Heart, Head, and Hand: An Evolutionary, Organic, and Natural Approach to Foresight

Think Beyond has partnered with Frank Spencer -  TFSX Founder, Creative Director, and Lead Instructor - to bring you:

Heart, Head, and Hand: An Evolutionary, Organic, and Natural Approach to Foresight. 

Complexity is expanding, interconnections are multiplying, social systems are rapidly morphing, and technology is hyper-accelerating. 

Are the tools and methods touted through futures thinking propelling us into a new world of equity, empathy, and generative consciousness?

Is foresight enough? 

Fortunately, a more holistic perspective around foresight is emerging as practitioners and researchers are pulling from domains such as complexity, ecological and anticipatory sciences, cultural evolution, and pattern identification to amplify our global foresight capabilities. As a discipline, foresight is transcending risk management, opportunity development, and alternative visions of the future to embrace the biological, psychological, and sacred nature of futures consciousness. A beautiful, unfolding reality depends on an awareness and transformation of futuring throughout society.  Is it possible to cultivate foresight and futures thinking as a collective capability – a “mental technology” of care, empathy, restoration, and love – that transforms our broken systems to become more human, more planetary, and more cosmologically conscious? 

In this “experience-based” conversation, Futurist Frank Spencer will guide participants through the basic principles embedded in Heart, Head, and Hand - the unlocking of humanity’s natural and innate foresight and futures thinking abilities.

Topics covered will include:

• Holoptic Foresight Dynamics® (The “Heart” or Philosophy): HFD - the cooperative evolutionary perception of emerging novelty that fosters the co-creation of transformational realities - draws from 15 years of research that spans insights from indigenous cultures to new ways of knowing. An HFD philosophy of foresight and futures thinking provides a biological, psychological and sacred foundation for the evolutionary unfolding of futures consciousness throughout all living systems.

• Natural Foresight® Framework (The “Head” or Framework): The NFF embodies the philosophical principles found in the “Heart” (HFD), empowering practitioners, change makers, and regenerators to implement a natural, organic, and evolutionary approach in their foresight and futures thinking work. 

• Transformational Foresight (The “Hand” or Application): This aspect of unlocking humanity’s inner foresight and futurist entails the mindset and active pursuit of unique capabilities and large-scale change birthed from the complex interplay present in our ALIVE world (abductive, liminal, Interconnected, vibrant, emergent). 

Following the initial discussion, participants will work in groups to address present-day systems and large-scale challenges by exploring cultural and cosmic voices missing from those systems, and then imagining how the convergence of those voices might lead to transformational realities. Time will also be dedicated to a brief look into the annual Transformations retreat, 1-2 case studies of how a Heart, Head, and Hand approach to foresight and futures thinking has impacted organizations across the world, as well as some time for Q&A.

About Frank:

In 2009, Frank founded Kedge and The Futures School – a foresight, innovation, strategic design, and learning ecosystem which pioneered what is now TFSX. Throughout his career, he has worked as a leadership coach and developer with entrepreneurs, social communities and global networking initiatives empowering them in areas such as organizational development, innovation, and culture building. He holds a Master of Arts in Strategic Foresight from Regent University. With a strong background in both business and academic foresight, he has worked on large-scale projects for companies such as General Mills, NASA, Lego, and The Walt Disney Company. He is a prolific speaker, having delivered presentations to groups and conferences across the world for more than 20 years. Frank also holds memberships in the World Futures Studies Federation (WFSF) and the Association for Professional Futurists (APF).

About Cheryl: 

Dr Cheryl Doig is a leadership futurist, weaver and connector, often known as the #futuresaunty. Cheryl has a passion for growing futures literacy and foresight through her company, Think Beyond. She is the founder of the Ōtautahi Futures Collective, Aotearoa Futures and Oceania Futures. In 2017 Cheryl was a finalist in the NZ Westpac Women of Influence Awards, in the Innovation and Science category. She is a professional member of the Association for Professional Futurists and a reviewer for the Journal of Future Studies.