Can you print us more time?
The screen flickers irritably as the testing AI struggles again to inject the data. His eyes narrow. Hundreds of thousands of micro-tension sensors embedded in the fresh concrete refuse to respond, leaving the half-formed vertical parking structure stubbornly silent. He rubs the back of his neck. His coworker leans in, concerned.
- What’s wrong?
- No way these readings are accurate. With stress levels this high, the surface would be cracking already.
- Section 59 was perfectly mixed. Maybe the concrete is not ready.
- We poured it…
He taps the desk impatiently, and the timeline overlays his view. His mouth tightens.
- Concrete’s overdue. We hit the 30-day mark already.
- Exactly. It should be rock solid by now.
- It was raining a lot, though.
- It wasn’t raining during the pour or directly on it. Storm season humidity’s already factored in. It shouldn’t matter.
- So why are the sensors not responding?
- No clue, but I don’t like it.
- Me neither. Another delay will put us close to just-in-time construction.
- And?
- And just-in-time construction has not been invented yet.
They share a nervous laugh.
- Okay. I completed the remote reboot procedure twice. No effect. The parking is blind without those sensors. Who’s on site today?
- Mid-week shift. You know most operators are remote today.
- You’re not helping. It’s a massive project. There is always someone taking care of the printers or the heavies.
- Sorry. I’m on it.
- There should be at least one person there.
- Yes, I can see that. There's an engineer on-site…
- Great! He will reboot it manually.
- But…
- Whatever comes after “but” is never good.
- Yeah, about that... he can’t authorise a full override.
- Are you kidding? Shoot. We need those sensors up and running today to finish diagnostics on schedule. Can you print us more time?
- Sure, the encrypted fabricator is online. I can have an override key printed in minutes. Can you authorise the clearance encoding?
He taps the sequence into the console.
- I talked him through the procedure. He'll grab the key in thirty.
- In thirty? Do you know what I can do in thirty?
- Don’t say reboot again.
- Iced americano and a jumbo muffin.
- Count me in.
Hello Practical Futurists,
Welcome back from the future where intelligence can be embedded into everything except our deadlines, but nothing new beats the good, old, hard reset.
Hit the "Like" button at the top or bottom of this page to help other strategic thinkers build a future-ready mindset.Great leaders practice experiencing the future, not just thinking about it.
Like athletes visualising their performance, they build vivid mental pictures of tomorrow to make better decisions today.
Our weekly workouts use futures thinking and practical sci-fi to help you create a library of future memories - turning abstract possibilities into reference points that can inform your choices.
To spark your imagination, here's a thought to start with:
Let's make this future personal.
We'll start by connecting this story to your life, transforming abstract possibilities into memories you can use to navigate tomorrow's challenges.
Personal life reflection prompts
1. When faced with unexpected delays in your personal projects, do you prefer to find technical solutions, shortcuts, or simply adjust your expectations? What does it say about your approach to challenges? 2. What's your approach to time pressure? Does it motivate you, paralyse you, or trigger creative solutions?3. Picture your first personal fabrication system that created physical solutions on demand: - What was the first truly useful item you printed that solved a pressing problem? - How did on-demand creation change your attitude to material possessions? - What surprising skills did you develop to maximize the utility of your fabrication system? - How did your consumption patterns change once you could create things instead of buying them?
4. How often do you use words like "but" when communicating difficult news to your loved ones? Could changing this pattern affect your relationships?Good job!
Your future memory library now has some valuable personal references. Let's fire up your thinking to add some professional leadership moments.
How will you help others navigate this future? It's time to create those memories.
Professional life reflection prompts
1. How could your industry evolve if real-time embedded sensors became standard in all materials and processes? What 3 new challenges and opportunities could emerge?2. Picture your team's meeting after implementing embedded diagnostic systems throughout your operations: - Which system provided the most surprising insights about inefficiencies? - What human expertise proved irreplaceable despite comprehensive monitoring? - Which team member's role changed most dramatically? - What new collaborative practice emerged that bridged automated oversight with human judgment?
3. When technology and physical reality contradict each other in your field, how do you resolve these data-versus-reality discrepancies?4. Imagine you're leading a meeting on a project where embedded sensors contradicted human observations: - What decision framework did your team develop to resolve the conflict between AI-interpreted sensor data and informed human judgment? - How did you restructure reporting lines between sensor maintenance teams and operational decision-makers? - What unexpected benefits emerged after implementing the new "sensor-human collaborative protocol"? - How did your leadership approach evolve to balance data-driven and human-centred decision-making?
5. How does your team culture support or hinder the practice of strategic pauses during high-pressure situations?6. What types of "time printing" does your organisation engage in: extending deadlines, creating buffer periods or different strategies to manage temporal constraints? How practical are they?7. What tasks are best suited to AI augmentation in your field that should nevertheless remain fully human, and where is the hybrid approach most effective?8. Try to recall when you were leading a team where AI and human expertise seamlessly collaborated in real time: - How did you restructure decision protocols to balance algorithmic alerts with human intuition? - What was the project's focus in which AI flagged anomalous sensor data that your experienced team members correctly questioned? - What new meeting format evolved to integrate machine analysis with human expertise efficiently? - How did performance evaluations transform to recognise complementary human-AI contributions?
You did amazing! Excellent work!
Today's memories are added to your growing library of future experiences.
Thank you for expanding your imagination with us. Leaders with bold ideas move our world forward.
Think bright, and see you soon.
Pawel Halicki
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