Working on the history of the future pays surprisingly well
- How did you two meet?
She takes a sip of green tea from a chilled glass.
- He was a top contributor to my open-source project. My demand generation strategy relied on a massive repository of extreme weather data, which I opened-sourced from day one to scale my reach and include more datasets. At some point, we started talking.
- Let’s order. What are you having?
- I’ll go with choose for me.
- You’re going to pay extra for someone to choose your lunch?
She nodded.
- Yup, they have my profile, and I’m not in the mood to make any decisions.
- Good for you. I’ll have a soba salad.
Her glowing manicure taps the surface of the table.
- So, what does he do?
She smiles softly.
- He analyses the history of the future.
- I must admit it sounds… well…, impractical?
She smiles softly.
- On the contrary. Working on the history of the future pays surprisingly well. His data house analyses past and present visions of the future to improve prediction accuracy for societal moods impacting stock market returns. They train, grade, and rank 80% of stock prediction and automated investment modelling software.
She makes a toast gesture with her glass.
- All this talk, and your grandma would simply say he works in finance.
- True. I’m sure he could have a lot in common with Agustin. Let me think of a double date for us.
- Anytime.
- How is your product launch going?
- Oh, thanks to the climate breakdown, we’re doing great. With wildfires and floods ravaging the planet globally, summer is the annual peak demand for evacwear.
Her cheerful smile morphs into engaged concentration.
- People in affected areas feel safer when they can be ready for evacuation instantly after waking up. This year, we’re expanding our portfolio with alert socks, an EVACshoe alternative for heatwave-affected markets.
- Sounds like an instant hit.
- I hope so. Evacwear’s biggest challenge is making it soft and breathable enough for you to sleep comfortably in it. On Thursday, I’m demoing a new type of compressible plastic yarn. The prototype batch is knitting as we speak. Here, let me show you.
She reaches for her purse.
- Shit. Something is off with the spools again. I need to fix it.
She stands and grabs her jacket.
- Like right now. I need to go back to the office.
She smiles.
- No worries. I can take care of a soba salad.
She kisses her on the cheek.
- Lunch is on me. Love you.
- Take care.
She runs through the food court, dancingly evading robot servers.
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.
What is now proved was once only imagined.
William Blake
Personal life reflection prompts
Name the aspect of your life whose future you imagine the most often and the one whose desired future has evolved the most over the years.
Think of a situation when you adapted to a substantial change in your personal life. List two ways in which that experience has contributed to your professional resilience.
If the area where you live is or would become affected by unexpected events requiring immediate evacuation, how would it help you sort out your priorities?
Which two personal relationships have shaped your professional path or influenced your leadership style and why?
Great.
And now, let’s switch to the context of your industry, organisation, or product you are working with.
Professional life reflection prompts
Have you ever worked on ideas that were ahead of their time? How does that experience help you as a leader today?
In what 3 ways are the climate-related phenomena impacting your industry?
Would you rather lead a team that works on a portfolio of problem-specific products or a team that focuses on a single product addressing a broad issue? Why?
If accessible immediately, what 3 types of data points would help your team reach their current goals faster?
Which day would you pick as your “decision-free day”, and how would it help you manage decision fatigue?
List 4 new opportunities a reliable and timely predictive modelling would create for your industry, product or team.
If your organisation gave you resources to start an open-source project that could benefit your industry, what kind of project would you be most excited to contribute to?
And that’s all we have today.
Share your thoughts or answers in the comments so that we know which ideas to explore further.
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.