Fresh Perspectives on the Future from APF Emerging Fellows

I’m pleased to point you to an excellent source of fresh thinking: the APF Emerging Fellows blog. The goal is to encourage those earlier in the foresight careers to share their thoughts, benefitting them in terms of gaining experience, but perhaps even more benefitting us in hearing their perspectives. The site has brief bios of the fellows: Sandra Geitz of Australia, Alireza Hejazi of Iran, Adam Jorlen of Sweden, Simeon Spearman of the United States, and Bridgette Engeler Newbury, Australia.  The program was organized and is led by Terry Collins working with a core team of Wendy Schultz, Garry Golden, Peter Hayward, Jeremy Mancuso and Andy Hines. I ‘m happy to help support this good cause!

Sandra talks about the topics of emergence and framing in her posts. She begins at the beginning! From her own introduction to foresight to framing a foresight project and then to deconstructing and reconstructing a project using CLA, and thinking about success — she reminds us the importance to “look before we leap.”

Alireza has posted a series around professionalization and certification. These are issues APF is currently engaged with, so his contributions have been a useful input to that discussion. It’s kinda funny that APF is discussing its role in professionalization, given that it is a professional association. It’s more understandable given its more informal origins, and now that it’s been around a decade, its turning to some of these more formal issues, which Alireza discusses in his posts.

Adam Jorlen talks about the different roles of futurists in his posts, from futurist as trickster to futurist as interpreter, and has noted that futurists have characteristics such as amorphous, incoherent, uncertain and emergent. In the trickster role, the futurist is a figure who works between organizations, cultures and paradigms. Adam also ranges to the practical side in discussing new business models for futurists.

Simeon has developed a theme around how futurists can more effectively engage the public. He brought our attention to the STEPPS model of Jonah Berger to explain how ideas spread: Social Currency, Triggers, Emotion, Public, Practical Value, and Stories. He also points out the opportunity for futurists in capitalizing on the “Slow Media” Movement. His awareness of the leading edge of media is a valuable resource for us.

Brigitte talks about the influence of design thinking on foresight in exploring ways for us to think more imaginatively about the future, as well as exploring how design can influence our perceptions.

These five emerging fellows have provided us with a delightful range of ideas and insights – special thanks to Terry Collins for herding the cats to make this happen! Andy Hines