Foresight is quickly becoming the power skill of the decade. I'm often asked "how do I become a futurist?" and "what makes a good futurist?"
To become one, you need to have an aptitude for spotting trends and understanding how they might play out in the future. You also need to be able to think creatively and outside the box.
Here are 10 tips on how to become a futurist:
1. Stay up to date with current affairs and current trends - from artificial intelligence to cultural and social to technology trends. This will help you identify potential future trends, develop a compelling worldview, craft alternative futures and build your strategic foresight.
2. Think creatively and innovatively - leverage out of the box tools to arrive at new ideas and ways of looking at things (Eg. scenario planning, disruptive thinking, design thinking , etc.)
3. Practice problem-solving and think about how different solutions could play out into future generations. Practice thinking of alternative futures.
4. Be open-minded and comfortable with change. The future is always changing - as a foresight practitioner, embracing this will serve you well in trying to inspire a brighter future.5. Build credibility - as a professional futurist, you need to establish credibility in the field of futures studies. Contributing to media, publishing articles and blogs, a degree in futures studies, futures professional development, involvement with a futures organization, connecting with a foresight community can all help.
6. Be curious and ask questions. Don’t be afraid to challenge assumptions or to think outside the box. That's how great Futures thinkers push the envelope.
7. Educate yourself and develop a deep understanding of your field and the ecosystem in which it operates. Follow prominent futurists, thought leaders and business leaders on social media. Look into futures theory and futures studies. Better yet, look beyond future studies and learn how to start-up your own Futurist consulting practice here. In today's landscape, the reality is future studies are being eclipsed by practical training and coaching so look for an applied point of view.
8. Be patient and don’t expect things to happen overnight. Building your foresight capacity takes time, so you need to be patient. Create a compelling vision that you can steer yourself towards.
9. Have faith in your abilities and trust your gut instinct. Strategic intuition is one of the most under-utilized skills in futurism. Intuition IS data - in facts in generations upon generations of data manifesting a inkling. Follow that inkling.
10. Persevere and don’t give up. Becoming a futurist takes time, effort and dedication. But on the other end, can be really fulfilling. If you're wanting to accelerate your trajectory, pre-enroll in our brand new Futurist training program here.
So, what makes a good futurist?
In addition to practicing the above tips, strategic foresight, strategic thinking and innovation or creative thinking are considered the magic trio to building your futurology skills. Given technological advancements, the reality is everyone needs to be a futurist. It will be one of the most important leadership skills of the twenty-first century.
Curious to see the top 30 futurists of 2023? Click here.
Career paths
Futurists come in a wide range of shapes and sizes, but they have one thing in common. Whether studying science, technology or social media trends; designing marketing campaigns that take advantage of human nature--futurology is key!
Career paths tends to fall into one of three categories. 1) working at consulting firms 2) founding your own business specializing in predicting what's coming next 3) becoming an in-house organizational futurist at a company.
Futurist Consultant training
If this article has satiated your curiousity around becoming a Futurist or starting up your own foresight practice, look no further. Demand for Futurists in on the rise. That's why we recently opened up pre-enrollment to our brand new Futurist training program, Futurist-in-50-Days.
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FAQ
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A wide variety of backgrounds can lend themselves to futures studies - from Science to technology, to creative thinking fields, to cultural anthropology, to strategy and strategic planning. Because there are many tracks or niche specialties in the field of futurology, a variety of backgrounds can support the career. There is also formal training you can take - for example, a Certificate from the Futurist Institute or a degree in futures studies. If you're looking to start-up your own Futurist consulting practice, learn more about our brand new training program here.
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See this blog for more information.
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Creative thinking, strategic thinking and proactive thinking are considered the magic treo. Learn to combine these three thought lenses and you'll be one step closer to your goals.
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Download our Apprentice Pack here or check out our comprehensive training here! Want a glimpse into some of the most prominent futurists practicing today? Click here.
About the author
Lindsay Angelo is the founder of Futurist-in-50-days, supporting impact-driven professionals, teams and organizations in learning to think and lead into the future. She's also a practicing and award-winning professional Futurist, Strategy Consultant, MBA and TEDx speaker. She's advised Fortune 500 companies, entrepreneurs, think tanks, and celebrities - all the while creating a nomadic lifestyle rooted in travel, family and community. Named a Woman to Watch and Global Innovation Leader, Lindsay's delivered over 100+ keynotes and has worked with organizations including lululemon, Unilever, the LEGO Group, Snapchat and the Human Potential Institute. Her experiences culminate in what she refers to as her sweet spot - where strategy, innovation and foresight intersect, where the rational meets the emotive, where facts meet insights and where logic meets creativity.
