It was quite a different evening for me because I was able to talk to two people about futures thinking.
It didn’t even start as a classroom lesson. I only began by sharing what I learned from a course I took at the Urgent Optimists. What is Urgent Optimists? Here’s a blog post where I discussed it in detail and why you should join.
So, what story did I tell them exactly?
I first asked them how confident they felt about things changing in the next ten years and to rate it from 1 (less likely) to 10 (very likely). They responded differently (as expected), but both acknowledged that things could be different in the next ten years.
Then, I started talking about how the pandemic used to be unimaginable ten years ago for most people, but not to those who participated in the game called Superstruct, led by game designer and futurist Jane McGonigal.
What’s fascinating when talking about the future is that sometimes, we don’t think much about it. We’re often caught up with all the worries of the here and now to bother about things that are still far off.
How do we make plans for the future in an age of seemingly endless shocks? How can we feel at peace or secure today, when we are constantly bracing ourselves for the next “unimaginable” event or “unthinkable” change? How do we feel hope for our future, when it seems impossible to predict what the world will be like next week, let alone next year?
Now, are you ready in a world where any future is possible? Even the ones you think unimaginable and unthinkable?
If you want to know how to make futures thinking a part of your life, here are my recommendations:
- Take the Futures Thinking specialization in Coursera. (And you’ll be taught by Jane McGonigal! 🎉)
- Join us at the Urgent Optimists here.
- Read Jane McGonigal’s book Imaginable: How to See the Future Coming and Feel Ready for Anything―Even Things that Seem Impossible Today.
What are you waiting for?
jessa 