by While I will rarely comment on current politics, I was moved and disappointed to see today’s “A Reversal on End-of-Life Planning. It is sad, troubling, fill-in-your-favorite descriptor to see that discussion around important future issues such as end-of-life planning has been effectively shut down. It reminded me of the roots of futures studies when Herman Kahn introduced scenario planning as a policy tool enabling the discussion of difficult issues, such as the various policy options for dealing with the possibility of nuclear annihilation, aka “thinking the unthinkable.” Today, it seems, rather than discuss difficult policy options, they are simply removed. Doubleplusbad. Andy Hines
About Andy Hines
Dr. Andy Hines is Program Coordinator at the University of Houston’s Graduate Program in Foresight, bringing together the experience he earned as an organizational, consulting, and academic futurist. He is also speaking, workshopping, and consulting through his firm Hinesight.
Before that, he was Managing Director of Social Technologies/Innovaro, and served as an Adjunct Professor with the university since 2004. Hines enjoyed earlier careers as a consulting and organizational futurist. He was a partner with Coates & Jarratt, Inc., a think tank and consulting firm that specialized in the study of the future. He was also Futurist & Senior Ideation Leader at Dow Chemical with a mission of using futures tools and knowledge to turn ideas into new business opportunities. Before that, Hines established and ran the Global Trends Program for the Kellogg Company.
Hines is motivated by a professional hunger to make foresight practical and useful, and he believes that foresight can help deliver the insight that is so needed in today’s organizations and the world. His goal, he says, is to infect as many change agents as possible with this message. Thus, he has honed a skill set designed to make foresight more actionable in organizations.
In this pursuit, he has authored five books: Teaching about the Future: The Basics of Foresight Education (Palgrave Macmillan, 2012); ConsumerShift: How Changing Values Are Reshaping the Consumer Landscape (No Limits Publishing, 2011); Thinking About the Future: Guidelines for Strategic Foresight (Social Technologies, 2007); 2025: Science and Technology Reshapes US and Global Society (Oak Hill, 1997); and Managing Your Future as an Association (ASAE, 1994) and has another in the hands of publishers: Teaching about the Future: The Basics of Foresight Education. He has also authored dozens of articles, speeches, and workshops, including the 2003 Emerald Literati Awards’ Outstanding Paper accolade for best article published in Foresight for “An Audit for Organizational Futurists” and the 2008 award for “Scenarios: The State of the Art.” He has appeared on several radio and television programs, PBS Houston, KRIV-26 News, and the CBS “Early Show.” He also co-founded and is former Chair of the Association of Professional Futurists.
I have to agree with you Andy. End of life issues need to be discussed with patients and family members so that we can make informed decisions. There are also bio-ethical issues that are being ignored if we don’t have the patient included in making responsible decisions.
hey guy, nice to hear from you. Yes, indeed. I teach an undergrad class where we talk about this stuff. Scary to think it’s a taboo subject where it matters most!