What’s the future we want to create?

In my exploration of what positive, future-fit organizations need I read Rob Hopkins’ book “From what is to what if - unleashing the power of imagination to create the future we want”. How can the founder of the Transition Towns movement inspire companies? Well, that’s easy. Positive organizations have a lot in common with the thinking that inspired the future-oriented transition towns. Let’s look at the power of imagination.

Hopkins shares the Transition towns' thinking in response to the current climate and social crises:
If we wait for governments, it will be too late.
If we act as individuals, it will be too little. 
But if we act as communities, it might just be enough, and it might just be in time.

Organizations are communities, too. We are groups of people working together and though one of the goals of a commercial organization is to make a profit - you have multiple other goals as well. Just like communities, by the way. 
Other business goals can be: serving your customers well, adding real value to society, doing so in a sustainable and social, inclusive way, offering meaningful careers to your employees, helping people develop themselves at work, contributing to charities, and so on.
Another goal for many organizations is to be part of the transition to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions, and to contribute to positive change.

Imagine… but can we still do that?

But, at the heart of change is the need to imagine a better world. And that’s where Hopkins notices a big challenge. Do you find it easy to imagine a future where things turn out okay?

Why are so many people in denial about climate change? Why do we see a political longing for a “retopia” - a past that never existed but that seems cozy and appealing? Why do we see an abundance of dystopian books and movies?

Beware: dystopian thinking is a risk as imagining a certain outcome can increase the likelihood of its coming to pass. 

It’s high time that we imagine what the future looks like if things turn out okay! Why is that so difficult right now? Yes, the current facts may be bleak. But, on top of that, we also suffer from an incredible failure of imagination.

Why imagination is not easy

There are several reasons for this. Some reasons that Hopkins explains in his book:

Research by Dr Kyung Hee Kim based on more than 250,000 participants between kindergarten and adulthood from the late 1960s to the present, shows creative thinking and IQ rose until 1990. But then they parted ways, with creative thinking heading into a 'steady and persistent' decline.
Dr Kim attributed the decline to children having less time to play, more time spent on electronic devices, greater emphasis on standardized testing, and a lack of free time for reflective abstraction.

Also, our efficient culture doesn’t value imagination and creativity. Hopkins quotes a researcher saying: Imagination is fundamental to a person's capacity to function in society. Yet imagination, rather than being seen as an 'essential skill', is commonly perceived as a messy, unpredictable, and unprofitable use of time. It’s considered the domain of children, while a capacity for innovation (and creativity to a degree) is highly prized and richly rewarded.

Beware of the risk, as imagination could be central to the changes we need to make over the next
twenty years.

Our hectic lifestyle can cause a mix of economic, social, and emotional problems. Anxiety disorders have increased twentyfold in the past thirty years. People are becoming increasingly fearful, with 77 percent of Americans believing the world has become a more frightening place in the last ten years.
As Daniel Schacter, a professor of psychology at Harvard University says: “Anxiety has an important relationship to imagination because it can lead us into a position where we're focusing on imagining negative future outcomes that may further cause us to become even more anxious.”

Indeed there is a strong case to say that stress, anxiety, and depression are the appropriate response to a world in which people are increasingly disconnected from one another and from nature.

Another factor may be that we are forever elsewhere. We are bombarded with information, all vying for our attention, to the extent that many people fight a daily battle with distraction. Author Hugh McGuire describes “the unavoidable siren call of the digital hit of new information” and explains how digital technologies have changed the way he works. "Work on something important, brain itch, check email, dopamine, refresh, dopamine, check Twitter, dopamine, back to work. Over and over, and each time the habit becomes more ingrained in the actual structures of our brains. How can books compete?” Sound familiar? 
This is damaging our imagination…

And then there’s the news! We’re wired for bad news - the negative stands out, it gets our attention and that’s what made us survive. It’s also sensational. That’s why the news headlines are mostly negative - who will read things that work well? Isn’t that boring? The same goes for clickbait on the internet. The bad and the ugly win. It gives us the feeling that all is lost.
Add to that the fake news that is spread by manipulators who benefit from fearful populations… Who notices the silent majority, the tiny positive things that will spark a movement…?
The thing is, research shows that negative stories make people feel passive despair, hopelessness, and discouragement. While the response to the positive stories is very different. People reported feeling happier and motivated to do something.

And our leaders are so busy and overwhelmed. One leader confessed to Rob: “Most leaders have stopped dreaming. My mind is utterly overloaded all the time (…) and you really don't have space for the imaginative part of your brain. The volume of mental stuff simply overwhelms the imagination.”
Hopkins headed home from this meeting thinking about the implications that people with massive amounts of power over the lives and well-being of others are unable to dream….

How to imagine a more positive future?

1. What if we took play seriously?

The scientific literature is clear on this point: play is key to brain development. It is as natural as learning how to walk, breathe or speak. It teaches social skills, cooperation, creativity, and conflict resolution. It builds resilience, creativity, and empathy. Play is how we learn!

We need to be able to imagine positive, feasible versions of the future before we can create them. Not utopias, but futures where things turned out okay. Having the opportunity to 'test-drive' the future, to experience different versions of the future, can help us feel they are possible (or, con-
versely, that we really don't want to go there). And play is central to that. It can bring the future alive, to the extent where we can see it, feel it, taste it, smell it. If we can harness play in our activism in order to bring the kind of future we dream of to life, that's hugely powerful.

• How can you use this insight in your organization? Can you organize playful sessions about the future?

2. What if we reconnected with nature?

A large body of research shows the health benefits of contact with nature. These include reduced stress, better sleep, improved mental health - including reduced depression and anxiety - greater happiness, well-being, life satisfaction, reduced aggression, improved child development, lower blood pressure, better eyesight, and improved immune function.

• How can you use this insight in your organization? Can you organize meetings outdoors, do regular lunch walks, and more?

3. What if we reclaimed our time and attention?

There are small things we can do: We can remove the social media apps from our phones and change the settings to black-and-white so they don’t look so appealing. We can start 
slow Sundays - being offline and onsite, in-person, with others. We can turn off wifi.
The point is not being anti-technology, but being pro-conversation.
Look at your organization’s well-being and vitality program and your organizational culture. What’s the way you do things around here? Push for targets or rest if you must. What’s normal in your workplace? How stressful is your workplace?

• How can you use this insight in your organization? Can you help your co-workers relax, and turn off their work phones, can you agree on a culture where emails outside office hours can go unanswered- and that’s okay?

4. What if we became better storytellers?

Facts can be fake - and even if they are correct they won’t move people. But stories do! 

Facts won't persuade people who don't believe in climate change. Facts won't persuade people who think that economic growth, or technology, will solve our problems. Facts won't persuade someone who feels that collapse is inevitable. What unlocks new possibilities is a story.

A good future can be boring, so how can you make it exciting (with our brains wired for bad news and thrills)? Make the future we want appealing. What does it look, feel, smell, and sound like? Make the road to the future an exciting challenge (and that’s a fact!) and feed your imagination with the details.

Use an exercise like a “future pace” where you step into the future and describe what you experience….

• How can you use this insight in your organization? Can you organize storytelling workshops and come up with the story of how your organization plays a role in creating a positive future?

5. What if we asked better questions?

What if our leaders prioritized and appreciated the imagination? What if they understood that our survival depends on being able to focus our full attention on the challenges confronting us and on our ability to reimagine most aspects of how society works? On our ability to change together…?

• How can you use this insight in your organization? Can you organize creative what-if sessions? Where any question is allowed and welcomed? Where do you hold a safe space together? To learn and explore?

What is the future that your organization wants to co-create and contribute to? What’s the positive purpose of your positive culture?

What if we were to massively de-escalate the crisis of anxiety across our culture?
What if every university declared a climate and ecological emergency and all of its courses were taught through that lens? 
What if we created a fossil fuel-free energy system within twenty years? 
What if every new house built generated more energy than it consumed? 
What if urban agriculture became utterly commonplace? 
What if our cities became huge biodiversity reserves? 
What if single-use plastics were something we only saw in museums?
What if we had more public transportation and bikes?
What if most people could work from home?
What if everyone would have a job and a place in the community?
What if we turned off our phones for half of the day?
What if our descendants would be proud of us?
What if things turned out okay?

Imagine…

Wishing you a restful summer break with time for reflection, imagination, and inspiration. Remember the option of a self-fulfilling prophecy. Whatever you give attention to becomes bigger, more realistic, and maybe even real…
What’s the future we want to create?
 

© Marcella Bremer, 2024

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