"By telling a story, you put in motion this vast sort of undercurrent of cognitive abilities that we all have for determining what's plausible. What's likely? What would play against what else? And there's nothing quite like narrative for doing that."
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Leaders and organizations live and die by their ability to plan for and navigate the future. While tools such as data and analytics have a key role to play, the most powerful way to explore and shape the future is through the lens of story. Nobody knows that better than award-winning science fiction author and futurist Karl Schroeder.

Over the last 40 years, Karl's helped organizations from the Canadian military to Intel use tools like strategic foresight, prototyping, and design fiction to anticipate and prepare for the unknown, through his creative and consulting practice with the Human Futures Studio.

In this episode, Karl shares crystal clear insights about why it's so hard to plan for the future, how tools like strategic foresight can "innoculate us" against surprise, and how we might use future stories like his latest novel Stealing Worlds as thinking tools to tackle global issues like the climate crisis.

He also shares recommendations for three fantastic books, for those who want to learn more.

• The Origin of Stories by Brian Boyd
• Dynamics in Action: Intentional Behavior as a Complex System by Alicia Juarrero
• Science Fiction Prototyping by Brian David Johnson.

While it's true that we can't predict the future, we can prepare for it. Storytelling is one skill we all have that we can use to understand future trends and develop responses to potential scenarios. Don't miss this episode to learn more about how you can become a better leader, for good.

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