Normally, I would use this post to share a list of trends that will impact the year ahead. The purpose of these lists is to help you and your organization see around the corner and prepare to harness these trends (see 2020 Predictions and the prediction about remote work). In a normal year, I might have shared my trends about the future of equity or told you how my future of philanthropy model has been accelerated by the pandemic and we are now living in the future of philanthropy.
Spoiler alert: This is not a normal year. Jim Collins in his book Beyond Entrepreneurship 2.0 said the following:
“Uncertainty is chronic; instability is permanent; disruption is common; and we can neither predict nor govern events. There will be no ‘new normal’; there will only be a continuous series of ‘not normal’ episodes, defying prediction and unforeseen by most of us until they happen.”
I know this quote is probably giving you major anxiety but it gave me a lot of hope for the field. The last few words “unforeseen by most of us until they happen.” Most…MOST…MOST! You aren’t most people. You have dedicated your career to making the world a better place. You have a vested interest in disruption because it is the only way to make things better. Ending inequality? Disruption! Making sure everyone has a home? Disruption! Rebuilding our education system? Disruption! You were made for this. This is the time for us to build a new future.
If this is not the year you took building your future thinking skills seriously, I’m not sure what it will take. A calligrified invitation? A hailstorm of Magic 8 balls? A Christmas Carole-like visit from your future self?
2021 is the year for building your future thinking skills as your number one strategic priority. There is nothing more important than this now. If you don’t take future thinking seriously, your organization won’t exist in the near term future. For the foundations out there [laughing in endowment], you will exist but if you don’t start building future thinking skills you won’t be relevant to the causes and communities that you care about and for foundation irrelevancy is a fate worse than death.
It really is simple but that doesn’t mean it is easy. You have to do the work. Throughout the pandemic I have been giving away electronic copies of my book FutureGood for free. You will see the option in a pop-up on my website to get your copy. In that book are tools to develop these skills. I’ve also built up the team at FutureGood to help our clients develop a strategic vision that will get them through this uncertainty, reach out if your organization needs help. My 2020 clients did some amazing work to build a more equitable and beautiful future and they will continue to see the fruits of the seeds that they have planted this year for many years to come.
2021 is your year, build a better future.