In this episode of Looking Outside we learn how to weave together the voices of the future, the agents with vision, to create Coalitions of Change, with Cat Tully, Founder and Director of the School of International Futures.
With a broad, and ‘mongrel’ background, Cat shares how her mixed experiences from across multiple sectors, government to private, have helped her to fine tune learned behavior in looking broadly at the influences of change and facing into their often uncomfortable realities.
Having created the Next Generation Foresight Practitioners Network, Cat speaks to why it’s critical we use the voice of young people as evidence towards future planning, by allowing those who will live in the future to speak for it.
Jo and Cat discuss the important but challenging role of the Horizon 2 operator, the middleman between horizon 1’s business realities, and Horizon 3’s future necessities, as being a critical bridge between the past and future.
Cat also highlights the need for leaders to recognize a bias towards what’s comfortable, the quick dismissal of what’s seemingly ridiculous, and a rejection of possible futures driven by sadness for loss of the present. And therefore the importance of providing cover for people in organizations to explore and provoke about the future with sympathy, vulnerability and compassion.
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To look outside, Cat turns to the Next Generation Foresight Practitioners Network, a 600+ strong network of young change agents across 90 countries, who are using futures to challenge the status quo in a brave way, raising the alarm on issues they care about. Cat proactively reaches out to listen.
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Catarina Zuzarte Tully leads the School of International Futures (SOIF), a not-for-profit international collective of practitioners based in the UK. SOIF uses future thinking to inspire change at the local, national and global levels. Since its inception in 2012, Catarina has worked with the UN, Omidyar, NATO, the Royal Society, and national governments to make the world fairer for current and future generations.
She has also led a team to create a framework for intergenerational fairness assessment and is working on anticipatory governance ecosystems. Cat also mentors a growing network of Next Generation Foresight Practitioners, an initiative by SOIF.
Previously, Cat served as Strategy Project Director at the UK FCO and Policy Advisor in the PM’s Strategy Unit.
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Curious for more?
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Looking Outside is a podcast dedicated to exploring fresh perspectives of familiar business topics. The show is hosted by its creator, Joanna Lepore, consumer goods innovator and futurist at McDonald's. Find out more at looking-outside.com.
Connect with Jo and join the Looking Outside community on LinkedIn.
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All views are that of the host and guests and don’t necessarily reflect those of their employers. Copyright 2022.
OBOY and Lunareh music features in Episode 26.
