Futurism is a means to see beyond COVID-19. Here's how to time travel

Apr 7, 2021

The suggestion of time travel shown by blurred lights on a conveyor.

The pragmatist sees futurism as a means of harnessing tailwinds, dodging headwinds and setting a more intentional course. Image: Tomasz Frankowski/Unsplash

Mike Bechtel

Managing Director and Chief Futurist, US Consulting, Deloitte

Ruth Hickin

Strategy & Impact Lead, World Economic Forum

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A diagram showing exponential, linear and cyclical trends.

These three types of trendlines broadly characterize virtually any natural, social or technological trend. Image: Source: Deloitte Analysis

A diagram showing possible outcomes of exponential, linear and cyclical trends.

Relatively non-controversial probabilities can be predicted with an understanding of previous trends. Image: Source: Deloitte Analysis

A diagram showing an overwhelming amount of data and possible resultant future outcomes.

As available data increases, a single 'general relativity' model accounting for all future projections becomes an impossibility. Image: Source: Deloitte Analysis

A diagram showing how an education filter has been applied to a set of data and trends.

Rather than attempt to see a single holistic future, we can apply a filter to focus attention on a subset of trends. Image: Source: Deloitte Analysis

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A table showing the taxonomy of technology change: eternities to endgames.

The history of information technology has been a story of progress along these enduring layers: interaction, information and computation. This story will likely continue. Image: Source: Deloitte Analysis

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The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.