Overview
A practical guide to becoming future-ready in the Age of Intelligence
The future doesn’t arrive all at once—it emerges in signals, patterns, shifts, and stories. Designing the Future is your field guide to making sense of that complexity. In their book SuperShifts, authors Steve Fisher and Ja-Nae Duane mapped the tectonic transformations reshaping society. And now, in their new work Designing the Future, they demonstrate how to take the next step: how to apply foresight methods to your life, your work, and your organization.
Designing the Future isn’t about trying to predict the specifics of tomorrow. That’s impossible. It’s about preparing for possibility today. It explores what it’s like to practice futures thinking in real time, helping you discover what kind of futurist you are: a signal spotter, a systems mapper, a storyteller, or a strategist. Whether you’re a leader, innovator, or curious learner, you’ll build the confidence to see change early and respond with clarity.
The book revisits the Macrohistory and the Ages and Eras Theory, tracing long arcs of civilizational change that include the Ages of Faith, Industry, Machines, Digital, and now the Age of Intelligence. It shows you how to understand the past so you can navigate the future, revealing how today’s disruptions connect to centuries-long patterns of transformation.
Fisher and Duane dive deep into the Nine SuperShifts: Generational Drift, IntelliFusion, Techceleration, Reality Remix, PowerFlow, EcoAwakening, SocialQuake, World Mosaic, and BioNexus. This time, however, you’ll connect them directly to your own domains: your career, your community, your products, and your organizational strategy. They walk you through you how to translate global transformation into personal and professional action.
Inside the book:
- Understanding Change: Macrohistory and the Ages and Eras Theory, revealing the long arcs of transformation that shape the present and signal the future
- The Nine SuperShifts: A deeper exploration of the forces reshaping society, with direct connections to your strategy, work and life
- The Spectrum Foresight Framework™: A method built for plural futures, as opposed to linear forecasting, able to embrace multiple possibilities and perspectives across ten recursive stages: Scope, Sensing, Shifts, Scenes, Scenarios, Stories, Solutions, Strategy, Scale, and Sustain
- Signals Scanning & Pattern Recognition: Practical methods for detecting weak signals, mapping tensions, and uncovering hidden opportunities
- World-Building & World-Shaping: Tools to design immersive future scenes, scenarios, and stories that make complexity tangible
- From Imagination to Action: How to transform foresight into products, solutions, and strategies you can implement now
- Building Foresight Organizations: Frameworks for embedding futures thinking into culture, systems, and decision-making
- The Futures Operating System (FOS)™: A blueprint for integrating foresight into the rhythms, roles, and tools of your organization
The pace of change is accelerating. AI, climate disruption, demographic shifts, and institutional breakdowns are reshaping the way we live and work. Designing the Future equips you with the tools to not just react – but to lead with foresight. It’s a bridge between imagination and execution, helping you move from possibility to practice.
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