Foresight diaries - 2023 with highs & lows

Is the first time I do a retrospective on our foresight work for the last year. I have to admit it was not my idea, but my communication colleague pushed me ??

But then, while writing down from memory all the projects we have been part of (plus being helped by the invoice dashboard and the social media posts??), I started to like the exercise. It felt like I was receiving a gift, an act of generosity for myself. I started the year with LOWS, some serious medical problems, the future seemed even more uncertain. But some HIGHS followed, and then lows again...normal life;)

So looking back before we look forward! What did we actually do last year?

???Future Station’s client base was mainly from Romania, but we also extended to the US, NL, Malaysia, Croatia, and Indonesia.

Future of work was a topic of interest for organisations and professionals, we had such cool requests! A visioning session of possible personas for the workforce of tomorrow (with avatars, profiles, short stories, everything) for a client in commercial real estate, but also a cool (and public!!!) study on trends and possible scenarios for 2030 workforce in Romania for Pluxee Romania (ex-Sodexo), a very courageous client!

At the invitation of a big financial player we talked about futures literacy and aimed to inspire hundreds of local entrepreneurs within their roadshow throughout the country. I was part of a Disruption panel for an OpenExO project. We had few months to deep dive into the future of healthcare and particularly vitamin / supplements futures – analysing consumer trends, talking to patents holders, startup founders, behavioural analyst, crafting possible scenarios that could infuse their future commercial strategy; it was a really cool project, with a team that had such a high thirst for innovation! Plus that with them I hosted my first workshop next to a pool (a full one ??).

With a FMCG player we worked around Future Work Trends with their regional team, but also on what could be some possible scenarios for the Future of platform management with their regional leaders from Digital and Technology, really hard project with extensive research!

We have been part of various leadership programs, including a Malaysian based one. We talked about futures literacy with organisations from telecom to retail, financial services, real estate to FMCG, professional Services, but also with universities, either within programs for students or MBA programs.?

We launched together with Carrefour Romania a research study on the Future of Food and sustainable food transition.

Team changes were also part of our journey, with Diana Bordeianu leaving and Luana Galoiu joining, bringing fresh perspectives.

I contributed as a Board Member to ENVISIA-Boards of Elite , plus we were again part of their educational program with BVB. If you haven't seen it yet, check out their foresight with paper on AI & Future of Corporate Governance (done before the ChatGPT era, but where we have proposed some interesting scenarios!).

I invested in 4 startups (even got featured on the Sifted list of European women investors), out of which 2 through WIT Angels Club .

I did foresight work within a music & cultural festival, that was a first! Even now, I remember the moment I got the phone call from the organiser inviting me to do 3 days of workshops focused on #viitoruri (futures) with the community, quite the location and the crowd!

My parents got to see my face on TV ?? I was part of the Profit News TV show, but also of the “In fa?a ta” TV show on DIGI ! As you can see above, my dad took pictures of the TV ;) Random people wrote to me afterwards, one colleague even said her mother in law made her watch what this lady (aka me) says on TV as it sounded interesting. ?? Talking about moment that my parents framed in their memory (and their walls), I was on the cover of Forbes Romania Life magazine and the occasion plus the context was an honour for me.

A highlight of my 2023 was a new episode for Andreea Rosca 's podcast in which we talked about our relationship with the future, the power of #ScenarioPlanning, but also emerging concepts such as Fractional Executives. As a fun fact, 2 persons wrote to me immediately afterwards that they have changed their Linkedin profile to include this role as they were inspired by my talk.

I attended the Futures Literacy Summer School in Sofia where I got to learn about new methods, but also to challenge some of my current biases. Plus I met some really inspiring professionals!?I learned not only at the courses I attended, but also at those I hosted. I taught my Foresight module with 3 cohorts from the mini MBA at BISM, next ones already planned! Plus, I delivered my first session on Personal Foresight and our relationship with the future with a group of corporate managers.

I was part of various conferences, including #CustomerExperience, French Tech, Forbes Reinvent, but also presenting my work and views in international forums such as Turku Conference - Empowering Futures – Long-term Governance, Democracy and Futures Research, WFSF 50th anniversary in Paris, Association of Professional Futurists - APF 20th gathering in Dubai (a cool session on TikTok-ing the Future), UNFINISHED Democracy, at STUP with Monica JITARIUC . I was also present in the Dubai Future Forum by DUBAI FUTURE FOUNDATION (yep, and posted quite some summaries while attending).

I was part of the Futures Literacy conference in Barcelona powered by Teach the Future , which was very inspiring. We also established TTF hub in Romania and I aim to create even more contexts in 2024 where I talk about futures literacy in Romanian schools - if anyone can help here, I receive it as a Christmas gift??;)

Plus I was invited to present for the first time a conference, for my dear BISM - Bucharest International School of Management community, their first event of this kind. I was lucky with the great co-presenter Claudiu Butacu and a kind audience. We kept the tradition of doing our regular #Masterminds with the ex-MBA cohort and I learned a lot from them. Another first experience for me, on a more personal register, was attending a mindfulness retreat with my MBA colleagues, I really enjoyed it!

Coming back to work, we did an amazing program together with Adriana Popescu and with 2 Romanian NGOs - Monomyths Association & @Young Innitiative, plus dozens of educators, experts and students! We explored the Future of Truth (disinformation, discrimination, fake news) and what might mean for young people! And then we did this really, really cool comic book style foresight toolkit (EN + RO) with the help of the Artivistory team (cc: Iliescu Alice Andreea ). I cannot judge the content as it is ours (and it is based on a solid research study on Future consciousness done by Turku University), but the layout, the visuals are one of a kind! 5 superheros going through various future quests, the teens really liked it, I really liked it! We also presented this in the World Futures Studies Federation conference in Paris and the feedback was very good!

There are also LOWS, I lost a project with an organization that I really, really wanted to work with. Plus, I had an encounter with a Romanian CEO that made me question my capabilities and whether I have or not an impact. Plus, I wanted to release 2 new products and never was able to make the time for it, procrastination won! But after all, I have 2 kids, one quite young, so spending time with them was more important.

For 2024, I wish for more contexts in which we talk about futures literacy with the young generation.?We have materials, toolkits, we have the drive! I met the first Foresight professional when I was almost 28 years old. I had never heard of this discipline before. I aim to spread the word about the tools and ways to explore the future in order to reduce a little bit the anxiety and confusion young people might have around the future. We cannot eliminate it, we can't know what the future might bring for them, but giving them tools and the proper mindset might be of help.

??This is what I want for Christmas! (plus a Humane AI pin??).

Next stop? The FUTURE!