"Understanding is a path, not a point."

Don't you love learning when it's done well? This week I had all of my 'creative possibility' synapses fired up attending a brilliant course (details below) and got to experience working with Mural in a way that pushed the boundaries of 'interactive online learning' to new heights.

Ukraine remains front of mind and I am deeply moved by the determination and resilience of people who are not only fighting for their country but are being scattered across the globe.

I've been thinking a lot about the impact of Putin's war. What should we expect in the coming days, months and years? Human beings (and the markets) desire a sense of certainty, a certain level of predictability. We are wired to seek out patterns to not only make sense of what's going on but to attempt to understand what the future may hold.

*“Understanding is a path, not a point. It’s a path of connections between thought and thought; patterns over patterns.” Richard Saul Wurman

*Thank you to Sonja Blignaut for posting this quote.

From all accounts, it would seem that we're in for a rough economic ride, however long this war lasts. Saying this, there are huge opportunities in the near future for major shifts towards clean, renewable energy and we are experiencing a further bolstering of 'human-centric' thinking and design, which will permeate all that we do. On the downside, in the immediate future, food security will likely become deeply challenging, creating a humanitarian crisis in places we might not expect.

My question, as ever, is "are you ready?" Do you have the mindset and mental models to be as prepared as possible for whatever the future may hold?

3 Things to enrich your thinking for the week ahead

My aim each week?is to bring leaders at all levels three things that are worth knowing about, thinking more deeply about or taking action on. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this week's trio.

The "Year of Free"

Four and a half years ago I attended one of The Futures School's (TFS) early programmes and it blew me away. This week, I went back for more and I can honestly say it was one of the best three days I've spent in a long long time. Thank you to the brilliant Faculty at TFS and to the incredible EU cohort, it was wonderful to get to know everyone!

I'm always batting on about how leaders need to develop their mental models (futures, systems, complexity, design thinking, sensemaking, wayfinding) to create and navigate the future in a very different way than we might have before. The leaders and leadership teams I work with who develop these abilities are so much better off.

Get nominated for the "Year of Free"

The Futures School is Kedge Futures' learning and development ecosystem fueled by?Natural Foresight? and they are on a mission to "democratise foresight" for ordinary people like you and me.

This year, they launched their "Year of Free", which means open-source access?to their framework and resources and the ability to be nominated (or nominate someone else) to receive free tuition.

"Rather than relying on our antiquated, quantitative-based approaches, what if we fueled our organizations, institutions, systems, and leaders with?foresight?"

Who is this for?

• A natural change agent who could benefit from learning a futures framework
• Someone with an innate futurist mindset who is facing funding constraints to further their foresight development
• A high-potential, high-performing leader who needs foresight added to their 21st-century toolkit?
• Someone on the cutting edge of their field

Nominate someone else or get nominated here.

"The Future Isn’t So Scary When We Talk About It"

Have you heard about Synthetic Biology? I've been reading The Genesis Machine: Our Quest to Rewrite Life in the Age of Synthetic Biology?by Amy Webb and Andrew Hessel. This week I came across Whitney Johnson's podcast, Disrupt Yourself, which brought the topic to life.

Amy talks about her fascination with synthetic biology - the merging of computer science and genetics. "Imagine a world where we can program cells like tiny computers to cure diseases, grow corn in a city warehouse, and manufacture real meat without ever killing an animal. It's already happening, and the benefits are huge."

"We trust scientists but not science itself."

When we hear about modifying DNA and growing chicken cells in a bio-reactor, we bristle. The “newness” of this science, filtered through politics, media and social media, often disrupts honest discourse about it.

"Healthy skepticism of new things is good, so long as it's tempered with a good faith discussion of the data."

Definitely worth listening to if you want to understand the merging of computer science and genetics and what it might mean, not only in your life but in your ability to lead your business and understand the eco-systems you work in and with.

Have you been rejected by an ATS?

99% Of large organisations now use an Applicant Tracking System (ATS) to streamline hiring, automatically selecting people on a series of questions and credentials. Very different to my life in Executive Search twenty years ago!

Coaching leaders through careers transitions is still a big part of what I do. Over the years, I've tracked the industry with a particular interest in how psychometrics and ability tests are often used to automatically screen-out candidates and how AI algorithms, which have been proven to be discriminatory and biased, are used to make candidate decisions.

If you've been job hunting recently, you'll know how frustrating it is to go through what feels like a ridiculously long online application process, only to be rejected without any explanation. And it gets worse if you are a member of one of the "vulnerable populations", which includes women, youth, indigenous peoples, refugees, newcomers, racialised peoples, LGBTQ2S+, you have a disability, are a veteran or are living in a rural community.

The Solution: turn the model the right side up! ??

What if we could turn the traditional employer-centric model of recruitment on its head and replace it with a?jobseeker-centric model?

This is the question the ALiGN project (OTEC, Ryerson Magnet and Lumina Learning) started with when they decided to innovate and support people first. This week they won an award for Innovation from?The Association for Business Psychology?in the UK for putting personality first and empowering job seekers. You can read the case study here.

As a Lumina Learning Practitioner, it's heartening to see how far-reaching innovations such as this can change the lives of so many people, by putting them first. Get in touch if you want to explore using this digitally integrated suite of tools and modalities to innovate how you do what you do in relation to all things people in your business.

Thank you for reading #LIFT?- I trust the 3 things explored here enrich your week ahead and beyond. Please comment and share your thoughts with us and if you know of someone else who would also enjoy this edition, why not?share it?