“ Become an engineer of experiences , bridging the gap between the ground of present sensation and islands of abstract possibility .”
Futurematic Vending Machine : design jam at OCAD University to fill a vending machine with future artifacts created by participants . Project by Situation Lab and Extrapolation Factory , Toronto 2014 . Photo by Stuart Candy .
Here , then , we offer some suggestions for core skills and sensibilities that need to be developed further ; among them certain competencies already widely accepted and understood , alongside others that may be less familiar . In order to become a good experiential futurist , you should : 3
• Become a student of the history , culture , and present situation of the places and people with whom you are co-creating – in order to empathise with and build upon their knowledge and experience .
• Become a perceptive mindreader – in order to understand the mental models of participants or audiences , and then decide how to expand or challenge those models .
• Become a flexible thinker with the habit of long-zooming and scale-toggling – in order to venture , with your transdisciplinary readiness to roam , wherever the inquiry may need to go .
• Become a master of situations – in order to facilitate the co-creative processes of groups , which includes recognising what to nail down , what to leave open , and when and how to improvise changes in response to the needs of the moment .
• Become an engineer of experiences , bridging the gap between the ground of present sensation and islands of abstract possibility – in order to be prepared to use whatever it takes to catalyse heightened creativity , thoughtfulness , engagement , and action , in yourself and others .
• Become a fastidious documentarian – in order to capture the materials , feedback , and insights created during what is a singular , often ephemeral , experience .
• Become a willing collaborator with others you meet along the way – in order to be poised to join forces with those who have skills that you don ’ t , since no social foresight can be accomplished alone . Overall , perhaps the central emerging challenge for foresight practitioners has less to do with generating and broadcasting ideas about the future than with designing circumstances or situations in which the collective intelligence and imagination of a community can come
3 . The tremendous influence of Jim Dator on this part , and in general , is gratefully acknowledged . See the section titled “ To Be A Good Futurist ” in Dator , 1996 .
28 DECEMBER 2016