REVIEWS
Feedback from early readers of HOW TO FUTURE
“Smith and Ashby have done our increasingly uncertain world a service with ‘How to Future’ by sharing the crown jewels of the futurists’ trade. How to Future is filled with plain-spoken but extremely sophisticated guidance on how to understand—and prepare for—what’s over the horizon.”
—August Cole, co-author of Burn In: A Novel of the Real Robotic Revolution and Ghost Fleet: A Novel of the Next World War
“Written by bona fide experts in the practice, in language that laypersons can understand, and with a healthy sense of humour, How to Future lays out the tools, methods, practices and techniques that can enable anyone to think more productively about the future. I expect a lot of self-proclaimed futurists to really, really hate it. How to Future is a great book for anyone who is interested not only in what will happen in the future, but what *they* can do about it. Because real futuring isn’t about prediction, it’s about preparedness.”
—Louisa Heinrich Strategist, Designer, Keynote Speaker
“When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro. The old pros at Changeist have written the definitive guide to thinking around corners, out of quarantine, and through the uncertainty ahead. How To Future contains all the accrued foresight you need to begin practicing futures as a team or organization, and persuasively argues that your ‘return on vision’ will trump straight-line projections every time."
—Greg Lindsay, Director of Applied Research, NewCities Foundation
“Just like great science fiction, ‘futuring’ isn’t about trying to predict the future; it’s about stimulating creative thinking about a range of possible futures. In “How to Future”, two of the best strategic foresight professionals in the business share all of their secrets, explaining how you can use the same tools they use to help their clients systematically think about and prepare for what’s coming next—whatever it might be. It’s a toolbox for taking control of your own future.”
— Kevin Bankston, AI Policy Director at Facebook and Fellow at Arizona State University's Center for Science and the Imagination
An absolute gem. Madeline and Scott have taken seemingly disparate thinking and organised it in such a logical and useable way. I cannot recommend this book highly enough for all those seeking to embark on a Future exercise.
— Mark Workman, Specialist in Strategic Foresight at Foresight Transitions and Visiting Researcher on Net Zero Futures, Imperial College London
“In a world that needs proper, grown-up futures thinking more than ever, How To Future is simply brilliant – it’s the tonic (and the gin!) we’ve been waiting for. A true manual to futuring, it is both accessible and wise, written by two of the leading thinkers in the field with their characteristic wry pragmatism. With hope and without hype, the book shows us how to better think about, prepare for, and deal with the many strange things the future yet has to offer.
— Professor Alf Rehn, Author “Innovation for the Fatigued”
“Reading ‘How to Future’ in mid-2020, reinforced in my mind how important it is to broaden the scope of who gets to ‘future.’ There has never been a better time to learn how to imagine new possibilities and incorporate more diversity of experiences and points of view into the process. If you want to engage communities and make new, different, and more resilient futures happen, Smith and Ashby’s book provides both a manual and a call for doing so.”
— Matt Jones, Principal Designer, Google AI
“How to Future is exactly the kind of resource we need that helps democratise futures thinking so that all people can understand, contextualise and embody futures muscles in their every day work. If you need an easy to read and use resource to start a futures process, then grab this book. Scott and his team are thoughtful, authentic, futures experts that I deeply respect and whose work I value.”
—Aarathi Krishnan, Strategy and Foresight Advisor, UNDP
“How to Future does a brilliant job of providing the reader with the confidence and know-how to embrace uncertainty and work purposefully towards the future with ease. Using models of possibility and clear framework tools, anyone can learn to understand, predict, and shape the future, which is particularly refreshing considering the fact that futuring can often feel like an intimidating task.”
— Julie Doleman, Managing Director, Global Expansion at Experian Consumer Services