Building a Future-Ready Mind: Optimism, Openness, Curiosity & Experimentation

As a former Chief Innovation Evangelist at Google, I'm Frederick Fat, and I'm passionate about helping people build a future they want to see happen by developing a "Future Ready Mind" and cultivating a mindset of radical optimism, openness, curiosity, experimentation, empathy, and personal superpower.

1. Frederick Futcher is the founder of Future Ready, a framework to help people build their desired future.
2. The idea for Future Ready came to Futcher when wildfires in California approached his home, causing him to evacuate and reflect on his level of control over external events.
3. Futcher's goal with Future Ready is to provide a framework, stories, and practices for people to create their ideal future.
4. Futcher was previously the Chief Innovation Evangelist at Google, where he focused on shaping culture, training employees in creativity and innovation, and creating initiatives that aligned with Go
5. During his time at Google, Futcher created the Penguin Award to reward risk-taking and encourage a culture of experimentation.
6. Futcher believes that everyone has the ability to be a "courageous penguin" by taking risks and trying new things.
7. To build a future-ready mindset, Futcher recommends cultivating radical optimism, unreserved openness, compulsive curiosity, perpetual experimentation, empathy for oneself and others, and leveragin
8. Futcher has worked with various organizations, including the UN, NASA, NBA, German Soccer Association, and startups, to foster innovation and creativity.
9. In his experience, curiosity tends to diminish as companies grow older, so it's essential to prioritize and nurture curiosity within organizations.
10. Futcher encourages building environments that reduce friction between idea generation and prototype creation, such as the Google Garage, where employees can experiment and learn.
11. Innovation doesn't happen by itself; it requires a combination of training people in innovation and creating a culture that supports and rewards risk-taking.
12. When thinking about the future, people often develop four unhelpful strategies: anxiety, waiting for the future to happen, believing that others own the future, and denying the future.
13. To counteract these strategies, Futcher recommends practicing imagination, gratitude, and optimism.
14. Practicing gratitude can rewire the brain to focus on positive experiences and outcomes within 21 days.
15. Imagining one's future self daily can help build a stronger connection to that future vision.
16. Futcher encourages people to develop a growth mindset, which involves believing in their ability to learn and grow over time.
17. To cultivate curiosity, Futcher suggests asking big "what if" questions and being open to various perspectives.
18. Embracing experimentation and learning from failures is crucial for innovation and personal growth.
19. Being future-ready involves taking control of one's life and making deliberate choices to create a desired future.
20. Futcher emphasizes the importance of being open to change, as openness acts as a catalyst for personal growth.
21. Radical optimism allows individuals to see opportunities and potential, even in challenging situations.
22. Empathy for oneself and others helps create meaningful connections and foster a supportive environment.
23. Identifying and leveraging one's personal superpower(s) can lead to significant innovations and personal fulfillment.
24. Futcher encourages everyone to embrace their inner "courageous penguin" by taking risks, trying new things, and pushing boundaries in order to innovate and create a better future.

Source: EO via YouTube

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