Cat Wilson
Apositiva Institute
You are just now handed a personal invitation to open the door to a new world, a new story. Seeing it in your hands you get excited! Breathing in you can smell it like the aroma of a spicy, tantalizing dish, and your mouth waters. Never mind that the old world is still running. You hear a knock, and are curious, recognizing the invitation, an offer of something new. Will you step out of your comfortable chair and answer the door? Or… will you sit where you are comfortable, and wait to see if someone else gets it? Why don’t we both get up together to answer the bell, the knock, and the call to a new story?
Dr. Jennifer James has written about trends and change as a cultural anthropologist for many years. I first encountered James in The Seattle Times in 1996, and when I found an article by her a few weeks ago (stuffed in a box with my favorite recipes) I suddenly realized she’d presented a future 20 years out and I was in it now! Perhaps this is why I filed her insights away in a box with recipes. She provides a cookbook to the future.
Dr. James invites the ready listener to walk on a journey of cultural change: stories, trends, observations, and spicy conversations about business evolution, what is changing and how to prepare. “Thinking in the Future Tense” is a book by Jennifer James that holds the keys to the door of change. She recommends we teach our minds to adapt and think in new ways.
In her insightful article Jennifer James recommends we develop these skills:
- Perspective: Seeing with new eyes
- Pattern Recognition: Recognizing the future
- Cultural Knowledge: Harnessing the power of myths and symbols
- Flexibility: Speeding up your response time
- Vision
- Energy: Doing more with less
- Intelligence: Mastering new forms
What will you do when you encounter the invitation to the future?
Share your insight and let’s begin our conversation on the journey together.
Find out more about Cat Wilson, at www.apositiva.com
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