“This is a crisis of the soul and the heart. I think, longer term could lead to a real reassessment of who we are and what we want. The cracks have opened up and you can start to push things through. There’s that possibility there to make radical change.” Mark Stevenson
E105 – Mark Stevenson on SYSTEMIC CHANGE, FITNESS AND PERSEVERANCE FUTURENAUTS SAILING WITH THE COMPASS OF CHANGE
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About this interview:
Can we condition ourselves to become progressive vessels that forge a regenerative future?
“This is a crisis of the soul and the heart. I think, longer term could lead to a real reassessment of who we are and what we want. The cracks have opened up and you can start to push things through. There’s that possibility there to make radical change.”
In this episode, Amisha speaks with Mark Stevenson, a ‘reluctant futurist’, author, broadcaster and expert on global trends and innovation. Mark is one of the world’s most respected thinkers on the interplay of technology and society, helping a diverse mix of clients, from government departments to corporates to NGOs become future literate and adapt their cultures and strategies.
Amisha and Mark talk about perseverance, the possibilities for profound change arising from the pandemic and our need for future literacy. They explore the possibilities of change revealed by this unique moment of the pandemic; a moment that is a crisis of our hearts and a time of reflection where the impossible is possible, where our eyes have been opened and we have the opportunity to grow into a better future.
Mark shares his ways of staying fit, motivated and in balance whilst doing work that is bigger than him, work that effects system change with ministries, governments, powerful CEOs and investors. He believes that fitness teaches us that progress is slow and achieved with consistency, and that good glass of wine and a laugh with our friends and loved ones keeps us grounded.
Together they explore the idea that sustainable development is not simply about change, but about cultivating future literacy, and that artists can teach us ways to engage people emotionally with powerful tools that connect us to where possibilities bloom.
We learn that the secret to sustainable change is founded in being able to speak to people’s hearts, and that with perseverance we can all effectively create transformation by turning up and trying again and again and again. This persistence of taking incremental steps in growing our visions is a way to overcoming skepticism and cynicism in ourselves and in those we engage in building long-lasting systemic change.
“We need to ask ourselves different questions as societies about who we are and what we want, and then we can use technology to help us answer those questions.” Mark Stevenson
Mark Stevenson describes himself as a ‘reluctant futurist’. He is an author, broadcaster and expert on global trends and innovation. The author of two best-selling books ‘An Optimist’s Tour of the Future’ and the award-winning ‘We Do Things Differently’.
TED curator, Chris Anderson describes Mark as a man with “no blindfold whose tools are curiosity, open-mindedness, clarity and reason” while Sir Tim Smit, founder of the Eden project, hails his work as “a feast of ingenuity and an incitement to genuinely think.”
As such he is one of the world’s most respected thinkers on the interplay of technology and society, helping a diverse mix of clients, from government departments to corporates to NGOs become future literate and adapt their cultures and strategy to squarely face the questions the future is asking them, or die gracefully if they need to.
To find out more about Mark‘s work visit @optimistontour
To connect or work with Amisha, visit amisha.co.uk
Links from this episode:
- Mark Stevenson Website
- Jon Richardson and The Futurenauts . podcast
- Mark Stevenson Book . ‘An Optimists Tour of The Future’
- Mark Stevenson Book . ‘We Do Things Differently’
- Dr. Kate Raworth . Donut Economics
- Roman Krznaric . ‘The Good Ancestor’
- Phillip K. Dick . author
- Tom Chi . inventor, leader, coach, speaker, investor
- Listen To Ed Gillespie // Episode E59 – Building a Bright Green Future: Handicraft and Spacecraft
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