Talks | Hinesight

Podcast on Being a Futurist

January 3, 2013 by Andy Hines Leave a Comment

I recently did a podcast on what it’s like to be a futurist and various other futurist-related topics. The interview was conducted by Hope Katz-Gibbs of BeInkandescent. Among the specifics we covered:

What it means to be a futurist
The popular book, ConsumerShift, and what the future of consumerism looks like
The study for MTV about the future of youth happiness
The future studies program at the University of Houston: Who attends, what he teaches, and what kind of jobs are out there for futurists
Previous work at Kellogg, and type of work a futurist does for large corporations
And Hines’s own plans for the future

– Andy Hines

Filed Under: Media, Talks Tagged With: BeInkandescent, futurist, hines, podcast

Talking about the Future

October 31, 2012 by Andy Hines Leave a Comment

I recorded a podcast with Thunderstruck Radio last week on a wide range of topics about the future. Host Sancho Jones asked that we pay particular attention to positive developments regarding the future. His experience is that too often people are focusing on what’s wrong.

Among the topics we discussed in the hour-long interview were values shifts, new technologies, what’s next after capitalism, the future of work, globalization and America’s role in it. We also discussed the state of foresight as it is being practiced (or not) in organizations. Enjoy! Andy Hines

Filed Under: Foresight, Talks Tagged With: capitalism, foresight, globalization, technology, values, work

The Evolution of Integral Futures @ WFS

September 1, 2012 by Andy Hines Leave a Comment

Here are the slides from the session that Terry Collins and I did at the WFS Toronto conference on the Evolution of Integral Futures: WFS integral futures hines and collins. Andy Hines

Filed Under: Foresight, Talks Tagged With: evolution, foresight, integral futures, terry collins, World Future Society

An Insiders Guide to Foresight Consulting

September 1, 2012 by Andy Hines 2 Comments

Hello to all who attended the workshop that Riel and I gave today (and hello to regular blog readers as well!). Here are the promised slides from the session: WFS Insiders guide andy slides and WFS insiders guide riel slides. Andy Hines

Filed Under: Foresight, Talks Tagged With: foresight consulting, insiders guide, riel miller, World Future Society

Workshopping and Speaking at World Future Society this weekend

September 1, 2012 by Andy Hines Leave a Comment

I’m heading off to the World Future Society’s Annual Conference in Toronto this weekend. I previously posted about the presence of ourHouston Futures Community. I’d like to highlight my presentations here:

An Insiders Guide to Foresight Consulting, Friday July 27 from 9-5

Fellow APFer Riel Miller and are doing a one-day, intensive Master course covering the essentials of foresight consulting from our extensive global activities serving public and private sector clients.

The Evolution of Integral Futures, Sunday July 29, from 9-10:30

Terry Collins, an adjunct with the Houston Futures Studies program, and I are doing follow-up of our article inWorld Future Review in June/July 2010, “Evolution of Integral Futures,” which will include a history and presentation of the evolution of the Integral Futures phases….and beyond.

Hope to see you there! Andy Hines

Filed Under: Foresight, Talks Tagged With: foresight consulting, insiders guide, integral futures, riel miller, terry collins, World Future Society

Houston Futures Studies at the World Future Society General Assembly 2012

September 1, 2012 by Andy Hines Leave a Comment

The University of Houston’s Futures Studies program—as always–is well-represented at this year’s World Future Society General Assembly. The event is being held in Toronto from July 27-29 at the Sheraton Centre with over 1,000 participants expected.

Futures Studies’ faculty, alums, and Advisory Board members are leading four one-day pre-conference courses.

Introduction to Futures Studies, Peter Bishop
An Insider’s Guide to Foresight Consulting: A Case-Study Approach, Andy Hines (with Riel Miller)
Scenario Planning: How to Build and Use Scenarios, Alum Adam Gordon
Wiser Futures: Using Futures Tools to Better Understand and Create the Future, Advisory Board Member Clem Bezold

They are also leading nine regular conference sessions, joined by current students as well:

The Best of Houston Futures, Dr. Peter Bishop, moderator, with Jason Swanson, student, Learning Management Systems: Machines That Think; Josh Lindenger, student, Locative Media: The Internet Always Knows Where You Are; Emily Empel, Graduate, and Heather Schlegel, Student, A Systems Model of the Demographic Transition
Chemical Brain Preservation: How to Live “Forever,” Alum John Smart
The Future of Shopping: An Immersive Experience, Alum Emily Empel & Current Student Heather Schlegel
Global Futures Collective Intelligence System Advisory Board Member Ted Gordon (with Jerry Glenn)
Our Role in Shaping the Future, Alum & Former Faculty Jennifer Jarratt (with John Mahaffie)
Scouting the Future with the Implications Wheel, Advisory Board Member Joel Barket
The Evolution of Integral Futures, Faculty Terry Collins and Andy Hines
Primary Care 2025 Advisory Board Member Clem Bezold
Models of Futures Education for the 21st Century, Alum Verne Wheelright (with others)
Networked Government: The 21st Century Agency, Alum John Jackson (with others)

We are pleased to see our community well represented and look forward to a great conference! Andy Hines

Filed Under: Education, Foresight, Talks Tagged With: conference, Futures Studies, houston futures, World Future Society

Talking Energy and Environment in Houston

September 1, 2012 by Andy Hines Leave a Comment

I enjoyed being a [small] part of The Texas Tribune Festival On the Road: A Symposium on Energy and the Environment held at the University of Houston Campus last week. I hosted a table discussion on the future of energy and and environment over lunch. I introduced the “Long Boom” and “Soft Path” scenario archetypes to stimulate the discussion. We ranged over a variety of topics including the possibility of a nuclear revival, noting the potential environmentalist dilemma (CO2 or nuke waste?) Two visiting students from overseas enhanced the conversation with their polite incredulity at some of the “excesses” in US approaches to energy consumption while noting the incredible research going on here and the possibilities for a breakthrough in alternative energy. A great event — look forward to next years. Andy Hines

Filed Under: Foresight, Science & Technology, Talks Tagged With: archetypes, energy, environment, future, long boom, soft path

Exchanging ideas about organizational foresight

September 1, 2012 by Andy Hines Leave a Comment

I’m looking forward to talking about ConsumerShift to the member organizations of the Learning Forum’s Foresight Council on Friday March 16th in Austin. It’s always fun to talk about values, but I’m particularly pleased to see the emergence of this new forum for organizations to get together and “talk foresight.” I’m a big believer in the value of organizational foresight – no surprise there – but I think we’re just scratching the surface of its practice in that setting. I recognize that every organization practices foresight, but so few are doing it on a systematic basis and taking advantage of the concepts and tools of professional foresight. When I was working as an organizational futurist a decade ago, I always found it tremendously valuable to exchange “war stories” with my counterparts in other organizations. To exchange ideas on what worked and what didn’t, what happened when I tried this….etc. Valuable stuff. Not only does this strengthen the prospects for the participating organizations, it also lays the groundwork for the spread into new organizations. As we know people don’t spend their entire careers with one organization, so when they move on to the next, they bring their foresight experience with them, and thus a new organization is exposed. And on it goes…..we hope!

For more information about the Learning Forum, please visit www.thelearningforum.org

Andy Hines

Filed Under: Foresight, Talks, Values Tagged With: consulting, foresight, futurist, insider, learning forum, organizational futurist

Guest blogging with 3 Geeks and a Law Blog

September 1, 2012 by Andy Hines Leave a Comment

Just did a guest blog post “Future View: Aligning Offerings with Changing Values” for my friends at 3 Geeks and a Law Blog. I met Greg Lambert, one of the “geeks,” at a talk for the American Association of Law Librarians back in November. Greg, his colleagues Toby and Lisa, have put together one of the finest blogs I’ve come across — well worth a visit. They have an amazing following and I’m grateful for the opportunity to share with their audience. Libraries are going through a period of major transformational change and I’ve had the opportunity to work with several groups, and this group was among the sharpest in terms of thinking about how they need to align themselves with the future. Enjoy! Andy Hines

Filed Under: Foresight, Talks Tagged With: AALL, future, law, law librarians, values

The Future of Professional Associations

August 31, 2012 by Andy Hines Leave a Comment

I’m looking forward to talking with the American Association of Law Librarians next week at their Future Summit. They are doing what most associations should probably doing about now — looking at the forces impacting the profession and members they support, and the forces impacting professional associations in general. It is hard to imagine a situation where professional associations will escape “unscathed” in the next decade or so. As is typical of exploring the future, the situation provides both threat and opportunity. Our mantra as futurists is that the sooner you explore, the better the odds that you successfully deal with the threats and take advantage of the opportunities. The longer you wait, the less leverage you have.

The approach I’m taking with the talk is to look first at some large scale social and technological changes (especially communications). Fortunately, my work on changing values in ConsumerShift gives me a model for looking at change in the social landscape. And I’ve worked on lots of projects exploring changes in communications technologies, a popular topic among clients over the last decade. Along the way, we’ll identify implications for their professional association.

Next we’ll look at changes in the profession and how this will impact the professional association. As noted earlier, in most cases there will be threats and opportunities. It will typically involved professions that are looking to reduce costs (under pressure from their clients) and looking to off-load “non-essential” functions. This, I think, is where the opportunities may arise for professional associations. Can they find a way to take on some or all of the non-essential functions and deliver in a cost effective-way by leveraging across the profession? For example, one of my surprises in the “Dozen Surprises about the Future of Work” piece involves who will do training in the future. Employers are increasingly looking to off-load this burden. Can professional associations take on more of this (they already typically do some)? And so on.

Finally, we’ll look at key issues of the association itself, in particular, attracting, retaining, and developing leadership. Many associations are facing a familiar challenge: the “young” people aren’t as interested or interested at all. So, the association membership is aging. They recognize the challenge but need help in strategizing — there are no easy answers, but that is what strategy is all about–dealing with the challenging questions.

So, I applaud AALL for recognizing the challenges in front of them and asking me to kick off their strategy session. Perhaps other associations will follow their example? Andy Hines

Filed Under: Talks Tagged With: AALL, future, professional associations

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