Nicole

Why are we futuring to find solutions to the problems created by extrapolative, exponential, and extractive systems, when we should be futuring to imagine emerging novelty and construct transformative realities that would allow us to elevate our human, planetary, and universal experience above and beyond those systems?

Yes. At the root of my work is joy—and at the root of that is hope. I believe that if we give up hope on all who make up “humanity” not only are we allowing the oppressors, colonizers, bigots, and others to win, but we are also not acknowledging all the work marginalized communities have put into experiencing life euphorically.

Joy is not a function of a life free of friction and frustration, but a function of focus — an inner elevation by the fulcrum of choice.

Perhaps it’s because some cultures – especially those somewhat insulated from the West’s relentless march towards individualised efficiency – have managed to preserve something we’ve lost along the way: an assumption of goodness in others. A default that sees a stranger and thinks ‘guest’ rather than ‘risk’. How ironic then that the countries we’re... See more

Be gentle with yourself on the ‘What are you good at?’ question. Put your insecurities aside and simply consider what you have to offer – in your personal life, professional life, and civic life. If we each harness our superpowers, that will actually enable the radical changes we need.

What we urgently need in all ranks of leadership, both in corporate and government, is the ability to imagine futures that see the messiness of being human not as an inefficiency to be optimised away but as an essential friction that weaves the fabric of genuine human experience.

As author and philosopher Bonnitta Roy would say, we must “dream ourselves awake.”

Building alternatives to extractive economics isn’t just about critiquing the system from afar/behind our screens. It’s about actively rewriting the story at the local level, where change feels personal and immediate. When those benefits are visible to the people we care about, they have the power to inspire more systemic change over time.