Quotable quotes

Most futures work still treats imagination as something that happens in the head. But the brain doesn’t work that way.

We tend to talk about futures and foresight as analytical capabilities: the ability to scan signals, build scenarios, or anticipate change. But I’m increasingly convinced that one of the most important futures skills is something else entirely: collective intelligence, or the ability of a group to think, imagine, and decide well together under uncertainty.

Most futures work still treats imagination as something that happens in the head. But the brain doesn’t work that way.

We often talk about futures work as if it happens in a room. But place is never neutral. When we work with place consciously, it becomes a co-facilitator.

We’re wired to treat uncertainty like a threat. Not metaphorically. Neurologically. Ambiguity scrambles our attention, tightens our thinking, and makes us reach for quick answers.

In futures work, hope is often misunderstood. It’s sometimes treated as optimism, a belief that things will turn out well. But in complex systems, that kind of hope rarely survives contact with reality.

Have you ever noticed how the most compelling facilitators, teachers, and change-makers all seem to be good storytellers? 

I often say that my work is oriented toward hopeful, sustainable futures. People sometimes hear that as optimism, a belief that things will turn out fine. That’s not what I mean.

When I’m facilitating futures work, I’m obviously paying attention to the process: time, flow, activities. But a lot of my attention is elsewhere.

I often describe my work as oriented toward hopeful, sustainable futures. When describing my work this way, people sometimes assume that means I only work with organisations, institutions, and communities who already see themselves as “doing good”.

When people struggle to imagine different futures, it’s tempting to say they lack imagination.I don’t think that’s usually the problem.