The journey to the future is gaining more attention for both the opportunity it presents, and the fear of unintended consequences. Dialog and proactive action are critical to shaping this emerging future in human-centric ways – a story line that is nicely articulated in a new book titled Shaping the Fourth Industrial Revolution. I am a firm believer that shaping the future requires a different mindset. As stated in the book, we must all adopt a zoom-in and zoom-out strategy: zooming in to acquire an understanding of the characteristics and potential disruptions of specific advances in science and technology; and zoom out to see the patterns and combinations that emerge.

Zoom-in-out efforts require foresight and insight. Many in the Futurist community are working to support this process through  horizon scanning, story-telling, and efforts to connect-the-dots. In support of these efforts, we are launching a YouTube Channel that pulls together a series of videos that tell stories, capture discussions, and recommend approaches that may aid in these efforts. Many thanks to Rose Rodriguez and Kevin Mulcahy for all their work in pulling this channel together.