Our Role in Shaping the Future
Futures work depends on identifying patterns of change, understanding data and systems, determining forces, and drivers shaping an organization or a society. These are important. Less often explored is the idea of human agency. Human agency is our own ability to be actors and shapers of our own future and that of others. Our decisions and actions make a difference beyond ourselves.
Sometimes a decision is fateful because it opens a vision to the future far wider than the individual’s own path: Rachel Carson’s decision to write Silent Spring, for example. More often, it is an everyday act, such as taking a job, helping someone clarify a decision, or leading a group.
In this session we explore the idea of human agency and how to use it in shaping more positive futures in small and large ways. Attendees can participate in an online survey (at www.leadingfuturists.biz) of how and why people think about the future, their motivations, and, potentially, their changed behavior.
Participants will leave this session with an understanding of:
- Their own approach and motivations in thinking about the future.
- How to talk to people, and organizations, about the importance of human acts in shaping the future in positive ways.
Jennifer Jarratt, a principal of Leading Futurists, LLC, has been working since 1984 on wide-ranging futures activities. She is a founder member of the Association of Professional Futurists, Washington, D.C., USA
John B. Mahaffie, a principal of Leading Futurists, LLC, is a speaker and consultant on the future. Since 1987 he has authored more than three dozen futures studies for corporations, government agencies, and nonprofit groups. He is a founder member of the Association of Professional Futurists. Washington, D.C., USA
