Five years ago this month, in July 2016, I led an Unconference session about “The Future of Leadership” at WorldFuture 2016, in Washington, D.C., marking the 50th anniversary of the World Future Society.
To put it mildly, the world has changed in profound ways since then. Looking back on these past five years has also led me to think more about the role of the futurist in today’s society. We should not rely on futurists to predict the future, but rather to provide us with approaches about how we can live, work, and plan for our individual and collective futures.
There have also been deaths of several significant futurists since 2016. WFS founder Edward Cornish died at 91 in 2019. Alvin Toffler, author of Future Shock and other visionary books, died at 87 a month before WorldFuture 2016. Toffler’s wife and co-author, Heidi Toffler, died at 89 in 2019. John Naisbitt, author of Megatrends, died in April of this year at 92. (Is it just a coincidence that these futurists lived to such advanced ages?)
These thoughts have led me to compile the following list of books by a variety of futurists; some titles are brand new and some much older. It is not meant to be exhaustive, and I’ve only chosen one book for each author. I’ve included April Rinne, whom I met last year at the virtual Berrett-Koehler Authors Retreat, and another fellow BK author, Bob Johansen; former president and now distinguished fellow for the Institute for The Future. I’ve edited two articles by Bob in recent years for Leader to Leader. The list also includes several other BK authors, Joel A. Barker (whom I met when he was presenting at WorldFuture 2016), Adam Kahane, and Peter Neuwirth.
Perhaps one or more of these authors will help inspire you to create your own improved future!
Dan Abelow: Imagine A New Future: Creating Greatness for All
Bryan Alexander: Academia Next: The Futures of Higher Education
Joel A. Barker and Scott W. Erickson: Five Regions of the Future: Preparing Your Business for Tomorrow’s Technology Revolution
Lisa Bodell: Kill the Company: End the Status Quo, Start an Innovation Revolution
Nick Bostrom: Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies
Daniel Burrus: The Anticipatory Organization: Turn Disruption and Change into Opportunity and Advantage
Edward Cornish: Futuring: The Exploration of the Future
Rob-Jan De Jong: Anticipate: The Art of Leading by Looking Ahead
Alida Draudt and Julia Rose West: What the Foresight: Your personal futures explored. Defy the expected and define the preferred.
Ken Dychtwald: Radical Curiosity: One Man’s Search for Cosmic Magic and a Purposeful Life
Maddy Dychtwald: Influence: How Women’s Soaring Economic Power Will Transform Our World for the Better
Thomas Frey: Epiphany Z: Eight Radical Visions for Transforming Your Future
Jennifer M. Gidley: The Future: A Very Short Introduction
Marina Gorbis: The Nature of the Future: Dispatches from the Socialstructed World
Al Gore: The Future
Mauro F. Guillen: 2030: How Today’s Biggest Trends Will Collide and Reshape the Future of Everything
Jeremy Gutsche: Create the Future + the Innovation Handbook: Tactics for Disruptive Thinking
John Hagel III: The Journey Beyond Fear: Leverage the Three Pillars of Positivity to Build Your Success
Andy Hines and Peter Bishop: Thinking about the Future: Guidelines for Strategic Foresight
Bob Johansen: Full-Spectrum Thinking: How to Escape Boxes in a Post-Categorical Future
Brian David Johnson: The Future You: How to Create the Life You Always Wanted
Adam Kahane: Facilitating Breakthrough: How to Remove Obstacles, Bridge Differences, and Move Forward Together
Kevin Kelly: The Inevitable: Understanding the 12 Technological Forces That Will Shape Our Future
Thomas Koulopoulos: Reimagining Healthcare: How the Smartsourcing Revolution Will Drive the Future of Healthcare and Refocus It on What Matters Most, the Patient
Ray Kurzweil: The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology
Patricia Lustig: Strategic Foresight: Learning from the Future
Nick Montfort: The Future (The MIT Press Essential Knowledge series)
Blake Morgan: The Customer of the Future: 10 Guiding Principles for Winning Tomorrow’s Business
Jacob Morgan: The Future Leader: 9 Skills and Mindsets to Succeed in the Next Decade
Doris Naisbitt and John Naisbitt: Mastering Megatrends: Understanding and Leveraging the Evolving New World
John Naisbitt: Mind Set!: Eleven Ways to Change the Way You See–and Create–the Future
Peter Neuwirth: What’s Your Future Worth?: Using Present Value to Make Better Decisions
April Rinne: Flux: 8 Superpowers for Thriving in Constant Change
Yvette Montero Salvatico: The Futurist Leader
Karen Sands: The Ageless Way: Illuminating The New Story Of Our Age
Cecily Sommers: Think Like a Futurist: Know What Changes, What Doesn’t, and What’s Next
Scott Steinberg: Think Like a Futurist: How to Plan Around Uncertainty and Future-Proof Your Business
Don Tapscott and Alex Tapscott: Blockchain Revolution: How the Technology Behind Bitcoin and Other Cryptocurrencies Is Changing the World
Alvin & Heidi Toffler: Revolutionary Wealth: How it Will be Created and How it Will Change Our Lives
Alvin Toffler: Future Shock
Jack Uldrich: Business As Unusual: A Futurist’s Unorthodox, Unconventional, and Uncomfortable Guide to Doing Business
Amy Webb: The Big Nine: How the Tech Titans and Their Thinking Machines Could Warp Humanity