I thought, why not gift my mother with another book, do something meaningful on her behalf?
May Allah accept all the lil things we try to do that might win His blessings.
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M - Mindset of a Futurist
U - Understanding megatrends
S - Scanning weak signals
T - The Futures Triangle
A - Alternative Scenarios
Q - Questioning Assumptions
B - Building your Future
I - Innovating with Foresight
L - Learning from wild cards
U - Using Causal Layered Analysis
N - Narrating your future
Mysterious? Is the future really mysterious? Not at all if we care to unlearn any stale ideas we might have about imagining it. It requires shifting our mental paradigm from a mono-perspective to a more dynamic lens, among others.
If we are not too lazy and care to be more curious and inquisitive about what's happening, especially the big trends; if we care to take advantage of the available AI to help us understand the megatrends and learn how to scan for weak signals, we would be able to dive deeper into the mysterious abyss. Why not wait for my second book, where I will discuss the various tools you could use, such as the Futures Triangle and Scenario Planning. You will learn that the latter will broaden your p.o.v so you would stop talking and, more importantly, stop believing in one future outcome, because you would see that there are at least four plausible scenarios to any inquiry you choose to make about its future. Having said that, it is not asking you to believe in any one of them. It is about shaking up your mental faculties so that you would begin to entertain several possible scenarios, not just five years down the road, but over a farther horizon. By now, you will have trained yourself to think about multiple futures and hopefully start building a muscle for Futures Thinking. Consequently, you would start questioning your rigid assumptions and become inspired to actively shape your desired future. My book will help you learn and practise innovating with foresight tools and techniques such as learning from wild cards and Causal Layered Analysis. You will learn all the known tools to master Futures Literacy, hence, become Futures literate so that you will have the capability to narrate your preferred future now, rather than later.
Mustaqbilun comes from the Arabic root word s, q, b, l, which means future-facing direction. It refers to those who embrace the future.
Let us all become a Futurist for the future belongs to all. As a matter of fact, becoming a futurist is a sunnah. In the Quran (59:18), the Almighty says: "O you who believe, fear Allah and let every soul look to what it has put forth for tomorrow..."
We are asked to anticipate future consequences of our current actions. Anticipation or anticipatory decision-making is a core tenet of foresight in the science of Futures Studies.
Mustaqbilun operationalizes the Quranic imperative to read "the signs" within ourselves and on the horizons. Thus, foresight, in my understanding as one who reads both tasawwuf (sufism) and futures literacy, is more than just a tool. It is taqwa in action.
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Stay tuned for more snippets from my upcoming publication - Mustaqbilun: Mastering the Art of Futures Thinking.
Bi-iznillah.
May Allah increase us in knowledge and understanding.
May Allah grant us useful knowledge and enable us to put them into action.
Aamiiin.
Ezatulhada Ismail
Founder & CEO Alhada Publishing | Author | Baker
BSc Economics - USA, MLitt with Distinction in Publishing - UK and MBA with Distinction - UK
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Alhamdulillah.
Allah Al Aleem Ar Rashid
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On a lighter note...
Today, I made this gorgeous Pumpkin Loaf Cake.
Alhamdulillah praise be to the ultimate Al Bari'
- The Maker.
