Can you help me reset my room?
- Hi, are you busy?
- I wouldn’t answer if I couldn’t talk. How are you doing?
- I’m finishing a presentation for my conference talk tomorrow. The flight was a nightmare, and now this hotel is not working. Can you help me reset my room? I can’t focus without my settings.
- Have you tried talking to the front desk?
She takes a deep breath.
- Yes, but I keep getting signed out of all my accounts every time I try to do anything. I really could use a fresh pair of eyes.
- Coming right up. Can you share your view?
- One sec.
- Anyway, what is your presentation about?
- Pricing strategies in the machine-to-machine economy.
- Still teaching toasters which energy provider to buy power from to burn my toast most cost-effectively?
She sighs, scratching her temple.
- Trust me, it’s a nice change after years of modelling inflation for magical weapons marketplaces.
- Aha! You are too tired. Top left corner. You forgot to turn off your passport after the trip. It seems that your stopover airport was under a jurisdiction enforcing data deduplication.
She nervously plays with the suitcase zipper.
- Sorry, I’m so nervous about the keynote that I might have missed it.
- Get some rest. Can you try again?
The room loads updated lighting with a subtle flicker as projections gently rotate into the walls and windows.
- Wow, you still use Grandpa’s cabin as a work theme setting?
- Always! Some things just don’t change. I can’t thank you enough for helping me.
- Of course, you can! Just come back with a big box of their famous chocolates.
Hello Practical Futurists,
Welcome to your weekly practice, where we use futures thinking and product sci-fi to improve your strategic imagination and get your leadership future-ready.
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Start here to make the most of your time if this is your first
rodeoedition.
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Weekly Self-Reflection Prompts
Let's make the products and services mentioned in this week’s story even more relatable by grounding them in your personal life.
Use this quote as a starting point for extra inspiration for each prompt.
The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today.
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Personal life reflection prompts
Name three things you learned from similar mistakes and one trick you have to prevent them.
How do you express gratitude to those who help you, and for which of those relationships were you most grateful recently?
What was the last technological solution you adopted to streamline the daily routine that actually works?
Share the single best piece of advice you have ever received for dealing with stress before important events.
What two things that currently don’t work this way you would like to be able to turn on and off at work or at home?
Great.
Next, let’s switch to the context of the industry, organisation, team, service or product you are working with.
Professional life reflection prompts
How did the last time technology failed you at a critical moment improve your contingency planning in professional settings?
What is your favourite strategy to maintain productivity when adapting to new environments, such as hotels or workplaces?
If everything in your workspace could turn into a screen, what three adjustments would you make to your current setup?
What experience do you share with people just starting in your industry to help them address unforeseen technical issues during critical events?
In what two ways do you leverage your personal story to shape your leadership style?
What is your team’s all-time favourite stress management technique for pre-event anxiety and peak performance?
Name a leader or a company whose work is a masterclass in a cross-disciplinary approach to innovation in your field.
And that's everything we have for today.
Don't forget to explore previous editions if you want even more inspiration.
Have a great week, and see you in the next one.
Pawel Halicki
PS. If you’re enjoying Practical Futures, will you take 5 seconds to forward this story to inspire a fellow leader?
It helps us to grow the community and may one day empower more strategic thinkers to lead in the age of AI.