Don’t Prepare for the Future, Build It!

Why “community thinking” is the crucial skill that we all need to master in a new world of emerging technology

I love the “global gig lifestyle.”

Yes, the work can be chaotic, but the diversity of assignments quickly becomes addictive. It’s great to visit other countries and cultures, work with different institutions, and meet interesting people. Once experienced, there is no turning back.

And no matter where I am or whom I talk to, the discussion increasingly turns to emerging technologies. Even “slow movers” (think governments, educational institutions, law firms) are asking:

What is the impact of emerging tech and, more importantly, what should we do now to remain relevant tomorrow?

We shouldn’t try to predict the future

One of my “gigs” is to help companies and other organizations identify opportunities for the future. I often find myself in meetings with people from diverse backgrounds. Last week, for instance, I was sitting in a conference room with three senior managers of a medium-sized firm looking to take advantage of the new opportunities of the digital transformation.

One was a “tech lover.” He seemed very clear about what the world would look like in ten years. He had a single view of the future.

One was a “sceptic.” He clearly thought the digital revolution is all just hype and the company should concentrate on refining traditional products and services. He seems to regard me as an unwelcome disturbance.

The third manager wanted to believe the tech lover. But she was less sure about where we are going and what we need to do about it. For her, the future was less certain.

She said something really interesting that I have been thinking about all week:

“If only we could predict the future with certainty. This would allow us to adapt and reorganize the company and prepare for what is to come. That would give us a huge edge. Then everything would surely be OK.”

Think about the steps of this argument: Predict the future. Adapt and Reorganize. Succeed tomorrow.

This is a powerful way of thinking. Especially, for anyone who has not previously lived at the cutting edge of technology. Not least because it is relatively easy to operationalize. Find a “futurist,” — in our case the “tech lover” — and reorganize around their vision of where technology is taking us.

For sure, this is better than denial or deferral. Doing nothing or just waiting is not an option.

Unfortunately, such an approach is wrong. But, thinking about why it is wrong teaches us something valuable about what we should be doing.

We shouldn’t try to predict and prepare for the future. We should design and build it.

But, how can we design and build the future?

First, we should change how we think about the future.

Too often, we live our lives “looking backwards.” And looking backwards it seems inevitable that we arrived where we are now. We then make the mistake of thinking that this inevitability means we could have seen where we were going and done something about it. But, in most situations, there is nothing inevitable about the way things turned out. At least, things could always have turned out differently.

The future is always contingent on what you choose to do today.

Everyone has some control over defining their future and whether it is successful for them or not.

Just to be clear, there are some situations where the future is relatively predictable (in the sense that we can identify a range of possible outcomes), but when it comes to emerging technologies and their impact, even this has become impossible. In such circumstances, a switch in mindset from “prediction” to “building” becomes essential.

Second, we need to embrace what I would call “community thinking.” We need to put in place structures and processes that maximize opportunities for developing creative strategies and solutions.

We often tend to forget that we cannot build the future alone or (only) with like-minded people. Instead, we need to foster an open and diverse community comprising individuals with very different talents, backgrounds and motives. Such an open and inclusive space represents the best way for any organization to find solutions for a better and more successful future.

And what should such a community do?

Here are some of the processes that are central to successful community thinking under conditions of genuine uncertainty about the future:

#Discover and Learn Together

Everything starts with being curious, informed and critical about current technological trends.

Everyone needs to immerse themselves in collecting diverse information that can provide the “raw material” for building something new.

And one of the best sources of new information are other people, other members of your community. This can be colleagues, friends or family, but also the more “distant” communities that we belong to on social media. For example, I find Medium, Twitter and YouTube especially helpful as a source of diverse information, which can be shared with colleagues and friends.

This process of active, shared communal learning benefits both individuals and the group, and it has important implications for how all organizations teach and train their members.

#Develop and Create Together

The relevant information must be filtered out (“curated”) from the multiple sources that are out there. Identifying the “right” information is particularly challenging in a world of seemingly infinite information and genuine uncertainty.

Collecting and filtering diverse information helps in the development of an idea. A well-developed idea is important as the most successful products are usually based on a clean, simple and effective idea that is both functional and appealing to users.

Recently references were made to Tesla (it’s more than just a car) or Nike (it’s more than just sports gear). Their products go beyond the technology and functionality. They inspire and energize and help build a culture and (another) community around that idea.

Again, you need a community of different people working together to define and develop the best ideas. As such, we need to create “spaces” within an organization to maximize opportunities for this kind of creativity to flourish.

#Design and Iterate Together

A “developed idea” is the basis for new content (product/service and strategy). But all ideas need to be tested and refined. Here, discussions with others, particularly the “less than obvious” partners, are crucial in coming up with content that matters and can make a difference.

Setting up and operating in partnerships has always been essential to every aspect of work and life. But now, the focus is on establishing “improbable” partnerships and multidisciplinary collaborations that allow us to constantly iterate and improve a design.

Utilizing a wider and more open community to experiment and test the ideas/content is an important tool that offers more opportunities to adjust and develop continually.

In a fast-changing digital environment, the ability to adapt to new information or circumstances becomes essential. Experimenting and testing an idea/content is necessary to incorporate feedback and iterate new ideas, products, and services.

This brings me back to the “gig-lifestyle.”

“Community thinking” is part of what makes the gig lifestyle so much more attractive and worthwhile.

I think that every organization (companies, government, universities and other institutions) should encourage a “gig lifestyle” based on community thinking. They need to think about the type of structures and incentives that foster, among other things, “freedom and responsibility” among employees, partnerships with start-ups and other companies, as well as greater consumer involvement in community thinking. Also, every organization should understand the power of contractors, freelancers, and former employees.

Leveraging the gig economy is a key aspect of successful community thinking.

Only then can an organization shift the culture from one of doing nothing or passively trying to predict the future to one that aggressively tries to define and build the future. Under conditions of genuine uncertainty about where technology is taking us, this is the only option.

But there is more. Embracing a “gig lifestyle” and community thinking is also important for individuals. The process of “discover, develop, and design” with different people with diverse skills and backgrounds is priceless and makes all of us so much more imaginative and productive. It ensures that we all become a valuable player in building the future. As such, it makes work and life so much more meaningful and rewarding.

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