Introducing Frank Spencer - The Futurist

We would like to introduce you to Frank Spencer - not the bumbling star of the 1970s British sitcom, but the US-based Futurist. 

This Frank Spencer is the founder of Kedge, a global foresight, innovation and strategic design firm, which he runs with fellow futurist Yvette Montero Salvatico. They also run The Futures School, a strategic foresight training organisation and produce a podcast called Wicked Opportunities, which reframes some of the world's most wicked problems in terms of the opportunities they offer.

Yvonne met Frank at a World Future Studies Federation webinar last year and was impressed by the warmth of his character and the depth of his work. So, in case you haven't come across him, we'd like to share a bit about why we like his approach.

Acknowledging Our Agency to Shape the Future

Firstly, we like Frank's proactive and optimistic view of the future. One of the things we have noticed in futuring and foresight initiatives in Aotearoa and abroad is a tendency to focus on data analysis and modelling to improve our ability to predict the future. In the attempt to avoid bias and present an "objective" view, these initiatives fail to introduce any new ideas or inspiring visions to pull us out of our current predicaments. As Frank says in one of his blogs: 

"Most often, when organizations, agencies, governments, and even consultants think about the future, they tend to focus on the trends that are arising and driving us to react; the disruptive forces to which we must adapt or die; and the emerging issues that are “pushing” us to respond whether we like it or not."

Frank refers to these forces as the "push of the future" and points out that they evoke a 'fight and flight' response that tends to keep us in old patterns of thinking and behaving.  He encourages us instead to think about the "pull" of the future and to engage the imagination in new possibilities - a mindset of "transformational change". He acknowledges that this approach requires courage and imagination and that it is somewhat counter-cultural:

"At this point you may be wondering why a trained futurist — someone who (it is often believed) should be looking at the future and its possibilities through a completely agnostic lens — is touting the idea of transformational change. It is true that I look at the future from multiple angles, and acknowledge that many different futures can (and will) emerge. However, I also recognize that we are all creating the future everyday with the actions that we take, and I also know that the way we see the future directly impacts the actions we take today... we must have the courage to imagine unique actions and outcomes if we hope to achieve aspirational visions for our organizations, governments and the planet."

We find this approach refreshing. Humanity is facing devastating problems. We don't need cool observations of our downfall. We need help to get out of this tangle. We need vision and inspiration which is grounded in the complex reality of the world. Frank and Yvette have developed a framework called Natural Foresight® to train people in this way of thinking.

Accepting the Unknown

There is something deeply creative and hopeful about this approach to the future. It acknowledges that we stand on the edge of a great unknown. It requires us to care about what happens and to embrace our role as artists and agents in creating the future. In the same blog, Frank quotes the futurist Ilkka Tuomi, who says, 

“The future is not something to be known; indeed, it cannot be known as it does not exist yet. In the constructivist approach, the future is not known or understood; instead it is something to be created.”

Putting Technology in its Place

Rather than seeing technology as the central driver of change and solution to our problems Frank casts it as a powerful tool in a human story: 

“Technology can support the transitions that are vital to humanity’s continual growth, but it isn’t the central mechanism by which we will solve our greatest challenges.” 

Democratising the Future

Frank and Yvette's goal is to democratise the future - to find ways of distributing power and giving agency to people and communities who are disenfranchised by the current systems.  

You can read more on his blog and listen to the Wicked Opportunities podcast.