I spoke to Doris Viljoen: Senior Futurist at the Institute for Futures Research (IFR) and lecturer in Futures Studies (FS) at the University of Stellenbosch Business School (USB).Show notes and resources:On defining the field:  Richard Slaughter: “the ultimate purpose of FS was to open out productive mind spaces, precursors of social innovations, from which more advanced stages of civilized life can emerge” - Slaughter, R.A. (2002). Futures studies as a civilizational catalyst. Futures, 34, 349-363.On activities of a Professional Futurist: Andy Hines identifies three groups of activities:Creating content: sharing information with people to gain insightProcess work: create thinking tools or processes for the information you create (1) to reach decision makersCulture and mindset change: so that people can understand, change their minds if necessary, influencing mental modelsFS as a scientific field: FS is a science and an art. It is not about predication but rather about identifying possible/multiple futures and making this part of your strategy process.Personal exercise: on a regular basis, start asking why and what if? Why are we doing this? (For example, ask why? X5) What are my underlying assumptions?Futures studies in South Africa: https://www.usb.ac.za/academic-programmes/academic-programmes-future-studies/Reading:UNDP (2018): Foresight Manual - Empowered FuturesMaree Conway: Thinking Futures ; Resource downloadsAndy Hines: ArticlesPeter Bishop: Teach the FutureFor organisations:George Day and Paul Schoemaker: See Sooner, Act FasterJoe Tankersley: Reimagining Our Tomorrows Podcast website: https://waitspeak.podbean.com/p/contact-1578666710/