Think: Are you thinking enough about changing customer preferences? In the near future, people may no longer buy products but, instead, subscribe to outcomes. Think Twice: Think you’re a clear thinker? Think again and Put Your Intuition on Ice. Or, as I like to say: Think Twice—you are on Thin Ice!  Think Historically: The Wright Brothers’…

A good question is like a lantern in the darkness. It illuminates unseen landscapes and dimensions and discerns unknown obstacles. To help companies and organizations create a more beautiful future, I have found that the simple act of asking new questions can be incredibly helpful–and compelling. One of my preferred question-asking techniques is to ask…

Recently, Hal Gregersen, the author of Questions are the Answer, had an outstanding article in the Wall Street Journal, To Be a Better Leader, Ask Better Questions. As a futurist, I have always exhorted my clients to “give up on answers, stick with questions.” (I even provide them a quick cheat sheet of potential questions…

There are a number of ways to question the future. A recent trip back to my old high school got me reflecting upon how to prepare today’s youth for a world of constant change. My first piece of advice centered on getting the students to think about intelligence from a different perspective. Instead of focusing…

In today’s era of accelerating change, “answers” about the future are becoming more scarce. As a result, a premium is being placed on asking better questions about the future. Unfortunately, because most business leaders, CEO’s and senior executives view themselves as action-oriented “problem-solvers,” they have a bias for “answers” instead of “questions.” As such, they don’t really know…

Today, the greatest change is the rate of change itself. Put another way, society is transitioning to a period of constant transition. The net effect is that “answers” about the future are decreasing in value. This reality is, paradoxically, placing greater emphasis on the need to ask better questions. In this thought-provoking but practical presentation,…

The Big “AHA” is an acronym I use to help clients think more constructively about the future. It stands for Awareness, Humility and Action. We must always be aware that there could exist a new, different or better way of doing things. The example I frequently cite is my own case of becoming aware at the age of 37…

Tomorrow, I’ll be traveling to work with a large multinational corporation. In addition to delivering a keynote speech on future trends and “unlearning”, I’ll also be facilitating a session in which I’ll help them consider how they might begin conducting “business as unusual.” As a part of the process, I’ll ask a lot of questions….

As a parent, I want to encourage curiosity and creativity in my children. To signal my interest in their education, I frequently ask the question: “What did you learn in school, today?” It recently dawned on me that this is a most unsatisfactory question. I now ask one or both of these questions: “What questions…