You, The Futurist

In this article, futurist Tracey Follows, CEO of Futuremade and author of "The Future of You," shares her insight into strategic foresight, and how we can use it to consider our own personal futures - what they might look like and how we can shape them.

Preparing for the Future

For the last decade or so, I have been helping organizations of all types in a variety of sectors to better prepare themselves for the future.   

Back in 2015, I was one of very few futurists visibly working in the corporate sector in the U.K., mainly commissioned by marketing directors, innovation labs or strategic planning departments to help solve specific problems.  

But during the pandemic, and since, more people have come to better appreciate futures and foresight.  

This is partly due to the shock many felt when the world seemingly changed overnight. It is also because we are culturally more orientated toward the future than the past now – busy ripping up traditions and replacing them with newly acquired belief systems. 

And, while people were stuck at home in 2020 and 2021, communicating by Zoom, many took advantage of online study in the futures field, learning the techniques and tools of strategic foresight.  

But, something else has changed too... 

 From Bitcoin to Flatter Organizations

I've worked for a long time with organizations, but now I'm working with individuals too. I'm doing as much work around Personal Futures as I am in Corporate Futures, employing strategic foresight more widely.  

I am riding what I see as a megatrend, responsible for a shift in power away from institutions and toward individuals.  

This is the "Decentralization Trend."

As the internet-based connectivity between people, things and places fully emerges, we're leaving behind linear, hierarchical, top-down systems. We're embracing more peer-to-peer, participatory, flatter ones instead.  

You might first have seen this appear in the world of decentralized finance. 

Cryptocurrencies, based on new protocols and trust-less machine networks, delivered new systems. These didn't require a central authority to grant permission to participate. Participation was automatic, and on a level playing field. It spawned Bitcoin, Ethereum and a whole host of new ways of doing things – and a host of new things to which we now assign value. 

Decentralization is not confined to finance. It is uprooting the creative and media industries, reinventing fashion, manufacturing and many other traditional industries too. It will also eventually reinvent the way we think about organizing business.  

 Who Sets the Rules? 

Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs) have been an interesting experiment in what might happen when most participants in a group, club or business have a say in its governance.  

With the invention of crypto tokens, those who are engaged enough in a network to hold them can have a say in how the group is run. This leads to flatter, fairer organizational structures – something many companies should be thinking about as emerging issues of intergenerational fairness increase.   

This trend also signifies another important change: that individuals will have more say in how organizations are run and what their rules are. Individuals will be in more need of foresight and futures capabilities than the organization itself. 

Practicing Foresight

More people are opting for self-employment or need to be more flexible and adaptive in their roles and responsibilities in employment.

They need to be able to plan for alternatives rather than relying on patterns from the past. And they'll need to understand foresight practices, and apply them confidently in their everyday life and work. 

When considering this, the best place to start is to think about your own role in the world.

• What are you trying to achieve?  
• What are you here to create?  
• And what is it that you'll look back on in the future?  
• Will you feel fulfilled?  

The future is plural. There are many alternative possible futures open to us. We create them and we also create a preference for one over another, which in turn leads to the future we end up with.  

What Future Do You Want?

If you don't know what future you want to create for yourself, how could you possibly even begin to think about the future you would like to create for your business, your brand, or your organization?  

Understanding your role in creating the future of something bigger than yourself begins with understanding and creating your own role in the future – the future of yourself.  

So, when you hear doom-laden predictions about the future, know that that future is in your hands.  

It's in the hands and hearts of every one of us to create the future we want – both in our professional and our personal lives. Human agency is all we really have, but when it is put to use it is the most effective resource in the world.  

So, think about how you will use your agency to create the best future for you. 

What's Next?

How do you navigate your way toward the future you want   ? 

First, you need to get a handle on your current situation. Start from where you are. Then, develop your understanding of where you want to be or where you want your team to be. A great way to do this is by using Personal Goal Setting   .

Then, plan toward that future. You won't be able to foresee every possibility, but if you stay curious and plan as far as possible for disruption, you stand a much greater chance of getting the future you want. 

About the Author

Tracey Follows is a futurist thinker and strategist, the CEO of Futuremade, and author of "The Future of You." You can find out more about her at traceyfollows.com, and discover more about futurist trends impacting our world by listening to her podcast.