The Art of Change

We can look at change in terms of personal change (I change myself), collaborative change (we change together), hierarchical change (the leader changes those under her) and hybrid change (the leader changes volunteers).

In hierarchical in organizations (profit and non-profit) and families where the pecking order is determined by societal convention or legalized structures, the top down strategy prevails when making change. One of the first things I learned as an inexperienced organization consultantwas that the leadership of the organization had to "be onboard". My experience (with some exceptions) was that they seldom saw themselves as a part of the change they wanted others make, Most organization consults will tell you that their most successful projects were when leadership was engaged.

Collaborative change begins at the grass roots level, with like minded people in informal groups, away from established leadership. They influence from the bottom up and develop leadership as they grow. Early on, changes the group makes are initiated active members with leadership potential who becomes a leader if accepted by the group,This leadership moves from collaborative to hierarchal.and becomes more structured as the organization matures. Leadership in general, is usually temporary and can be voted out according to mutually agreed upon rules. . At later stages, as in political parties, an active group of leading members train and vie for the leadership role.A leader is democratically elected and tests the voices of the members of the organization.

Family based change is inherently hierarchical although the leadership may be collaborative (legal or biological parents, grandparents (and sometimes step parents who are given leadership privileges). In traditional and some non-traditional families, the parent is the leader, in collective cultures, the patriarch or matriarch is the leader of the extended family. In ideal families, parents (whatever their gender and number) are leaders and the children are the followers. When the leadership figure has diminished capacity, erratic or absent,behavior, the need for leadership still exists and is often taken over by the spouse or oldest son or daughter. When a change occurs and prescribed roles are filled by an alternative family member, for example when a son has obtained the duties of the paternal, leadership position, the mother who feels forced to turn over her leadership role to a dominating husband or a young child forced to cope on their own, the family relationships become dysfunctional. A similar mixing of roles can cause disruption in any organization. Many corporations give new supervisors help in moving from the worker role to a leadership role as so many stumble by trying to maintain their equality with former colleagues. The new leader has to make leadership decisions affecting the same individuals who were recently her colleagues.

Hybrid change is where there is a clear leader (and many times a board or structure above them) and all the others are there to fulfill personal and societal purposes, in other words, volunteers. There has to be a certain amount of hierarchical behavior on the part of this leader, but it has to be done in such a way that clearly respects and appreciates the role of the volunteer. The volunteer role is unique in that volunteers often have no formal say in organizational change and, in order to introduce change, the leader of a hybrid organization has to be the leader and at the same time very considerate of the volunteers, sometimes divergent, motivations and opinions.

The personal change situation means that both leadership and followership exist within the individual. This is a somewhat schizophrenic duality is often moderated by a coach, counselor, parent, spouse or good friend who agree to take on the role of leader. Often there is a combination of individuals sharing this "leadership" role with the individual's inner leader. Many choose to place their inner leadership under a higher being or deity as in the case of participants in substance abuse programs. When we comment that an individual is strong, tough or determined, it is the strength of inner leadership to which we refer.

That change is made by an individual, a small group or a huge conglomerate dictates the complexity of the change itself and the amount of time it can take. In large organizations, like a country, change often has to occur on a personal, hierarchic and hybrid level at the same time. The success of the change is affected by the leadership's attitude toward those they lead. Are they seen as basically good, wanting the best for the family, clan, collective/co-operative or corporation or are they seen as basically seeking to tear apart the organization in order to fulfill their own desires? Other aspects of change have been mentioned in earlier blogs. Look below for other thoughts and inspiration.

We are experiencing a time when chaos is the wake of an increasingly fast paced sea of changes. Learning to be flexible and create new order quickly and repeatedly are skills that are needed in life and especially in the business world.

The group Improv Everywhere is based in New York, and the brainchild of Charlie Todd, with a goal of creating chaos and joy. IE arranges pranks. It began in New York, but now it is spreading to Petrozavodsk, Russia, Cologne and Rotterdam, Germany. If you want to observe a little joy, have a look at the related videos.

Improv Everywhere is great training for audiences in recognizing chaos, raising flexibility and creating order. While it is not a conscious attempt at anything more than creating surprise and joy, it is actually more than that. It exposes random groups of people to sudden change in social regulations and behavior. It trains people to adapt to surprising new (and generally positive situations) that occur momentarily and then disappear. For example, in a train station a large number of people around you suddenly freeze in position, or a long line of people begin to follow you copying your movements. Just as suddenly everything returns to normal, but normal has changed slightly. For those who have a strong need for personal structure, and people under stress, this could be difficult, especially, if they don't discuss it with other "audience "members to validate the experience (resulting in cognitive dissonance enhancing stress). If the group's activities become known, then the expectation that something like this could occur would be a welcome surprise and a great story to tell upon arriving home. So, change with some preconceived knowledge or insight about the possible event, albeit without details, takes away a lot of the fear of the totally unknown.

This is one of the rolls of Futures Studies, that it makes people aware of possible changes, so that, even if they don't know exactly what form they will take, the changes don't come as a complete shock (home flooded out due to climate change, job loss in financial crisis). It allows for time and space for people to think through possible responses. We have a tendency to believe that some things will go on forever or at least for a long time, relationships, work routines, place where we live, etc. When we have made order of everything, it is naturally more comfortable and less stressful if things stay that way. We may make changes, but they are our changes, we are in control. Most of the change we encounter comes from sources outside us. Changes we control often increase our joy or comfort, while changes from outside sources are many times not to our liking and out of our control. It is our response to these changes that Foresight Styles Assessment FSA measures.

What about the "agents" or participants in the pranks? Any shared event, joyful or not, builds community. Participants who plan the events are exercising their creativity and leadership skills. The rest of the participants gain the joy and satisfaction of doing something fun with others. They take calculated risks that spice up life as in the Russian prank of sleeping on beds, couches and chairs in a furniture store with the risk of getting kicked out and/or arrested. They practice team work and following orders from the prank leader. They are learning to behave in accordance with the structure of the prank, so that they quickly adapt to new environments and rules (with the reward of being able to return to their more predictable situation later).

I recently came from a Seminar called Civilizational Futures: A New Assignment for Futures Researchers? It was sponsored by the World Future Studies Federation and held June 5th in Bollwiller, France. Many things were discussed, but one question in particular got me thinking. What will climate change mean practically and how are we each prepared to handle it?

We are already getting experience with hurricanes and flooding. Certainly, the Pacific Island communities have been thinking about what they will do for quite some time and the citizens of Louisiana and New Orleans have a -still fresh- experience of Katrina. Government disaster entities are busy making plans, but what are we doing? Are you prepared to receive help and are you prepared to offer assistance? Do you have routines for the unexpected?

Assuming the worst for a moment, how prepared are you to start over? Just having a few ideas in your mind might make all the difference. You have heard of scenarios; possible future situations? Here are some questions to stimulate your thinking. What if your house and livelihood were washed out in a flood? Who can you count on for help, family, friends or strangers? Will you be able to reuse your land or will you have to relocate. Are you and members of your family skilled at building, reclaiming land, planting gardens, building recycling toilets or any basic skills that we usually relate to pioneering?

If nothing major happens to you and your family, but thousands of immigrants flood over a border or somehow come to your town, how will you handle it? Can you put yourself in their shoes? Are you willing to share your resources, food, clothing, shelter and even money with them? If the shoe is on the other foot, what kind of a recipient will you be? Can you be open to the idea that you may have to learn a new language and culture? Can you accept that your fate has changed totally and that your geographical identity will also change? Will you refuse help, be proud? Will you accept help from some and help others needier than you? Will you be a victim, a hero or a little of both?

How much do you know about highly commutable diseases? Are you knowledgeable of the suggestions that experts make and the wisdom that has come from past plagues and epidemics? Armed with a little knowledge we might be able to lift the positive effects (there are always positives and negatives in every calamity). Prepared, knowledgeable individuals who are conscious in the moment have a higher chance of surviving. However, many will likely be in chock, but you could come out of it faster if you have a plan "B". In our highly technical world, we might be forced to go back to the basics for shorter or longer periods in our lives. Remember that healthy land, food, clothing and warm shelter are still the basics. One other necessity skill is in community building, because in times of real hardship, if we can't work together we are lost.

In these times of financial crisis and unemployment for many, let's look at sustainability from the following points: money, energy, shelter, clothing, food

Money
Right now our view of money is dependent upon the status we have given it. Everything has circled around it, success, status, power and often popularity.
It is very hard to understand how we could live without money. However, I don't think we will be giving up money soon. What we will have to give up is the use of money as a product with which to buy, sell and speculate.We find examples in interest paying and receiving, the stock and commodities market and in the purchase and selling of currencies. New currencies, called local currencies are cropping up everywhere and said to be growing in the United States. These are only currencies used for the purpose of exchanging services and products equally.
To be sustainable, you may have a global currency and a local currency which are used for different purposes. You may also carry two wallets, or invent a new wallet that accommodates bills and change in two or more currencies. Since local currencies are taxed, filing income tax may be a little more complex, but computer programs for self-declaration will be easier and more user friendly.

Energy
The search has been on for a replacement for carbon based fuels. It appears that solar and wind are the big winners at the moment, but other ideas are always possible. The best ways to replace carbon based fuels is to lower usage.
To be sustainable you may have energy that you create yourself (solar panels on the roof), buy and sell with shortfalls or excesses. This will possibly require some extra bookkeeping and attention to a meter in your house which will show you how much energy you are using and where you are wasting it. Some families may have parties to celebrate having gone down in usage! Large energy generation systems will co-exist with individual systems.

Shelter
In the Western world and particularly in North America a large house stands for success and provides status. Think about the castles and mansions of Europe! We knew they were rich! In a sustainable society, you may feel guilty having your children sharing a room. Think about it, more generations grew up sharing with others and even the whole family. They were less individualistic than us, but is being somewhat collective oriented that bad? Status will come from a smaller footprint. Storage spaces may get more practical (easier to get to things) and you may have fewer things to put in them. Large closets will be a sign of decadence. Kitchen and living areas are now open, inviting the family to spend more time together and offering a place to invite friends. Walls will be thicker and heating systems smaller. Fireplaces will exist to be nostalgic, but they will not be burning logs. Most new homes will be so insolated that there won't be a need for a furnace.

Clothing
The days of just throwing your clothes in the washing machine are over, with the exception of the recycled, retro clothes you get at the designer second hand. Now you really have to look at the directions carefully. Clothes impregnated with vitamins, those with solar panels, and those that claim to give off smells when you move may have to be washed separately. Scientists are working on having everything produced on demand and clothing could be one of those products. When you have designed what you want on your computer and tested it on a model that perfectly matches your shape (all on line of course) the pattern might be printed out on your all purpose printer. Then it is just a matter of cutting out the material and sewing it up. Your sewing machine will be highly digitized. Even though making your own clothes is interesting for some, it is just a time waster to others. They let a friend do it for them and pay them in local currency. For those who like it, sewing bees are popular, but won't be for women only, anyone can be invited to join.

Food
Just like clothing, food takes more of your time. Everyone you know grows some percentage of their fresh fruits and vegetables. There are swaps on the corners in residential areas. After the swap there is a lot to talk about. The weather used to be the most frequent topic for people who didn't know each other well. Now growing conditions and gardening tips have been added. After a while you fwill igure out what grows best in your back or front yard and specialize because the neighbor down the street and across the way have better squash and peas than you. You, however, have the neighborhoods best apples. Canning and freezing for winter also takes more time. You might want to use your time in another activity, You can find people in the community who will put up your food for you in exchange for local currency. You might change their tires from summer to winter and back every year and get paid the same way. New seeds are always coming along (new might be heritage seeds which have come back into circulation). Industrial food production is phasing out and people are finding other jobs. No one trusts industrial producers anymore and no one buys food that comes from very far away. There are exceptions of course. Most countries sell their surplus food to other countries and they have to guarantee food quality and workers rights.

There are many change theories, but let's face it, most of us don't apply them to ourselves. What would you change about your life that you have control over? Notice that the criterion is what you have control over. We actually have control over more than we realize. For example by taking control over the reaction we have to "things" that happen to us we can accomplish a lot.

For example: When I went to the bank a few months back, I had some cash to deposit. I have done it many times before and got no reaction. This time I went to a branch office in the smaller of the two towns in which I usually find myself. I said, " I wanted to make a deposit" and gave the clerk the cash. She counted it and then asked me where the money came from. I was nonplused. How dare she ask me that, I thought, it is none of her business. I said I took it out of my bank. She looked at her screen and said "I don't see that transaction anywhere".
I fumbled in my mind with my reaction. Should I get defensive, angry, should I lie or tell the truth? I asked her why she wanted to know, trying not to sound angry.
"It is bank policy", she said.
"I have deposited cash before and was not questioned", I said politely.
"We have to ask" she said. Then I asked "What is the criterion as I have never asked earlier. "
"Around ten thousand," she guessed.
"Well, then, give me back a thousand and deposit the rest", I said.
"It doesn't work that way", she responded.
By this time I realized I would be going in circles for ever, so I asked to see her boss. He or she was not in, so I took my money and left.
I have been stewing over that transaction for months now. Every time I think of that cheeky little girl (she could have been my granddaughter) I get mad. Rationally, that is just age discrimination and not relevant. I know that I have to go and talk to the bank manager and get the problem straightened out. Until I do that I have chosen to be angry and upset whenever I think about it (which only hurts me and not them). So, back to change. I can change the quality of my life by choosing to handle this problem differently or I can continue to spit nails whenever I think about that young woman who was "just following policy".

All of us alive on the planet are experiencing a shared history of massive change. A group of futurists are currently discussing the financial crisis and trying to suggest both actions and a new financial framework to replace the neo-capitalism, in place just prior to the sub-prime loan crisis. They are trying to shape history. Another collective experience is the predicted downfall of the American hegemony, while at the same time there is a swelling wave of hope that Barak Obama can put America back on its feet and move it from its imperialistic bully gestalt to one that is more cooperative and yes.... more loving. What has love got to do with it?

Anthropologist Florence Kluckhohn devised a five orientation approach to comparing cultures. She called these "life activities which are essential to the functioning of a social system". One of these was the belief orientation "people are basically good to people are basically evil". If you listen to the speeches of former President Bush and Present Obama you will hear clear examples from the different ends of this orientation. In other words, how we define the "other" is a life activity that can greatly color the results we get when we propose a new financial system, try to motivate a whole country to change or do anything that involves getting along in society. We have all heard about Haiti, mostly in terms of a failed state. Next to nothing is working in their society. Jerry Glen (Director, The Millennium Project, WFUNA www.millennium-project.org) reports on a meeting of the International Commission for the Development of Haiti where individuals from the outside are trying to "upgrade the futures capacity of Haiti". Deliberants in such a discussion can choose to approach Haiti's future from the world view that the people are basically good and can pull themselves out of this crash or that Haiti is lost because its people are less capable than the rest of us and will never get their act together. Mention the word Voodoo and notice your first thoughts. Were they positive, neutral or negative? Voodoo is actually the primary religion in Haiti and the heads of the various Voodoo societies were invited to discuss the role Voodoo priests could take in regenerating the country. That's what love has to do with it. It is a love closely related to respect. Choosing to talk to and consider all the parties involved as equal partners. Isn't that what all people individually and in groups desire? So when we offer suggestions for a new financial system that considers the meaning of growth and sustainability it must be considered out of a positive view of an individual's capabilities and their willingness to learn. It doesn't mean that there are no bad intentions or human failings that should be accounted for. Those are forgivable or at the least understandable. This shared historical period gives us the opportunity to test our own orientation on the "basically good - inherently evil" spectrum.

I was talking with two colleagues who work in large organizations. Each of their companies has established departments to scan for trends, events or attitudes in society that could affect the business. Their primary duty is to inform higher management of these trends. They are well paid and even have a small staff to help them cull through the maze of information available. They get a report out every month and have been getting feedback that their trend reports are very interesting and appreciated. That was good to hear when the department started, but now problems have occurred in the company that my colleagues feel could have been addressed easily at an early stage if management had only read their reports. As time goes on each feel as if their departments are a trend. It is very "in" these days for companies to scan, to look at futures issues or to add a long-term dimension to their planning. If you are the head of one of these departments, how do you get them to truly use your services?

You won't unless you have a CEO who is futures oriented and takes a positive attitude to the long view. Additional worries come up when the economy takes a dive as it has now. Whereas training was always the first in budget cuts, scanning or long-range planning departments may be taking their place. Who wants to risk resources into creating the future when the present looks so dim? Remember, personal departments were at one time considered extra expenses and now most companies can't do without them.

Some thoughts:
*Emphasize trends that can affect the near future for your field. (Worried people keep their heads down)
*Look for trends and changes that exemplify how other companies made new products of what were previously considered scrap material.
*Scan for fields for whom times are good and suggest links between them and yourselves.
*Scan for other's success stories in hard times as creative stimulus.
*Get all the information you can on what might be coming immediately after the current crisis begins to lessen.
*Help the organization to develop a list signals which are indicative of better times.
*Use Foresight Styles Assessment to focus leadership groups on how change occurs and their role in change processes. It can also help define where the company wants to go. Read: Strategic Foresight in multinational
enterprises - a case study on the
Deutsche Telekom Laboratories and The road ahead for research on Strategic Foresight:
Insights from the 1st European Conference on
Strategic Foresight. Good luck!

The head surgeon at a local hospital asked me, "After I take FSA how do I use it to improve my managing?"

I responded that it is very important that you understand the different styles. Read through them several times and relate them to yourself. Look at the points you got on each style. Do you think it generally represents you?

Ask yourself if there is a score you wish was higher or lower. Ask yourself what, if any, effect an extremely high or low style score might have on the people you work with. If all your scores and theirs are about the same, ask the same question, "What effect does that have on my co-workers?" If your answers uncover any working problems give me a call and we will find a Certified FSA Consultant (CFSAC) who can devise a training program for you.

Now read the descriptions of the styles again and think of a particular member of your medical team. Copy your chart and lay in, what you think that members score might be. Do that for each of your team. If you feel that there is friction between you and someone on the team, or between members of the team, or your team and another part of the hospital (the lab for instance) then contact me and we can discuss having your whole team take the assessment and discuss together their styles and how they help understand small irritations or outright conflicts. You can be coached by your CFSAC or he/she can come in and lead it for you.

The kinds of problems this will open up might surprise you. They will be related to change and how individuals handle it; everything from a small break in routine to extreme budget cuts! The presenting problems might sound different, but they most often can be traced back to time and style differences, because that is what FSA's questions are designed to reveal. Naturally, there are other human problems and those should be addressed in different ways. FSA is neutral in that it shows that all styles are necessary to keeping the organization healthy when their positive side is in play. It is only when a style is used in a negative manner that the problems become easier to see.

The surgeon thanked me and went off to take Foresight Styles Assessment. Why don't you try it too? www.foresightstyles.com

I would like to thank my colleague George Kubik, The Role of Leapfrogging in the Future of Youth Work and Workforce Preparation in Futures Research Quarterly Spring 2008, Volume 24, Number 1, for inadvertently giving me the following two paragraphs with which to structure an alternative view of what is driving change and the future.

"Global change is appearing in many forms. Bits are replacing atoms, telecommunication is instantaneous, and digital technologies are ubiquitous. Capital flows freely around the world 24 hours a day, every day. And the Internet is forming a global communications network that is always on, offering e-commerce on demand. No society, enterprise, or individual is immune to this erupting change. In this milieu, global youth stand poised to enter the emerging new economy as digital natives in a new world.

This period of transformation is driven by two principal factors: the accelerating rate of change and the unprecedented complexity of change. Together, these factors are radically challenging traditional assumptions about the nature of work, workforce preparation, and who creates value. It is in this milieu that youth around the globe are eagerly creating and sharing their own content, points-of-view, and ideas. In their venue, the world is becoming a massive research and development (R&D) landscape in which they are continuously engaged in leapfrogging from what is to what is becoming. The challenge of societies everywhere is to develop this latent resource and partner with it to create value."

I will start with the title, "Change is driving the future". If change is driving the future, what is driving change? Change hasn't just recently arrived on the scene. It is an inherent aspect of all the systems that affect our planet, and always has been.

Population growth has been a driving change for so long that most of us take it for granted. We have been equally good at surviving, resulting in over population. It is our large numbers that have historically been the driver for higher food production and higher food production has driven technology. In periods where food production was adequate or superfluous, status, comfort and life-style became the drivers for even more sophisticated technologies. There is evidence that population growth has been in a downward trend since the 1950's, so it is not change, but the kind of change we need to look at in order to get ideas about how young people will work in the future.

Next the author points to a few aspects of globalization that describe it for many people: digitalization, its speed and spread, 24 hour capital flow, and global communication and commerce. We are both contributing to the speed of change and attempting to slow it down. I agree that most of us, particularly young people, feel the pressure of this increasing speed and complexity. However, complexity has always been there, it is just now that we are beginning to understand the systems behind it and how they work. The part that is new is that we are becoming linked in new ways not necessarily based upon national or regional boundaries. It means that there can be global trade unions, more mutually accepted regulations for how we treat one another, a sharing of ideas both within established thinking and on the margins. It means that excess in one part of the world can be spread to alleviate shortages in another part. It is a conscious choice and in our hands.

"This period of transformation...." Transformation from non-globalized to globalized? I propose that the transformation is paradigmic moving from linear, mechanical, black and white to non-linear, cyclic, with many shades of gray. This is a big change which may take several hundreds of years to complete. It is this change that will fundamentally challenge "traditional assumptions about the nature of work", not the speed or complexity of change. Speed is like any other trend, it will persist only to the point that serves human survival.

Individuals are becoming physically sick because of the pressure the economy and the search for status put upon us. We are just beginning to understand this now. The search for status will continue to be a driver, but small signs of less stressful status behaviors are already appearing. People are finding status in turning off their telephones, relatively shortly after the period when status came from having telephones ringing around you all the time (shows that you are sought after and respected). True status is being seen more and more as coming from within.

My definition of transformation will radically change the traditional assumptions about work. Young people, in the future, may well be characterized as leaping from "what is to what is becoming". I choose to add that young people increasingly now have the freedom to do many different things that represent the many interests and talents they possess. Their grandparents may have had only one job for most of their working life and have taken the now proverbial gold watch home when they retired. Their parents have probably had several jobs doing similar tasks. Young people will have the opportunity and the awareness to be able to look for jobs that satisfy them and fit their capabilities. Their children, in turn, may create their own jobs. All of this is dependent upon continued economic growth, which is in turn driven by increased population and technical development. What will be their goal, to simply survive as many do today or to get status by having more resources to assure survival over others in our circle of influence? More money, more education, more status, and more money more educa.... The manic need for new things to sell and trade describes much of the work offered today. It is changing from work for survival to work that is related to the infrastructure that will accompany new energy forms, new transportation models, new construction methods, new ways of farming and providing food and much more. The jobs that result from the development of a new society may be more technical and specialized in nature while at the same time more physical with shorter learning curves. The leap that might occur will be between intellectual to physical work.

After the traditional introductions I sat down with a group of small business owners. I began by asking them what the "future" was for their business in terms of years. A young entrepreneur volunteered that the future for her business was three years. That is when her loan would be paid. She had not thought farther into the future than that. Then I asked what their personal future looked like, how many years would they want to be active in life and what was going to happen between the future of their company and their own futures. Most had not considered this. Neither had they considered how, if and when they would separate from their companies. Would they sell them, leave them to a relative, close down and sell off everything, let the employees take over or ???.

Then we went through the different company profiles identified by Foresight Styles Assessment.
Cutting Edge - state-of-the-art, leading in their fields.
New Thinking - Changing the way business is done or changing the world.
High Profit - Looking for lucrative opportunities.
Quality Lift - Looking to perpetuate their success.
Corrective - Pillars in their "community" with many achievements.

I left them to consider what kind of business description most fit what they had now and which description most described their goal. After just twenty minutes the responses were, "never thought about these things before", "I am leaving with a whole lot to think about", "my company is making a change, it is time for them to rethink what type of company they want to be and FSA could be a help."

Answer the above questions for yourself and see what happens!

Take a questionnaire at:Tools.

Last week I was invited by Realize AB to their release party for a creativity game called the IDEA GAME. We got to play it in the beginning and were regaled with good food and entertainment all representing creative forces in everyday life, investigating journalism, music, stand-up comedy and a fashion show. The launch was a co-operation between Realize AB and students of an Events management course. The event got high plus points in creativity.
I sat at a Mingle Table. The big companies had their own tables and the small enterprises sat together and mingled. It was great fun. I had to introduce myself, of course, and Foresight Styles Assessment. To keep my introduction to "elevator speech" standard, I said that I was the creator of FSA and that it was a tool for what happens after one plays the IDEA GAME. Foresight Styles Assessment is about the competence the individual or the organization has in order to put the creative idea or innovation into practice and provides information for an implementation strategy. Everyone seemed to understand my little speech and the introductions moved to the consultant sitting on my left.
There are other ways to get to creativity, everyone will have their preference such as,FourSight assessment and tools (not to be confused with Foresight Styles Assessment) and Michael Michalko's ThinkerToys/ThinkPak, both for strengthening creativity muscles and many more. For me the IDEA GAME allowed me to bounce off ideas with others and improve it at the same time.
I was told when developing Foresight Styles Assessment that innovation and creativity were the key words these days, which I knew. But I also knew that innovation and creativity are part of a process and the next is implementing them. The six styles of FSA are all parts of a profile that speaks to our initial motivation (companies have them as well) as Futurist, Activist, Opportunist, Flexist, Equilibrist and Reactionist. When creative ideas or innovations come from us, they are easy to accept and implement. When they come from others, especially those higher up in the hierarchy we judge them in relation to how they affect us personally. Will I have more work and/or responsibility (for the same pay)? Will I be able to do what is expected? Will I be fired because the innovation involves slimming staff? Is this innovation a way for me to move up the ladder?
Another quality that Foresight Styles Assessment has is the ability to measure long-range thinking, both in individuals and as organizations. Do we want our creativity wasted turned into innovations that effect our organizations positively for the next two months only to cause problems farther into the future? In an earlier module on this lens you will see and read about a futures wheel. Futures Wheels help us figure out possible consequence of an innovation or creative idea. It might be consequence for us or for the company/department as a whole. It can be a way to test if the creative thinking really gets to where we want to go. When I was playing the Idea Game the thought occurred to me that we also need to consider the values that the innovation or creativity represents. Are our innovations for the purpose of being winners over others or being winners along with others? We can be creative in either case, but whatever we create we still have to look at ourselves in the mirror in the morning.

If you are having trouble making a decision that will change your life now and in the future, use a Futures Wheel. Write, a statement describing each of the choices open to you at this time in the center of a large paper. For example: take a boring job that pays well or take a better job that doesn't pay so well. We'll use the first as an example: Now think of the first consequences that taking a boring but well paid job might have. Draw a circle for each of them around the statement circle (write the consequences inside). Choose a color for them and attach them to the statement circle with a single line. These are first level consequences. Then go to each first level consequence and ask what consequences each of these might have. Do the same thing with the responses you get, but choose a different color for these second level consequences. Continue the process a third time, attaching them to the appropriate second level consequence with three small lines. The consequences in your bubbles might be positive or negative. Mark them with a - or +. Now you just have to decide which consequences are most desirable for you in the long-run! Rank them from most to least desirable so that you can see which you prioritize. Repeat the same process for "a better job that doesn't pay so well". Compare the prioritized consequences and make your decision. It may be that you decide to take the well paid job for a specific period of time and save money before getting a better job that doesn't pay so well. Maybe you will come up with an even more creative solution! Good Luck. For a more sophisticated version for large organizations we recommend Joel Barkers Implications Wheel

Most books address change as a "thing". Change is a process. Most often we can't do anything to stop change. We can understand the nature of change and, most important, be aware of our reactions to change. It is only our reactions we have control over. Those reactions can affect the type and quality of change, but not the fact that it happens.

Let me give you two examples. Business is going badly and your company downsizes. You find yourself without a job. You have a number of choices as to how you can handle this information on a scale of depression, or worse, to a new start in a totally different direction.

The other example: You are finding that your monthly house payment has suddenly changed and you no longer can afford your dream home.

You have a number of choices as to how you can handle these two changes on a scale of depression, or worse, to a new start in a totally different direction. STOP! Before you read the next sentence I want you to have a pencil and paper ready and write your initial thoughts and physical responses. O.k. now read.

The fact of losing your job/house remains, but how you choose to handle it is up to you.

Your response was probably on a scale somewhere between excitement and dread! Most people would advise you to choose to see it as an opportunity! If your natural inclination is to react negatively to such changes are you doomed? No, there is a positive and negative side to even the most negative of our reactions. One approach might be to find out what anger, fear and disappointment can do for you. It might lead you to finding others in the same situation and trying to fight the situation or bring it to the attention of the public.

If you have ever experienced a negative change and chose to use your anger, frustration and fear to understand the underlying cause of your despair instead of blaming yourself, please share your examples with the rest of us.