A Futurist's Briefing
A Futurist's Briefing
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5/31/2017 0 Comments The fallacy of "making a difference" when the world needs change agents. A LEAD Global Briefing from Futurist Chet W. Sisk Faced with climate change, failing economic systems, leadership crises, mini-wars in countries around the world, corruption and the technological revolution, it appears that the world is in a prime space for significant transformation. As dour as that may seem, it's not necessarily a bad thing. Picture it like an adolescent period of life. We are deciding who we want to be when we grow up. It could lead to an entirely new and empowered way forward. However, the path to this kind of affirmative future requires bold, innovative, courageous and creative thinking and leadership. If you hear your leader say something along the lines of "I just want to make a difference", you should be concerned. Making a difference can often mean making adjustments to the process that exists now instead of transforming the process into something greater. I like to call making a difference "more of the same except with a smiley face." Certainly that's not true for everyone who says it. I know many people who mean it in a bigger way, but pay attention to the actions of those who DO use those words. We are living in a time that requires much more. Here are some of the bolder conversations happening now.... Economist Paul Mason says now is the time to think about a new economic system... I am one who believes that the current nexus of change (connectedness, information, technology, crisis) have created the perfect storm for a new vision of humanity This School of Life Video makes my point about how our ability to re-imagine the status quo changes everything. When you think about your leaders for this next phase of humanity, make sure they are courageous, visionary, intuitive and change agents. They will probably be the ones that will save the rest of us. LEAD Global Community  A group of LEAD Global friends in Ireland are looking for an SEO colleague in the US with some marketing experience, for their social entrepreneurial venture. Write back at info@coleadinternational.org and put in "Ireland" in the subject line.  If you live in Toronto, Ontario, several LEAD Global members are looking for volunteers to help organize a conference slated for this time next year. The conference is designed to champion an empowered and affirmative path to the future. If interested, write us back at info@coleadinternational.org and put "conference" in the subject line.  There is a special request for experts in these areas:
If you or someone you know have these skills, write us back at info@coleadinternational.org and put "expert" in the subject line, I would love to see those of you in Denver at this event. Let's talk....  Yes!
Chet
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5/23/2017 1 Comment Ten Skills That Will Make A Difference In Your Life Over The Next Few Years. A LEAD Global Briefing from Futurist Chet W. Sisk There is a new set of skills you'll need to navigate the changes that are happening in the world right now. Watch this video and find out what they are. Make sure your kids watch this video, too. LEAD Global Community --- Share your services, ideas, concepts and opportunities with others around the world to create transformation.  Digital Currency is an effective tool in helping to create trade around the world. There is an organization in Denver looking to create Bitcoin partners. You can find out more about them by writing to info@coleadinternational.org and put "Bitcoin" in the subject line.  A well to do couple in New Haven, Connecticut is looking for a health food guru to make their meals. Write us at info@coleadinternational.org and put in "food" in the subject line if you want to find out more.  There is an entrepreneur in Denver who is setting up charging stations stations around the city for electric cars. He's looking for investment partners. Write us back at info@coleadinternational.org and put "electric" in the subject line.
Yes! Chet 5/16/2017 0 Comments What do we do with all of those dead malls....and other big questions. A LEAD Global briefing from Futurist Chet W. SiskHere is a sample of our LEAD Global Source class... Without a doubt, we have more technology at our access than any other time in human history. We are connected to more people world wide than anything in the known existence of humankind. We have so much information at our fingertips in this day and age that we drown in an embarrassment of riches. So why are we, collectively, suffering from lack of imagination? Why are we using , 18th, 19th and 20th century models as our guide in the 21st Century? Shouldn't we be creating more powerful, abundant, innovative, egalitarian and inclusive ways of living --- like, a Utopia? It's not like we don't have the tools. Unfortunately, we're not there yet. That's why we're having a tough time trying to figure out what to do with all of the malls that are being abandoned by retailers. Millions of square feet at our fingertips to do evolutionary work and our reaction is to look at them as if they were bad car accidents. We slow down to check out the ugly scene, but in the end, we stay in our cars and keep it moving....as if there was nothing to see here. Allow me to take the time to start a fire under your imagination, to resuscitate your innovation, to stimulate that gigantic creative mind of yours so you can break the bonds of entertainment, and start to re-imagine the immediate future. Let's just use the dead malls as a kind of canvas to paint our new masterpieces. 1. Renewable Energy Solar Farms. Many of you heard me talk about this before, but the opportunity to utilize those flat roofs and open space to create gigantic solar farms is tremendous. Even more, the malls are perfectly positioned close to neighborhoods which would help in the power distribution. 2. Aquaponic Vertical Smart Farms. This is basically a no-brainer. All of that room can be used to grow enough food to feed a city and a region. There would have to be significant retrofitting, but this is a conversation worth taking to the mall investors. Granted, the return may not be the same as retail outlets, but we live in a time where we need to have a different kind of conversation about the future. 3. Mixed - Use Affordable Housing Development. This one would take an large amount of political will because some countries, don't seem to have vision to provide support for it's most vulnerable citizens, Nevertheless, these are the places you point to when people say we don't have the facilities or resources to create affordable housing. 4. A massive Maker's District with 3D printing labs. There are tons of "giggers" and entrepreneurs who make things all the time, but find it difficult to get their wares out to the public except by the trunk of their car. If a city decides it is better to create spaces for more entrepreneurs to do well than to let the tax base of an empty mall continue on it's death spiral, there could be something special here. 5. A Learning Institute for the 21st Century. I am not thinking another University in the traditional sense, but more of an open series of classes or mini schools that allow people to receiver certifications as they retrain and rethink being human in the 21st Century. 6. A massive fitness and preventative health complex. I've heard experts say that the great challenge of losing the malls is that it takes away a place for people to meet, talk to each other and socialize. Here's one way of bringing the social interaction back while creating healthy futures. Those are things to consider. Here are ideas to avoid like the plague... 1. A high end mall. First, high end retailers are facing the same challenges as other retailers, so replacing tweedle dee with tweedle dum is simply not smart. Even more, it creates ethical conflicts in a world where the economic divide is greater now than at any time in the history of the world. 2. Luxury condos. Basically, the same reason as above when it comes to basic ethics. 3. Something that ignores the challenges facing society today. The Fourth Industrial Revolution/World Shift is more than a catchy phrase. It is a notice sent to societies that we must do something different in order to thrive and succeed in this next phase of humanity. Our plates are full with challenges, so using these dead malls to create more of the same is a recipe for social disruption on a massive scale. All of the challenges we see today are asking us to be creative, insightful, intuitive and kind. If we lean forward into that part of us that is calling out, we'll know exactly what to do. LEAD Global Community -- Promote your idea, concept or venture to thousands around the world.
Yes! Chet 5/12/2017 3 Comments Are You On The Path To Wealth in the Fourth Industrial Revolution/World Shift? Read This and Find Out. A LEAD Global Briefing from Futurist Chet W. Sisk With all of the talk about the uber rich hording all of the money in the world, let me provide some context. Another kind of wealth is emerging that is less about money and more about quality of life and taking advantage of the efficiencies offered by emerging technologies. If you drill down, you'll find most people really just want the resources to meet their obligations and take care of their families, which leads to peace of mind. This is the promise of the Fourth Industrial Revolution/World Shift, but only if we see it. The danger we face is if we become entrained into thinking true wealth really is still about money, materialism and possessions. Here are five developments that are challenging that 400 year old concept. Power in Numbers. If the definition of true wealth is holding power, then a new day is dawning. The overall message of the new technologies is that connectedness, Democracy and participation is immensely more adaptable and creates more power than being separated. If we lean into this, we'll start to see that a connected environment is really about systems that work better, last longer and empower more people. The command and control model of management is notorious for it's waste and exposure to corruption, while a more connected structure brings more resources, flexibility, ideas and possibilities to the table. The Fourth Industrial Revolution/World Shift now provides us with tools to fully actualize the potential of full engagement governance. From energy grids to cooperative food gardens, people in a connected environment can create levels of effectiveness and power we've never seen before. https://insight.kellogg.northwestern.edu/article/which_government_is_best Experience over Ownership.The trend to reduce debt bondage and focus on the experience over ownership has caught hold in the US and other parts of the world. http://adage.com/article/digitalnext/consumers-experiences-things/299994/ Less "ownership" debt means wealthier people. Food for Everyone. The biggest challenge over the past 400 years of human activity has been the introduction of the Scarcity Model (I have it, you don't, so now you'll have to pay me for it, or I will keep it from you). Over the next few years the great challenge will be to create an economic system that corresponds with the new reality of food abundance for everyone. The technologies have provided resources for every community to become it's own food source.http://www.marketwatch.com/story/economics-in-the-age-of-abundance-2016-02-02 More Leisure Time. It used to be that only people with lots of money had time to relax, think about life, study the arts and travel. Everyone else was "a working stiff". The emerging job automation crisis has finally given us a reason to give up a machine model of work, as introduced to us during the Industrial Revolution. With more time on our hands, we'll be able to indulge in the same things the monied rich do, although a lot of this will be determined our response to fewer jobs. Access To Information. Access to information used to be the tool that created caste systems in a society. Rich people had the information. Everyone else did not. Now, access to that information is available to most people -- including if you want an elite school education. It's all available online through Massive Open Online Courses. This re-definition of wealth is being driven not by ideology, but by the technology that keeps saying one thing --- we can do better than this. LEAD Global Community  Our partner, The Democracy Commitment, is looking for volunteers to help them forward the principles of Democracy in communities around the US and the world. If you have time on your hands and looking for work that has meaning, write to info@coleadinternational.org and put "democracy' in the subject line.  A LEAD Global Source member is looking for a job in health care in the Denver area, but also suggested that she could work as a consultant remotely. Looking for someone with these skills? Write us back at info@coleadinternational.org and put "Healthcare" in the subject line.  Another LEAD Global Source member is in the early stages of putting together a benefit concert in Canada and is looking for someone with benefit concert organizing skills. It is a paid position. Interested? Write back at info@coleadinternational.org and pub "Canada" in the subject line.  There is a team of entrepreneurs in Morocco looking for someone who could partner with them on a new app they've developed to forward a green approach to bartering and trading. Interested? Write us at info@coleadinternational.org for details and put Morocco in the subject line. Yes! Chet 5/8/2017 0 Comments More on The Coming Age of Abundance and a telephone call with Chet W. Sisk -- A LEAD Global Briefing with Futurist Chet W. Sisk Join me in a live conference call this Tuesday on the May 20th LEAD Global Workshop at the Althea Center in Denver. We are holding this phone call at 12 noon MST til 1:00pm on Tuesday, May 9th. I will answer all of your questions on the event as well as the UBI program. The number is you can use: (218) 862-8223 and the passcode is 1111#. Let anyone you know you would be interested in this to call in! --- We are in crisis, that is, two different possibilities of the future exist at the same time and we are being asked to choose. While the dystopian automation unemployment apocalypse is getting all of the love right now, there is another path that is opening up. This is what some are calling the emerging Age of Abundance. We at LEAD Global are advocates for the latter and champion a pro-active approach to helping make the Age of Abundance a reality. Here are seven developments we see from our vantage point with suggestions on how we can get there.... Vertical Farms/Backyard Farms/Aquaponic Farms. If you hear anyone try to tell you that bioengineering food is the only way to feed a growing world population, walk away from them, immediately. They may not necessarily be dishonest, but they are definitely misinformed. The emerging technologies have created multiple options that can help us weather climate change and feed the entire world's population 10 times over. As I've stated before in an earlier briefing, the only reason there is hunger in the world is because political operatives have utilized the Scarcity Model (I have it, you don't, thus you must pay me for it) to make profit. Food abundance is available right now...http://www.ecowatch.com/5-ways-vertical-farms-are-changing-the-way-we-grow-food-1882019986.html What must be done: Community organizations must now get behind these developments. It doesn't seem to be on the radar of national or regional governments. Diversity As An Advantage in The Fourth Industrial Evolution. Despite the effort by some countries to close borders and shut people out, the world is a much more diverse place. Never in the history of humanity has there been this level of cross cultural interaction in the world. It stands to reason that organizations that do a better job of incorporating this diversity into their operations model will do better than those who don't. Diversity (not tokenism or exploitation) is a clear advantage in the new world emerging.http://multiculturaladvantage.com/recruit/diversity/diversity-in-the-workplace-benefits-challenges-s... What must be done: People don't naturally interact with people outside of their cultural spaces. There has to be formal tools in place to make sure this happens. Africa to leapfrog the rest of the world. Without the challenges of highly regulated infrastructure and complex burdensome vehicles of engagement, Africa is in a place to leap frog the rest of the world in implementing green technologies and mobile as-a-service applications. http://businessmindsafrica.com/time-now-africa-leapfrog-fourth-industrial-revolution/ What must be done. Nothing. Let Africa be Africa. This is a good time to develop ties with countries like Kenya, Angola, Namibia, Ghana, Ethiopia and Botswana. Net Zero Energy Homes are on the rise. Imagine your home producing enough energy on its own to warm or heat your family so that your energy costs are near zero. That's the immediate future staring you in the face. Net Zero Energy Homes isn't just a tree-hugger's fantasy...it is the way forward in a booming business. The technology keeps developing....http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160812005030/en/North-America-Expected-Lead-Zero-Net-Energy What must be done...Before you move to your next home, check and see if it can be retrofitted to create Net Zero Energy. The Rise of Values and Experience Over More Stuff. Primarily driven by millennials, there is a full blown movement around the world not to buy so much stuff. The age of abundance has given rise to the service- as-a business model. This means people are not only buying less stuff, but the stuff they do buy has to have value and meaning and be on demand. http://www.retailprophet.com/blog/the-future-of-retail-in-the-age-of-abundance/ What must be done...This shift in old retail patterns of purchase are going to disrupt the economic models based on consumer spending. This could lead to different indexes of prosperity, like "how are people feeling about things" or " were you able to pay rent on time last month". Now is the time to support these kinds of developments around the country. LEAD Global Community -- If you are a LEAD Global Source member, we'll post your ad, inquiry or request for free.  A group in Santa Fe New Mexico is looking for consultants in Restorative Justice.. Write us back at info@coleadinternational.org and put in "justice" in the subject line.  A young entrepreneur in Augusta, Georgia is looking for really talented writers for his new magazine on personal transformation. If you have good copy writing skills, he'll want to hear from you. Write us back at info@coleadinternational.org and write in "magazine" in the subject line. We'll get his information to you.  A personal fitness coach in San Francisco want to invite you to a 90 day challenge to help you get fit and ready. Write us back at info@coleadinternational.org and write "fitness" in the subject line.  I'd like to extend a personal invitation for you to come to this event. Find out more about it in our conference call.
Yes! Chet 5/3/2017 0 Comments Our "Star Trek Potential". Five things that indicate we're evolving. A LEAD Global Briefing from Futurist Chet W. Sisk
I recently ran into a colleague of mine who declared that he was part of the "resistance" movement. He and I spoke about the political and social climate in the US and around the world. In that conversation, he said to me "we desperately need a revolution!" Nothing could be further from the truth. From my particular view, a revolution is re-shuffling the deck chairs on the Titanic. You may get different seating placement, but you're still on the boat. It seems to me that we are on the front line of an evolution -- that is, a change at the very core of how things work that breaks the cycle of past operations and thinking. I would submit that The Fourth Industrial Revolution is misnamed because it represents more than a revolution, but an evolution of the way everything works. This will change the soul of humanity and the foundation of a society. In my opinion, this level of shift is needed so that people can create a way forward that best leverages the technology for the greater good. Framed another way, this is an opportunity to create levels of efficiencies that can destroy the sociological bottleneck of greed, lack, violence, exploitation and materialism. Another friend of mine gave a name to this possibility. She called it the "Star Trek Potential". The Star Trek Potential is the future that is free from want, lack, war and hunger, as often discussed in various episodes of the Star Trek television and movie series. Here are some of the developments that are pointing in the direction of this potential. The Star Trek Medical Tricorder - It seems every day the Star Trek series seems more like a documentary than a fictional television program. Several companies are working on producing the first medical tricorder, a machine that can analyze your health by a simple scan of your retina or the rest of your body. In short order, these machines will be available to people around the world, putting preventative health care in the hands of the people.http://io9.gizmodo.com/meet-the-teams-who-are-building-the-worlds-first-medic-154300063 The Rise of the Backyard Farmer -- In theory, we could produce all of the food we need, feed the world 10 times over and get rid of massive food waste right now if only a fraction of people did backyard farming around the world. Even if you live in an apartment, anywhere in the world, you could participate in this shift. The technology to make this possible exists now.This would change food production as we know it and give rise to the age of abundance. https://www.treehugger.com/lawn-garden/urban-farm-backyard-vertical-aeroponic-gardens.html The Rush To Find A Currency Alternative --- Let's face it. Currency controlled by nation-states is subject to manipulation. That's a 20th Century fact. The emerging technology through crypto currency has also fueled a mad rush to create an open-source world currency that allows everyone to participate in a different kind of economy. Here are some of the wild ideas that are emerging in light of this rush. https://www.gobankingrates.com/investing/9-alternative-currencies-crazier-bitcoin/ A New Philosophical/Spiritual Belief --- Every paradigm shift needs a corresponding philosophy to help make it more accessible to the people. The Southern African concept of Ubuntu seems to be the leader of this time.http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-judith-rich/ubuntu_b_1803189.html First Industrial Revolution-Structured Education Is Being Turned On It's Head --- During the first industrial revolution, education was designed to produce more workers to fit into the industrial machine. Now that basic industrial work is being handled by robots, a different kind of education system must evolve. This one haempowers people to think, create, innovate. This education system has the power to create futures that we used to dream about. LEAD Global Community The Kadampa Meditation Center in Denver is hosting a series of teachings on how to manage fear and anxiety in a time of change. Write back at info@coleadinternational.org and write "meditation" in the subject line and we'll send you more information.  There is a therapist in the Seattle area who specializes in providing support for workplace anxiety in light of automation job loss and career reshuffling from the Fourth Industrial Revolution. If you think you're having those anxieties, write us back at info@coleadinternational.org and we'll put you in touch with him. He can hold workshops and seminars wherever you are in the world. Put "work" in the subject line.  There are a group of investors in Bahrain who are interested in creative solar energy applications. If your company has been doing creative work around solar energy, write us back at info@coleadinternational.org and write solar in the subject line. We'll put you in touch with them.  LEAD Global, in conjunction with Yoga of the Mind, is hosting a workshop on the 20th of May. This will be focused on helping you form an action plan to thrive and succeed in a time of change. Go to leadtheshift,com to register.  Yes!
Chet |
AuthorChet W. Sisk is an author and one of the world's leading Social Futurists. He is also expert on the current world paradigm shift. Find out more about him and the LEAD Global Team at www.leadtheshift.com or you can write him directly at chet@chetsisk.com Archives
January 2019
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