Experimenting with the future – Hill Valley comes to Shoreditch!

Last Wednesday I was asked to participate in the inaugural Global Futures Forum at Shoreditch Town Hall. The Forum promised to be like no other conference, offering insights, an Innovator’s Toolkit, experiences and a ‘Disruptors Labyrinth’. As I arrived at the Town Hall entrance, which is not too dissimilar to the Courthouse in Back to the Future’s Hill Valley, I was greeted by group of men and women all in white coats eager to prepare attendees for a day of experimentation – Doc Brown would have been proud!

The Global Futures Forum is the brainchild of Martin Raymond, Co-Founder of the Future Laboratory, a UK consultancy specializing in trend forecasting and consumer insight. The purpose of the forum according to their CEO was "to present some challenging mega forces shaping the future of businesses, highlight the emerging behaviours of the most innovative organisations, profile twenty disruptors changing the face of business and… provoke innovative thinking." Arctic Shores was one of the twenty disruptors.

My heart did sink though when the organisers said the Disruptors Labyrinth was in the basement – I had previously exhibited in the basement of a conference and it was visited by only the most curious and determined! However, the Future Laboratory had really thought this through. The lighting was low, there were no company banners or advertising boards and they filled the pock-marked walls and uneven rooms with news feeds and projected images to create a post-apocalyptic underground maze of future life and world possibilities.

Arctic Shores was showcasing the future of recruitment, where unconscious bias and social mobility are tackled through objective, data driven measures of a person’s fit for a role. Specifically, we showcased some of the work we are doing with Vodafone, demonstrating how game-based assessments are easy to use yet capture small but important differences that can be used alongside observational references for better and fairer hiring decisions. Our goal is to use this technology and psychometric approach to help individuals make more informed career decisions based on their natural preferences and strengths.

The day was a great success for all involved and the organisers more than delivered on their promises. Innovation requires experimentation as well as a willingness to be different; the Future Laboratory team were bold enough to do this in a number of ways. Above all, innovation requires a challenge to the status quo with a purpose that is combined with a belief in a better way - the Forum’s organisers understood that which is why their innovative approach worked so well. As someone in the thick of that process, I was truly refreshed to see a conference aim for and achieve the same goals. Look out for more of these time machine events!