Jack Uldrich’s weekly “Friday Future Five.” This week’s edition also includes Jack’s annual predictions for the upcoming year.

Futurist Jack Uldrich dedicates this week’s “Friday Future Five” to the issue of water.

Think Ambiguously: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times …” I could not help but think of this quote as I read these two diametrically opposed articles–both of which are true. The first article, 9 Astonishing Ways that Living Standards have Improved Around the World is optimistic in nature and highlights…

Think: This past summer, I keynoted a number of banking events, including addressing the Minnesota and Wisconsin Bankers Association as well as the University of Wisconsin’s Graduate School of Banking. At the later event, I met Larry Grant. Larry wears many hats but he regularly host’s Today’s Banker Digest and we recently collaborated on a…

Editor’s note: I am in eastern Montana this week following my own advice and taking a “Think Week.” This week’s “Future 5” will be short. I have placed little editorial comment next to any of the articles. My advice: Just pick one article that intrigues you and spend a few minutes reflecting on it. Cheers,…

Think Fast: I am fond of saying “Today is the slowest rate of change you’ll ever experience again.” To this end, here are just three articles from yesterday’s news that caught my eye: An All-Electric Airplane Takes Its Maiden Flight, Tiny Oregon Town Hosts First Hybrid Clean Power Plant, and Amazon Has a New Plan…

Think Bigger: It is not easy but, over the years, I’ve trained myself to pay more attention to information that stands in opposition to an existing belief. One assumption I have held is that plant-based “meats” will negatively impact the sale of tradition meat. This may still happen in the future but, according to this article,…

Futurist Jack Uldrich dishes up his weekly list of articles to get you thinking about the world of tomorrow.

Think Smarter: One emerging trend that isn’t generating much attention, but is one I encourage every organization to think about, is “degrowth”–which I loosely define as consumers’ growing desire to reduce, reuse and repurpose products. This article, France’s Most Valuable StartUp’s Raison D’etre is Creating a Circular Economy for Tech, will give you a glimpse…

Think Optimistically: To those who believe the world is “going to hell,” I say “think again”! If you look around your community, you will find all kinds of people quietly working to make the world a better place. You have two options: You can “bitch and moan” or you can roll up your sleeves and…