“The present is already really messy.  What I’ve learnt is that the future will be really messy, too, and that there won’t be a single answer to everything.  Coming back to foresight then, I think good organisations should really do the work of imagining multiple futures and there’s some really well-designed scenario methodologies out there for working out which kinds of futures you might want to think about.  Let’s say you end up with four different futures for how you think the world might be, that’s really, really useful for strategising.”  

This episode of the humans at work podcast features conversation with Melissa Clark-Reynolds, a futurist, technology entrepreneur and insightful and visionary speaker. She is the Managing Director at FutureCentre.nz and sits on the Boards of Atkins Ranch, Wētā Workshop Ltd, Alpine Energy Group, Daffodil Enterprises Ltd, NZ Future Bees Trust, and Iron Duke.

Melissa and I talk about the changing nature of consumer and employer influence, the evolution of executive governance, and the role of long-term investment thinking for future generations. As an experienced Director, Melissa reflected on how Boards need to role model the behaviours and values of the organisation, how incentives for CE performance could do with an overhaul, and how to develop resilient strategies.

Melissa and I talk about:

• Pattern recognition across multiple different systems
• Food security and ethical labour and what it means to our ‘small pleasures’
• Era of increasing transparency
• Consumerism as voice and voting
• Ethical alignment and the importance of visible integrity
• Organisations as part of wider ecosystems
• Intergenerational workforce strategies
• Shifting nature of employer – employee relationships
• Importance of holistic reputations for companies
• Governance and Directorships – role of Boards in supporting and role modelling the company ethos and values
• Relationships between CE and Board chairs
• What success is for companies and organisations with a future perspective
• Appropriate incentives for sustainable longer-term strategies
• Board Director’s roles in supporting culture and succession
• The importance of long-term workforce strategies
• Planning for comprehensive integration of migrants into the workforce and communities
• The need to review New Zealand’s labour market policies
• Long-term investment in education and health
• The importance of teaching critical thinking and creativity
• Infrastructure and the challenge of government debt leaving stranded assets for future generations
• Strategies that build resilient futures that future generations will have the most choice in
• Te Ao Māori view in relation to valuing people with preferences for the past, the present and the future
• The importance of handling the present as well as thinking of the future
• The need to imagine multiple futures and scenarios to build resilient strategy
• The importance of pandemic scenario planning.

Resources and Links:

To learn more about Melissa: 

Follow Melissa on LinkedIn

Learn more about Melissa’s work via futurecentre.nz

Watch some of Melissa’s presentations on Youtube

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