SMALL DAILY CHANGE
FOR STAGGERING LONG-TERM RESULTS

Tiny tools create tiny new habits. Many new habits create an enormous impact over time. That is the essence of the Kaizen. An approach that - like many new organizational styles such as agile, lean, and scrum - is about continuous small steps of improvement and everyday learning. Check out the Strategy course to learn more about Kaizen.

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LEARN BY DOING, LEARN ÍN THE EXPERIENCE
A change of habits requires a shift in mindset, toolset, and skillset. Habits are tough to break, both the behavioral routines as well as our thinking habits. To create an open mind and new routines we provide inspiration but provocation as well. We will provoke you, challenge you, and invite you to think, look and act differently. Not because we say it is the 'best way' or 'only solution',  but the process of experiencing new perspectives will enable you to make up your own mind, to find your own way. Our motto is, therefore; learn by doing, understand by sharing.

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FIRST, SOME NEUROSCIENCE [OVERSIMPLIFIED]: WE ARE WIRED TO RESIST

Your brain is about 2% of your body weight yet it consumes over 30% of your daily energy. For this reason, your brain is wired to not be fully 'on' the whole day. It prefers to have a kind of stand-by mode and it uses thinking habits to probabilistically judge if the whole system needs to wake up. Nobel prize winner Kahneman calls this our System I & II.
 

Our brain is an enormous collection of neurons that float around. Each time you have an insight (eg. fire is hot) two neurons physically connect, like a metaphorical train of thoughts. The more this connection is used, the more a certain fatty substance (Myelin, the white stuff you see in a brain) is layered around this connection. This layer kind of isolates this connection, which means that the electricity that flows through your brain finds its way more easily through this thought: thinking patterns are created and established.

 

In stress, your brain releases a hormone that makes your brain fluids less conductive for the moving energy. In this way, the electricity finds its way to the most established patterns as they are the most conductive. Hence, you may be kike change and learning yet your brain is wired to resist change. Therefore learning requires effort and the creation of new connections. Our methods are geared towards just that.

CHALLENGE-BASED LEARNING TO NUDGE NEW HABITS
Challenge Based Learning provides an effective approach to learning while solving real-world challenges. CBL fuels collaboration to identify new ideas, ask thoughtful questions, and identify, investigate and solve challenges. This will help learners to gain more deep subject area knowledge and develop the skills necessary to thrive in an ever-changing world.

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TRAINING ON THE JOB TO TRANSFER LESSONS LEARNED

In our view, we use tools or canvasses not as forms to complete but moreover as obstacles that nudge us to look at a situation from a certain perspective such as the user, system, stakeholder, or design. strategy, job to be done etc.

This approach works best if you can train yourself if can apply/ transfer lessons learned directly to your real-life situation Every course or challenge we provide is accompanied with worksheets ready for you to use. A set of worksheets combined can be the backbone of your plan, idea, process, design, strategy etc.

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ACTION RESEARCH: ACT- REFLECT, SHARE
Our subscriptions, sessions, and online community are focussed on applying action learning. A method for individual and organizational development based upon small groups meeting over time to tackle real problems or issues in order to get things done. Reflecting ín the experience and sharing insights in a retrospective is a very grounded approach to developing new skills and know-how.

 

TRIPPLE LOOP:  DOING THINGS RIGHT OR DOING RIGHT THINGS?
All our tools are a kind of model, a simplification of the real. Their design (prescriptive) nudges the learner to go beyond in using the working models to review or prove if we have done things right (descriptive). Our challenges are designed to trigger the second loop of reflection; are we doing the right things? (generative). This requires the third loop of learning,; the ability to determine what is right in that situation? (normative).

21ST-CENTURY READY CAPACITY

Competence is the ability to reproduce and repeat a certain act, copy-paste. A capacity is to master this act in such a way that in unclear or uncertain circumstances the user can use the trained skills and ADAPT! That is what we need to become 21-ready in a VUCA environment.

LEARNING EXPERIENCE DESIGN FOR A GROWTH MINDSET
Learning is also about letting go of what you already think you go. Philosopher Dewey's concept of education put a premium on meaningful participation in the 'classroom'. An emancipated,  intrinsically motivated learner is far more successful in applying the lessons learned to real-life situations. For this reason, we often provide you with a fruitful skeptical mindset: 'Couldn't it be true that...'. This will entice you to try out and make up your own mind.
 

OUR LEARNING ZONE: YOUR SAFE SPACE TO EXPERIMENT
Challenging habits and making up your own mind is not easy. It requires a liminal position between old habits and the panic of the unknown. Right in between, there is the so-called learning zone. Learning requires a safe space to experiment with new habits, perspectives, and thoughts. The Futures Academy strives to provide all learners with a safe space to do so. Safe to be, safe to question, safe to act differently.

Are you ready to challenge your own thinking patterns?

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