If society is to prosper long-term, many of us–myself included–will need to redefine our definition of wealth. I say this not as some left-leaning, anti-capitalist, I say it as a professional futurist who is deeply concerned about the current trajectory of contemporary society. In my pursuit of attempting to understand the future, I spend a…

Think: I found this short article, The Mega-trends that Will Shape Our Future World, to be very insightful. My favorite category was “Innovation to Zero” by which the author means that crime, disease, hunger and pollution will all move in the direction of zero in the near future. Think Again: This Harvard Business Review article,…

Think Optimistically: Marc Andressen has written a long (5,000 words) but important article entitled The Techno-Optimist Manifesto. While I can’t say I agree with everything in the paper, I am in general agreement that there are plenty of reasons to be optimistic about the future. I also agree that technology holds the biggest key to…

Think Fast: A new robot can now search for solar materials 14X faster. This is yet another reason solar power may continue to grow faster than many pundits in the energy industry expect. Think Faster: Researchers from Pohang University of Science & Technology have unveiled a groundbreaking technique to amplify the energy storage capacity of…

Think: Currently, two major labor strikes are taking place in the U.S.–autoworkers and Hollywood screenwriters (and actors). What do both strikes have in common? Answer: The workers are worried about technology’s impact on their wages and their livelihood. The Economist recently published an interesting opinion piece on AI’s future impact on jobs. The results were…

Think: If you want to think better–and, really, who doesn’t–read this article on the importance of handwriting. Even in the age of laptops, keyboards and voice recorders, I’ve long been an avid writer of handwritten notes. I scribble notes in the margins of books, jot things down by longhand at conferences, why I even still…

Think Optimistically: Over tens of thousands of years, the human brain has been trained to optimize around the notions of fear and scarcity. The reason for this is simple: The world our ancestors occupied was a scary place and it was hard to find food. I will be the first to admit that the world…

(Editor’s note: This week, my colleague, Jeff Appelquist, and I will be in Montana battling the heat and conducting our 3-day experiential leadership seminar, Into the Unknown: Exploring the Leadership Lessons of Lewis & Clark and the Corps of Discovery. If you or your organization are interested in learning more about the program, please feel…

Think: Well, here we go. Researchers at CalTech have recently developed a robot that can crawl, walk, climb and fly. This article has a brief description of the technology along with an impressive video of the robot in action. My best guess is that among the first markets for the technology will be the police,…

Think: “The Great Progression, 2025-2050” is an insightful article and is well worth reading. It is on the long side (about a 20-minute read) but two quotes in particular stuck out to me: 1) “This slow-moving, pro-progress story is being missed by most of the mainstream media chasing the minute-by-minute story of crisis and decline”…