Your drones can't smell the plants?
Late-night deliveries trace neon lines across the sky. She sits beside her brother on the rooftop sofa, their silence punctuated by the whir of pruning micro-drones.
- Taking a breather from the magic of family time?
- Guilty as charged. I’m glad you could make time for me, big sis. Even if I did drag you up to the rooftop in the middle of the party.
The hydroponics pulse their familiar green-blue optimal nutrient rhythm along the perimeter. Above them, micro-drones snip and shape the foliage with practised precision, their soft buzzing a lullaby she's grown to ignore. He offers her a sip from a slender thermos.
- You look tense tonight. What's stressing you out?
He leans back against the rooftop railing, contemplating her question or the view.
- You do know I'm not a big planner or goal-setting type.
- Oh, really?
- When I let go of attachment to outcomes, life takes off for me effortlessly.
- So what is it?
- Cooking is a dance with the unknown. Imperfect but joyful may soon not cut it for a fine dining experience anymore.
- What do you mean? Have you just won an award?
He runs his hand through his hair.
- I feel like I’m just… tapped out. Maybe I'm just approaching my creative limits?
- In a movie about you, this would be the start of a dynamic montage showing all the creative endeavours of a chronically spontaneous chef experimenting endlessly to dazzle his guests.
Her joke meets silence, followed by a deep sigh. His fingers drum against the thermos.
- Think about it. Research kitchens, endless ingredients, perfect combinations waiting to be discovered… The tAIste matrices will turn all the joy of discovery I love about cooking into pressing a damn button. You press a button, and you get a great combination to fine-tune.
- It can't be that easy.
- It's not today, but in a few years. Who knows?
- So you're worrying about the problems you don't yet have?
- Like imagine an amazingly immersive game where all you need to do is press the “kill the dragon” button. One press, one dragon. Where's the friction? Where's the fun in that? Friction is the most important force in the universe because friction makes things rewarding and fun.
- That’s true for me, too. I'm sure AI will get you a ton of friction. Did rice cookers kill the secret art of cooking rice?
- In some sense. Maybe? By removing friction in many tasks, AI adds a ton of friction to many jobs. Are you not worried about the future of farming? What's your secret?
- Simpler than you would expect. Don't worry about problems you don't yet have. Keep the planning separate from worrying. Focus your worries on the problems you have now. Everything else is something to plan for.
- …
- Plan for things going wrong, plan for things going wonderfully right, plan for things that may never happen. But save your worry only for what's already happening.
- You should write a book titled "How to Worry Less in 65 Easy Steps.” But maybe I need more structure. I feel like I'm inside a pressure cooker.
- It's not a surprise. It's hard to rely on spontaneity and dream about long-term goals.
- Ok, enough about me. Let's talk about the serious stuff. How is the vertical refarming going? I never congratulated you on the promotion.
- Thanks. It's going great, but I also have a confession to make.
- And what is that?
- Perpetual optimisation. I'm secretly exhausted from preparing to act on all the opportunities.
- That's not a good thing, given your career at the institute.
- I know. So much of my work runs on optimised, self-correcting schedules that I hardly have space to use my instinct and experience anymore.
- I have always admired how structured and preplanned your work is. Observing your career feels like watching someone execute a standard operating procedure.
- You're mean. But yeah. Things that made me successful and got me promoted are not very satisfactory anymore. Seeing another 30-story building converted into a vertical farm gives me a lot of satisfaction, but I miss working with my hands. Touch the soil. Feel the plants.
- Your drones can't smell the plants? Isn’t that what makes you a real gardener at heart?
- The sensors pick shifts in aromatic chemicals, but I don't know if they can appreciate the beauty of what is happening. Do they understand the promise of a tiny bud pushing through the soil?
- It takes time to learn to appreciate things you can't eat.
- You must be on your last legs if your jokes are so low.
They silently watch the city’s neon reflection dance on the plant leaves. Suddenly, the terrace door swings open, and a familiar voice breaks the silence.
- Hey, we’re cutting the cake! Are you both coming?
She looks at her brother.
- Is that one of your dancing cakes?
- Yep.
She rises quickly.
- In that case, I can't lose any chances for a second serving.
Their laugh echoes across the rooftop as they head inside, leaving the perfectly tended garden to its mechanical dreams.
Happy New Year Practical Futurists,
Welcome back from the future, where precision farming and taste profiling make life delicious, and algorithms perfect everything except human doubt.
Hit the "Like" button at the top or bottom of this page to inspire others and help them discover the stories you've enjoyed.Each story we share is an invitation to create your memories from that future. By imagining yourself in these scenarios, you transform abstract possibilities into personal experiences that can guide your decisions today.
Great leaders don't just think about the future, they practice experiencing it first. Like athletes visualising their performance, they build mental pictures of tomorrow that help them make better decisions today.
This is why our weekly workouts use futures thinking and product sci-fi to help you build a library of future memories.
Each scenario becomes a reference point, a "remember when" moment that hasn't happened yet but can feel real enough to 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 future uncertainties, do you tend to plan more rigorously or rely more on adaptability? What experiences have shaped this approach?2. Imagine walking through a vertical farm with sensors monitoring every plant. You notice something the AI missed. - What was it? - How did it feel to spot something the machines didn't?
3. When was the last time automation made something easier but less satisfying for you? What specifically changed in your experience? 4. Picture explaining to someone young why you sometimes choose to do things "inefficiently" by hand. - What specific example would you use? - How would you describe the satisfaction of imperfect but personal creation?
5. Name 3 activities where you prefer imperfect but joyful engagement over-optimised performance. What makes these experiences unique?6. Picture the moment your favourite hobby becomes partially automated. You're standing there, watching a machine do something you used to do by hand. - What specific details make you feel nostalgic? - What unexpected benefits surprise you?
7. How do you distinguish between productive planning and unproductive worrying about the future?Well done!
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? Time to create those memories.
Professional life reflection prompts
1. How would your organisation need to evolve if AI could handle all optimization and efficiency-related tasks? What would become more important?2. Create a memory of mentoring a new team member who's never worked without AI assistance: - What task do they struggle to do "manually"? - How do you help them understand when to trust their instincts? - What moment makes them finally understand the value of human judgment? - How does this experience change your own approach to balancing technology and intuition?
3. What 3 strategies could help your team balance data-driven decisions with experiential wisdom?4. Create a vivid memory of your first major success combining AI efficiency with human intuition: - What problem were you solving? - How did the AI help? - What crucial insight did you add that the AI couldn't? - How did it change your team's approach to future challenges?
5. What processes in your organization would benefit most from combining human intuition with AI optimisation? How would you implement this?6. Picture leading a meeting where your team balances automation with human creativity: - What does the room look like? - How do you help team members feel valued alongside AI tools? - What specific challenge are you solving together? - How does it feel different from meetings organised today?
7. How do you maintain team morale when previously rewarding tasks become automated?8. Imagine the day your team demonstrates a new hybrid decision-making model, combining AI analysis with human intuition: - Where are you presenting? - How do you prove that keeping the "human element" improves results? - What unexpected insight emerges from this combination? - What expression do you see on your skeptical director's face when it works?
9. What 3 leadership qualities will become more crucial as AI handles more routine decision-making?You did amazing! Excellent work!
Today's memories join 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
Make Practical Futures work for you in 2025
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