I don’t usually run workshops (so many people are so much better at it than I) but I was persuaded  to do so at TEDx in Munich yesterday. We started off with three questions, which were;

1. If you met someone from the year 2050 what would you ask them?
2. Is there any value whatsoever in trying to predict the future?
3. What is the most consequential failure of this generation from the perspective of future generations?

The group thought that question number one was the most interesting and went on to generate a number of potential questions that we might  ask our time traveling friend . After a vote we selected one question, which was “What are the core values in society?”

We then tried to develop a set of scenarios that might answer this question. We looked at some potential drivers of change and there was an interesting discussion about real life versus virtual reality, one around physical security and another focused on  people (whether the focus would remain on the individual or shift to the group), the planet (is it healthy or not?) and profit (is there a more away from money as the primary measure of value?). At one point we tried to describe the future in terms of current world cities, but this proved to be a terrible idea because it brought us back to the present day too easily.

In terms of values we talked a lot about connectivity, culture, productivity, privacy, freedom of choice and culture (not at all happy with that list on reflection).

At one point we decided that we didn’t know what we were talking about, but then concluded that thinking about the future had revealed some interesting insights about the present, which possibly answered question number two.