Experiential Innovation Activities

How to Think Like a Futurist: A Leader’s Guide to Strategic Foresight and Better Decision Making! Futuring is not about finding the right answer or predicting what comes next. It’s about widening the frame, asking better questions, and making space for new ideas to emerge. The more we can make futuring available and tangible and possible for people, the more likely they are to start thinking long-term. And if everybody starts thinking long-term and systemically, we can start solving these big issues that exist—and we can design the future that we want. Key Takeaways 1. Futuring is about preparation, not prediction It helps leaders make better decisions today by exploring what might happen tomorrow.
 2. Start just beyond your planning horizon Near-futuring is a practical way to stretch your thinking without getting lost in abstraction.
 3. Ask better questions A go-to prompt: “What would have to be true for this to work?” It shifts focus from barriers to possibilities.
 4. Make futures tangible Use artifacts, stories, and everyday scenarios to bring long-term ideas to life and make them actionable.
 5. Futuring is a leadership skill It fosters agency, clarity, and purpose and empowers teams to imagine and work toward a preferred future.
 6. Embed futuring in your culture Integrate futures thinking into your planning, meetings, and team rituals—not just strategy decks.
 7. You don’t need to be a futurist to think like one Start small. Start near. And help your organization become more future-ready, one decision at a time. Make sure to check out this podcast Jennifer Lo, Senior Director of Design Futures at IDEO here: https://lnkd.in/drB7uWZs —— For regular updates on Transformative Innovation, make sure to follow us here: The Futuring Alliance The Futuring Alliance unites visionaries across business, policy, science, and society who believe the best way to predict the future is to shape it – together #innovation #transformativeinnovation #foresight #futures #systems #systemschange #strategy #venturing #impact

Some years ago, I had the privilege of coaching a senior executive at a global tech company. She was exceptional at thinking big. Not just in the abstract, but in how she shaped ambition. She drafted bold visions, reframed constraints as creative tension, and refused to let others define the limits of possibility. She didn’t just think outside the box. She questioned why the box existed in the first place. She challenged norms. She reimagined products and markets. She refused to be defined by what others thought was “realistic.” While others got lost in roadmaps, she redrew the map entirely. That ability didn’t just inspire her teams. It gave them permission to think bigger too. Too often, talented people trap themselves in the doable instead of the meaningful. But like she showed, thinking big shifts the altitude of everything: strategy, culture, even self-belief. So how do you learn to think that way? Here are five real-world strategies to stretch your mental field of vision: ➡️ Zoom out before zooming in Big thinking starts with expanding the frame before filling in the details. Run a “10x scenario” and ask: What would this look like if we had to multiply its impact tenfold? ➡️ Be slightly ahead of your time Visionaries act before the trend curve catches up. Hold regular “future signals” sessions to explore weak trends, early technologies, and ideas from the edge. ➡️ Rethink the assumptions, not just the plan Breakthroughs often come from questioning what others take for granted. Imagine your idea has failed completely, then list the reasons why. That is where hidden assumptions live. ➡️ Cross-pollinate with other fields New ideas often come from unfamiliar angles. Invite thinkers from other domains like science, design or the arts to expand your perspective. ➡️ Leave space for the unknown Big thinking needs room to breathe, explore and evolve. Keep ten percent of time or budget unallocated so you can adapt when something unexpected emerges. Now, let’s be honest: big thinking alone won’t get you there. Bold visions without operational muscle are like kites without wind. They float briefly, then fall. But that’s a story for next time… *********************** Hi, I'm Andreas. An executive coach, consultant, and sparring partner to leaders and entrepreneurs worldwide. Former senior leader at Amazon, L’Oréal, Chewy, and executive board member at Tchibo. #thinkbig #vision #inspiration #leader #leadership #avdh #strategy #ambition

Spider's silk is 5x stronger than steel. Students just built a Camping House with it. Traditional programs graduate 89% of engineers who've never touched real materials. These students built 10 structures in 6 months using nature's blueprints. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗰𝗵: ↳ Theoretical calculations on whiteboards ↳ Computer simulations without context   ↳ Zero hands-on building experience ↳ Graduates who design what can't be built 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗛𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗲 Students design, budget, and physically construct functional camping structures. Every beam they place teaches load distribution. Every joint they weld reveals material behavior. Every budget overrun teaches project economics. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹𝘀 𝗣𝗶𝗽𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆: ↳ Structural analysis through physical feedback ↳ Project management with real deadlines ↳ Cross-functional team collaboration ↳ Resource optimization under constraints ↳ Rapid prototyping and iteration cycles The wisdom flows both ways. When students build in harmony with the landscape, they absorb lessons no simulation can teach. Companies report these graduates solve problems 60% faster - they've learned to think like nature's master builders. 𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗜𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗠𝗲𝗲𝘁𝘀 𝗘𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗵: Each camping house becomes a living laboratory. Students learn to read the land's story - how wind shapes design, how water flows direct foundation work, how sunlight transforms spaces. They're not just building structures - they're crafting relationships between humans and habitat. 𝗡𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲'𝘀 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗰𝘀: 1 hands-on project = 3 semesters of theory come alive 10 structures built = a new generation of earth-conscious innovators 100 programs blooming = an engineering revolution rooted in nature's wisdom The result? Graduates who don't just design buildings - they craft spaces that honor both human needs and natural systems. Follow me for stories where innovation grows from the ground up, not just from theory. Share if you believe the best engineering solutions are written in the language of nature.

Prototyping is proven to have the potential to transform the speed, quality & impact of instructional design: can AI finally make prototyping a standard part of our process? For years, studies have shown that rapid prototyping in instructional design: 📊 Significantly shortens development cycles (Gerber & Carroll, 2012) 📊 Improves instructional quality (Daugherty et al., 2007) 📊 Enhances the quality of stakeholder collaboration (Nixon & Lee, 2001) Despite 20+ years of evidence & tools like Balsamiq and Figma, instructional design has remained stuck in waterfall workflows with little if any testing & iteration. The question I've been exploring this week is, will AI prototyping tools change this? In this week's blog post I share what I learned prototyping a recent training design using AI. TLDR: → AI tools like Claude, Vercel & Loveable are finally making rapid prototyping in instructional design practical, fast, and accessible—transforming abstract learning concepts into testable, shareable experiences in minutes → While AI isn’t a silver bullet (it struggles with complex visuals and multi-page journeys), it does a good job of generating realistic, evidence-based scenarios, assessments, and case studies—*provided* the designer brings strong instructional expertise and prompt precision → The future of L&D lies in combining deep pedagogical expertise with AI fluency. Check out my full guide to AI prototyping for L&D, complete with prompts you can try for yourself, using the link in comments. Happy innovating! Phil 👋

Do organisations need to start thinking about having a 'futurist-in-residence'? IDEO think so (...and so do I, but I *might* be biased). One of the frameworks they mention in this article is creating "artefacts from the future". We had so much fun doing this a couple of weeks ago in symbio-futures workshop for the AdaptNSW Forum X Purpose Conference (cc: Arielle Breit, Andy Marks & Symbiocene Institute. During the workshop, we were able to create a bunch of products and visions of the future for the food system and the built environment, and bring them to life with generative AI. What's so great about this particular method is that it creates a platform for discussion around these artefacts, and what it might mean for the future (and even whether we want to build them!). Off the back of the AdaptNSW Forum, Catherine Kerr had a lovely way of thinking about adaptation, saying "adaptation is future crafting". As the climate changes and technology rapidly evolves, we need to start having more conversations about the future we want to build and also how to better prepare for it. This is where futures thinking is key (or futures crafting!). From the article: "Having a futurist-in-residence is no longer a nice-to-have—it’s a strategic imperative. This role is critical for two reasons: preparation and opportunity. With so many variables at play—from technological advances to societal shifts—it’s critical to have someone who can filter through the signal noise, identify potential game-changing opportunities, and help those who guide the organisation to adopt a more forward-thinking approach. The role can also foster a culture that challenges assumptions, encourages innovative and creative thinking, and equips teams to identify and interpret the forces that are shaping tomorrow." #futuresthinking #futurescrafting #futures #adaptation #futurist #ideo https://lnkd.in/g9CseRAG

There are retreats you attend to have fun, and there are retreats that change the way you look at people. Ours turned out to be the second kind. For the past year, I’ve walked alongside a group of builders not as a mentor, not as a host, but as someone building and stumbling with them. We’ve celebrated product builds, debugged disasters, argued over ideas, and laughed at AI memes. Somewhere along the way, it stopped being a “WhatsApp group of AI people” and became something closer to a tribe. So bringing everyone together wasn’t a random idea, it felt inevitable. So I with few people organised a retreat at Yash farm stay owned by Karthik Padmanabhan. When the retreat finally began, laptops opened before suitcases did. Emergent dashboards were glowing on screens. Everyone were watching the Emergent agent building workshop videos of Saurabh Anand & Abhinav Soni from Emergent. But here’s the magic: Nobody was building alone. If someone got stuck, others leaned over to help. Nobody judged the idea but they cheered when people were giving a demo of their product. I could only hear “Wow” and “very nice” Because this community breathes three simple truths: Give first. Never judge. Help without expecting anything back. We built agents on Emergent. We tested, broke, rebuilt, and demoed. People who came in thinking “I don’t know if I can build” walked out with their own working products, built with their hands, their minds, and everyone’s support wrapped around them. Huge shoutout to Sitanshu Nath a photographer who didn't believe in AI, who came to capture photos of the events we organised, saw what people were building and during the retreat built his first product. This is the true power of community. Demos weren’t presentations; There were moments of courage. Feedback wasn’t criticism; It was a collaboration. One of the most beautiful scenes was watching people jump in when someone’s screen froze or logic failed. Not because they had to, but because helping felt natural here. That’s why I organised this retreat. Not for a weekend away, but for a shared leap forward. In an AI world obsessed with speed, this reminded me of something deeply human: We grow faster when we grow with each other. The tools will change, maybe next time we’ll build on something entirely new. But the spirit that powered this retreat won’t change. A group of builders arriving as individuals, leaving as people who believe in each other And this is not the end. I’m quietly working on something shaped by this belief, that human connection is the real accelerator in AI. If you felt even a spark reading this, Maybe this tribe is calling you too. Stay tuned, the journey is just beginning. Thanks to Emergent, Mukund Jha & Madhav Jha for building an amazing platform. Thanks to Kamran Alam for getting on call with people and sharing insights about building agents and everything about Emergent.

We tried something new with our retreat format this year, and the data confirms it worked! Here's what we learned in France... Quick recap: Instead of sending 10 teams to different cities around the world for "mini-retreats", we brought everyone to one location outside of Paris, but attempted to maintain the focused team time that made mini-retreats so valuable, while also enabling cross-team collaboration. In other words: 95 people. 60+ workshops. 10 teams. 5 days. 1 location = "Team Connect" The outcome: According to our post-retreat survey, after 10+ years of trying various retreat formats, Team Connect just became our highest-rated retreat ever - both for overall experience AND productivity 🚀 Here's what worked well, according to the survey feedback: - Team-first, company-second approach - As opposed to our annual all-hands retreat (Doist Connect), at Team Connect, we worked hard to protect individual team time, which sparked some incredibly innovative conversations at the level where most of the actual work takes place. - 15 flexible meeting spaces - Teams could spread out, regroup, or pull in other teams as needed. The adaptability was key and meant teams got deep work done while cross-functional breakthroughs happened naturally. Product grabbing Design for impromptu sessions, Engineering teams mapping AI wins together, Finance, People, and Ops implementing company-wide workflows in hours instead of weeks, etc... - Structured flexibility - Clear and balanced agenda so everyone knew when they were working with their teams and when they could connect across the org. - Exceptional venue - Le Grand Mello's staff and attention to detail was world-class, and the "live at home" concept with self-serve food, drinks, games, and activities let people recharge however they needed. Big thanks to our friends Jihanne Cory Nathalia at Chateauform and RetreatsAndVenues.com for the hospitality. - Team-specific activities - Macaron workshops, team-vs-team scavenger hunts, sports tournaments, and cultural excursions. The balance between work and time for connection outside the conference room matters. There's a lot more I could share, but in short, the survey data confirms what we felt during the week, so I'm excited to iterate on this concept for future retreats! Here are a few photos from the week 📸 and I'd be happy to answer any questions you have below 👇

You regret those "wasted" years. Those random classes. Those unrelated jobs. Those meandering paths. But research shows 84% of innovation comes from unexpected connections. While 91% of career breakthroughs use "irrelevant" past skills. Here's your 5-step framework for turning time into treasure: 1. The Knowledge Network • Every skill connects • Every experience compounds • Studies show diverse learning increases problem-solving by 43% • Build your web 2. The Transfer Effect • Skills jump contexts • Learning builds on learning • Research shows cross-training boosts performance by 67% • Connect your dots 3. The Time Investment • Knowledge never expires • Interests compound like money • Science proves varied experiences triple creative output • Trust the process 4. The Wisdom Loop • Today's "useless" is tomorrow's edge • Every detour adds value • Studies show career changers outperform specialists by 31% • Keep exploring 5. The Experience Bank • Log your learnings • Track your insights • Data shows reflection doubles the value of experience • Compound your wisdom Remember: There are no wrong turns. Only richer paths. ♻️ Share this with someone questioning their journey 🔔 Follow Kabir Sehgal for frameworks that make sense of your path

Here is how I helped pull together a Horizon Europe full proposal in two weeks. (The answer is not AI) It was during COVID and I took a call from an old friend. He wanted me to help with a proposal - due in two weeks. Normally, I would say no, but I did not. It is estimated that it takes more than 400 hours of effort for the Coordinator to develop a full proposal for EU funding. Who has an extra 400 hours to spare? We only had 240 hours in total. Here is what I learned. Good proposals are not about reaching a consensus. They are also not about magically melding text from 10 different authors. How did we do it? Design thinking. Design thinking is a human-centered, iterative approach to innovation that emphasizes: ⤷Empathy, ⤷Problem reframing, ⤷Ideation, ⤷Rapid prototyping, ⤷and Testing. It works as way to accelerate the process. It leverages the collective creativity of a group and, . Prototyping and testing are also great ways to rapidly communicate concepts. By first reframing the problem and then rapidly iterating concepts we were able to get the proposal done on time. The result? The proposal was successful. The experience changed my perspective on what is possible. Want to avoid a 400 hour investment in effort to develop a Horizon Europe Consortium project? Adopt a design thinking approach. 

Not all soft skills training is created equal. A few months ago, I was working with a group of managers from a large manufacturing company. They had been through plenty of training programs before- the kind where you take notes and then go right back to doing things the old way. When I walked into the room, I could see it in their faces: Let’s see if this is any different. So instead of starting with slides or theory, I took them straight into a live simulation: - A crisis scenario that could actually happen in their business. - Conflicting priorities, tough personalities, and limited time to decide. - Every move they made in real time had visible consequences. To begin with, I saw a lot of resistance in experimentation, voices which were not too loud and over powering were ignored leading to loss of critical information- the room was tense. People hesitated. Some stuck to their usual patterns. But as it got deeper, they started communicating much more effectively, this led to them collaborating, noticing blind spots, and eventually testing new ways to lead. By the end, they weren’t asking- Will this work? They said that they wanted to cascade it to their teams. Weeks later, I got an email from one of the managers. He told me he used the exact process from our simulation to navigate a real customer crisis and not only avoided a major fallout, but actually strengthened the client relationship through this crisis. That’s the difference between training that’s forgotten by the time you’re back at your desk, and training that rewires how you think, act, and lead. The secret? Immersion. When participants practice real scenarios, solve actual challenges, and see the impact of their decisions in the room, learning sticks. Priya Arora #immersivelearning #trainingdesign #employeeengagement #learningthatsticks #corporatelearning #leadershipdevelopment #upskilling #skillbuilding #workplacetraining #experientiallearning #Learningdeisgn #corporatetrainer #softskillstrainer #simulation #experintialtraining