12 Geniuses Podcast

How can you plan for your organization's future? For over two decades Rebecca Ryan has been consulting with individuals, teams, and organizations to create future plans that accommodate for our ever changing society. In this interview Rebecca shares her insights on:

Part I – Social Change in America

Who is winning economically and who is losing, the cost of being middle class, the Great Recession, the three previous “Winters” in America (The American Revolution, The Civil War and Reconstruction, and the Great Depression), social changes in America, the aging of baby boomers, the expansion of human rights, prison reform, economic development, benefit corporations (B-Corps), influential demographic changes, community planning, affordable housing, transit changes, and planning for the unexpected.

Part II – How to Predict the Future

Foresight / futuring, STEEP methodology (Society, Technology, Environment, Economy Politics), Four Forces (Resources, Technology, Demographics, Politics), crowdsourcing, advice for staying relevant in the future, future trends, how to be future ready, city planning, youth as agents of change for our future, diversifying your information sources, and the importance of delivering on America’s promise.  

Organizations, people, and resources mentioned: “Re-Generation: A Manifesto for America’s Next Leaders,” “The Next Big Things” by Rebecca Ryan, Patagonia, Tom’s Shoes, Danone, WARBY PARKER, Futurist Camp, STEEP Methodology, Four Forces (Cecily Sommers), “Think Like a A Futurist: Know What Changes, What Doesn’t, and What’s Next,” www.rebeccaryan.com 

“Change happens from the margins…it works its way into the mainstream. So if you want to be future ready, you need to pay attention to things that people are just now starting to talk about.”

Rebecca Ryan on the importance of empathy building and diversifying your information sources for futuring.