May 5, 20222 min read

The Daily Habits of Futures Thinkers

A. FUTURES THINKING — MINDSETS AND BEHAVIOURS

#1 Entertaining wild cards & possibility

#2 Think in time continuums & likelihoods

#3 Have a beginner’s mindset

#4 Optimism & Can-doism

#5 Establish Status Quo Convention … then Find the Gap

#6 Pursue Adjacent Rabbit Holes…Just Don’t Get Stuck There

SUPPLEMENT: How much time do you spend explicitly (on average) improving your future thinking craft?

#7. Variety is the spice of the future mind

#8 Polarity teases out insight from the extremes

#9 Novel starting points and experiences

#10 History doesn’t repeat in the future ... but it does inform it

#11 Scan for multi-disciplinary signals- avoid the echo chambers

#12 Distinguish between accepted wisdom and momentum

#13 Journaling

#14 Change The Process

#15 Radar

#16 Rank Value & Importance

#17 Be the Multi-tool, don’t always be the hammer

#18 Lead other lives

VERBATIMS: What Daily Habits Do you Perform as a Strong Future Thinker?

#19 Evidence Walls — create the 360° view

#20 Domain Mapping

#21 Future is Fusion — 1+1=3, 3+1=9

#22 Sensory Triggers — hearing, small, sight, taste & touch springboards

#23 Sleep Solutions — the power of naps, recovery and waking diaries

#24 Keep a Misfit Toys Pile

#25 Teams & Community, Socialize but Don’t Compromise

#26 Masterminds — Peer to Peer, Idea Genesis & Co-Creation

#27 Children - The Unvarnished, Unjaded, Curious Mind

#28 Flexibility > Expert — better ability to see new dynamics at play

#29 Diversity of Minds — ways of thinking, ways of doing, genders and cultures

#30 Honesty leading to Creative Conflict, Productive Tension and Greater Self-awareness

BONUS: When is your best investment in future thinking done?