Frederik Pferdt was the chief innovation evangelist of Google. That is why I was very interested in “What Is Next Is Now: How to Live Future Ready”. As someone who is into future trends, I always seek new insights.
The opportunity in the ambiguousness and uncertainty of the future
The book is about seeing opportunity in the ambiguousness and uncertainty of the future, being tuned into the future, becoming a driver of the future rather than a passenger, creating a future-ready mind state, and igniting the potential the future represents. In a future-ready mind state, you’re tuned up in these key dimensions: optimism, openness, curiosity, experimentation, empathy, and your Dimension X. That is radical optimism, unreserved openness, compulsive curiosity, perpetual experimentation, expansive empathy, and your superpower.
Countless possible futures exis
Where the future is plural, countless possible futures exist for you and the communities of which you’re a part. There is a difference between THE future and thinking about what should happen in YOUR future. Predicting is difficult, but you can always control your response to events. The roller coaster will roll, the river will run, storms will rage, and the chips (or quarters) will fall where they want to fall. But you always have a choice.
Nothing new
The book then covers creativity, connecting the dots (as many dots as possible, to get some of those dots, subscribe to my mind candy), future backward vs past forward, https://www.ronimmink.com/leadership-is-about-predicting-the-future/, skipping the negativity bias (I am a fan of PMA), saying yes, and yes, and, doing premortems, reframing, questioning, purposeful, thoughtful interactions, transparency, awareness, embracing uncertainty, authenticity, sharing, managing attention, seeking diversity, best worst ideas, stepping over assumptions, using all your senses, embracing the unknown, being amazed as often as possible, everything a draft/prototype, etc. Nothing I have not read before. No new insights. There are lots of better books on this topic. Have a look at my book about books on this topic.
Rubbish in, rubbish out
Ultimately, it is always about rubbish in, rubbish out, the information you consume every day (most are at the level of Mcdonald’s), your information dashboard, your strategic filter, taking a position on the pendulum of change, and having an active mind to think through the scenarios, using a number of techniques to assess the potential impact.
Get future ready
That is why I invented this programme. Set up a call here to get you future ready.
