As the world goes global, the future will belong to those who have the ability to see things from multiple perspectives. To better understand, consider the picture to the right. Do you see a tiger in a jungle or a jungle with a tiger in it? You might say there is no difference between the…

Advertising pioneer John Wanamaker once quipped, “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half.” As a futurist, I’d like to put my own spin on this quotation and modify it by saying, “Half of the predictions I hear about the future are wrong; the trouble is I don’t know…

One of my preferred strategies for thinking about–and dealing with–the future is “to embrace ambiguity.” Not surprisingly, I’m often asked, “How does a person learn to embrace ambiguity?” It’s a great question and I’d argue that it begins by acknowledging the existence of ambiguity. To illustrate this point, I turn to the famous “If by whiskey”…

To the right is a picture of Hans Holbein’s painting, The Ambassadors. Upon first glance, it doesn’t look like anything terrible special. After further reflection, however, you may notice a strange figure near the bottom center of the painting. You might be surprised to learn that it is a skull. The skull can only be…

There is no doubt the world is awash in information. The positive side is that you can find almost anything you are looking for. The downside is that it can all feel overwhelming at times. The one thing you can ill afford to do is accept that information with complete certainty because what you see…

“If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it is a duck.” Right? Not so fast. Take a good look at the picture to the right and tell me if you don’t also see a rabbit. Unlearning requires that we embrace ambiguity and let go of dogmatic beliefs.

Everybody likes to be “in the know.” The problem with this is that it’s an impossible goal to achieve because knowledge is being created at an ever accelerating rate. This knowledge creation is a wonderful thing but it also implies that our ignorance is growing even faster (in the sense that it is impossible to…

Are you open-minded? If so, when was the last time you changed your mind about a long-held belief? When was the last time you publicly admitted you were wrong? When was the last time you acknowledged that another person could look at the exact same thing and come to an equally valid — but opposite —…

In 1988, the American Management Association conducted a study of successful leaders. It found that the most important characteristic in determining a leader's success was their ability to embrace ambiguity. To this end, take a look at the image to the right: Can you see both sets of legs? If not, study it until you…

Please solve this problem: Tell me if the following statement is true or false: "This statement is false." If the statement is false, then it is true. If the statement is true, then it is false. The above example is a well-known paradox but I believe one of the things society, parents, teachers, bosses and…