All Systems Go!
As you can see from the shiny banner above, we’re in the final days of waiting for the launch of HOW TO FUTURE, which we announced to you back in February. When we sat down with the folks at Kogan Page last summer, we discussed how 2020 would make 2019 seem calm. And here we are. Never has there been a more necessary moment for a practical, tactical handbook for sensing, shaping, designing and sharing new futures, better futures—your futures.
When we sat down to sketch the idea for the book, our goal was not to create another book about the future, or foresight, or futures studies. Instead we wanted to write something that captured much of what we’ve learned by working with organizations big and small about how they could best approach becoming more aware, more anticipatory, and more active in navigating the landscape ahead, and bringing new ideas to life that improve the futures they see. We wanted to give people something that could shift the future from a business to a behavior—an active away of sensing and shaping what comes next. After sitting with our creation for a few extra months, we’re more convinced than ever that it will be useful, valuable, and hopefully, indispensable.
But enough of the pitch. Down to the festivities.
LAUNCH DATES
HOW TO FUTURE will have two release dates:
10 September 2020 — HTF released in all available markets except US & Canada
29 September 2020 — HTF released in US & Canada
These dates include release of paperback and e-book versions in these markets simultaneously. This means if you are considering using HOW TO FUTURE as a supplementary text for a fall 2020 educational program, these are the earliest dates you can obtain both formats. We’ve talked with a few university lecturers who are interested in including it, and these release dates seem to work, so we hope you’ll include it.
PRE-ORDER DISCOUNT
For those who are ordering direct from the publisher, Kogan Page, you can use discount code KOGANPAGE20 for 20% off at checkout, and shipping is free.
If you would rather buy from your favourite e-tailer or bookseller, you can find a wide array of global outlets here.
EVENTS
A busy schedule of events is taking shape in September and beyond to support the launch, discuss the book, our work, futures and whatever you bring to our virtual doorstep. Announced events so far include (Note: all times are local to the event):
Off the Page from Kogan Page (Online) — Tuesday, 1 September, 2020 — 4PMBST/5PMCEST/11AMEDT — To kick things off, we’ll be chatting with folks from our publisher in this monthly author discussion. Now the edits and proofing is done, we can kick back, relax, and talk about what’s to come.
Business Extra / The National UAE (Podcast) — Wednesday, 2 September, 2020 — Scott will be in conversation with Kelsey Warner, future editor of the UAE’s The National, for Business Extra, talking about HOW TO FUTURE, trends for the UAE and the Gulf and life post-Covid. The podcast will be available on major platforms from Wednesday 2 September.
Ars Electronica 2020 at Oude Sterrewacht, Leiden (Live) — Thursday, 10 September, 2020 — 6:15 PM-7:00PM CEST — We’re very excited to spend launch day in the Old Observatory on the campus of Leiden University in our back yard here in the Netherlands. As part of the acclaimed Ars Electronica event, this year formed as a series of “Kepler’s Garden” events around the world, I’ll be in conversation with my good friend Dr. Michelle Kazprzak, talking about the book, the future, the arts, space, and more. NOTE: This event is part of a ticketed event, and attendance is limited to 20 people, so grab one early if you’re nearby, and get a signed copy of HOW TO FUTURE with the session.
New Cities Big Rethink (Online) — Wednesday, 23 September, 12PM EDT. Madeline Ashby will join Greg Lindsay for an upcoming episode of The Big Rethink live online, 23 September, at 12PM EDT. The event will be available here on the day. Find past episodes and more information here at New Cities.
IFTF Foresight Talks (Online) — Wednesday, September 30th —9:00AM PT / 12:00PM EDT/6PM CEST — Madeline and I will be joining the team at Institute for the Future for their series of Foresight Talks to discuss the book, share reflections on how futuring feels different in a post-COVID world, and take your questions.
Keep checking the Events page at howtofuture.com to find details and links as new activities are announced—several new ones will be coming in the next two weeks. With the staggered regional launches, you’ll see more events happening over the next few months. We’re also doing talks to various higher ed courses throughout the Fall to discuss what the book has to offer, so if this of interest to you, get in touch.
**If you are planning an event, host a podcast, or would like us to join you for a talk, interview, write a guest column, or discuss another event, contact Susan Cox-Smith at Changeist, Jaini Hairi at Kogan Page (excl. US & Canada) or Vanessa Rueda at Kogan Page (US & Canada). We’d love to chat with you.
CHANGEIST X ARTEFACT CARDS
Futuring is an applied, social, activity that can reach further when you put your ideas, insights, trends and issues down on paper for others to see, explore, and debate. To celebrate the launch of HOW TO FUTURE, we created these lovely HTF cards through a collaboration with our friends at Artefact Cards to capture your insights, and help organize them by category, time, and other criteria. At the moment this is a limited run, so get them while they’re available.
Each boxed set of 72 cards contains 14 writeable cards for each STEEP category (Social, Technological, Economic, Environmental, Political) where you can note and share the trends or drivers you’re tracking or envisioning, plus a space on each to note the relevant time horizon. It also include a Staedtler Lumocolour Fine Point pen to make the most of your future. Each deck is £15.00 + applicable VAT + shipping.
Use them to capture, map and understand possible futures—yours, your team’s, or the whole world’s. Use several decks to capture, carry, and compare ideas about where we might be headed, and where you want to go. These cards can be ordered separately from the book, and all purchases are handled and fulfilled by Artefactshop.com. For more information or if you have questions about your order, contact them here.
This is a limited run, so get them while they’re available. Grab several for the team or for a workshop. Be sure to share your pics of the cards in action using #htfcards on the social feed of your choice. We’ll share them here in the next edition!
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
If you’ve cracked an early copy of the book, you’ll note we mentioned two additional resources we’ve made available to support your reading and doing.
Worksheets — You can find downloadable PDF canvases just like the examples in the book to use in your own solo or group exercises. If you use them, be sure to credit the source, and please share when/what you can using #htfbook.
Further Reading — We’ve posted our bibliography, as well as additional readings we’ve found useful in our futures work. This is a living resource, and we’ll continue to feed it with sources and thinking you might benefit from as we find new materials.
REVIEWS AND SHOUTOUTS
Of course, if you do read the book, we want to know what you think. Please take a moment to submit a review on the site where you purchased the book, or on places such as Goodreads.com. We value your views, no matter your take, and are especially interested in what you found most useful, or how/where you’ve applied ideas from the book.
Editors and professional reviewers can access HOW TO FUTURE on NetGalley. Sign up, and request access to the book on the site.
Of course, you can tag us on social media with #howtofuture and #HTFBOOK, and tag us in (@howtofuture, @changeist, @madelineashby on Twitter, @howtofuturebook and @changeist on Instagram). Show us your copy—wherever you are in the world!
FURTHER READING
If you missed it, to hold us over the summer months, we launched Practical Futuring, a Medium publication where we share additional ideas, experiences and observations that go deeper than the book itself. Thanks for the kind words, forwards and comments we’ve received on these so far. If you haven’t checked them out, click through, click through!
Mapping Impacts and Implications — A simple tool for sketching futures in a crisis.
Managing Abyss Gaze In a Time of Difficult Futures — Listening for signals when the news is dark.
Reexamining Official Futures — Imagining preferable futures that are actionable and relevant to our times.
Calibrating the Future - Designing purpose into provocation.
Suggest topics, and stay locked for more observations to come.
WORKSHOPS
We still offer HOW TO FUTURE workshops on demand, but we’re also in the process of finalizing two new workshop options — one geared toward effective storytelling in strategic environments, and one designed for non-specialist audiences exploring particular themes and sectors for the first time. Watch this space—or Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram for upcoming announcements.
VOTE, ORGANIZE, SPEAK UP, FUTURE!
Everyone deserves the right to change their future. One thing you can do to make this happen is vote. If you’re in the United States, we urge you to not only vote early in the coming election, but to ensure that others around you have the ability to do so unhindered as well. Every. Vote. Counts.
Volunteer to be a poll worker, canvass for your nearest candidate of choice, support those who need a voice in this election, and help ensure a better future for your community and country. Find organizations that need your help, and contribute however you can.
We’ve said this before, and we say it in the book, HOW TO FUTURE is as much a tool for the activist and organizer as the company strategist or innovation team. It’s written to be accessible specifically for non-specialists. If you would like provide the book to a community group, civil society organization, or any non-professional entity trying to make change, contact us and let’s discuss how we can assist.
Whew. . . that’s it for now. Thank you again to all who supported, bumped, signal boosted, bought, recommended, encouraged, reviewed, or otherwise helped make HOW TO FUTURE happen. We’re deeply grateful.
Until next time,
Scott
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