making a valiant attempt at working, in between partying at the 'Contagious Villa'. 

She also discusses how to break into the industry, and the experiences that led her to editing everyone's favourite industry title, which exists to inspire and enable contagious creativity.

Series Four

This episode of #TheNewAbnormal podcast features Paolo Gallo, a renowned executive coach, bestselling author and keynote speaker. He's the author of two superb books: 'The Compass and the Radar - the art of building a rewarding career while remaining true to yourself' and the newly published 'The Seven Games of Leadership - navigating the inner journey of leaders'.  In his dynamic career he's been chief human resources officer at World Economic Forum in Geneva, chief learning officer at the World Bank in Washington, and director human resources at European Bank for Reconstruction & Development in London, with previous experiences at International Finance Corporation in Washington, D.C. and Citigroup in London, New York and Milan, his hometown. So, in the interview we discuss both of his books, and his fascinating viewpoints on issues including authenticity, ethics, trust, change, development, and reputation. Paolo is a deeply interesting individual, and I hope you enjoy listening to him as much as I did!