2021 : The future in advance?

A look back

2021 : The future in advance?

Despite/because of COVID, 2021 was a special year for the 4Sing team:

• New virtual worlds: Our experiments in 2-D, 2.5-D and 3-D environments continued, and we ran more scenario-strategy workshops and role-playing simulation events in 3-D platforms.
• Gamification: We developed a vision game in Kumospace and ran three teams through it. Each time we identified ways a team could use this as a liberating environment for ideation.
• Team Building: The face-to-face workshops that did take place, often had a “team building” dimension added, given that many groups had not been in one room for months.
• Foresight for a green transition: We looked inter alia at the future competencies needed for a green transition, scenarios for urban mobility and the future of development cooperation.
• Building consensus: Working on the future is a way to bring divergent interests together, and this year we were able to help social partners in an African country agree to the main features of an unemployment insurance system after having developed scenarios.

A look forward

 The future in advance?

Many of the points above show the way to the future:

• The “big players” are finally going to make 3-D virtual meeting technology mainstream (MS Mesh, Meta, Google’s Project Starlink). We are ready to apply our experience here as well.
• (Serious) Games will keep growing as a means of learning, discovery, and creativity, even with businesses. We will continue developing and testing these jointly with our customers.
• Team building will become more important, even with digital improvements, as organisations must keep a sense of identity and common purpose. We will mainstream our offerings in this.
• Reducing carbon emissions is only a part of the green transition. We will push a broader sustainability by integrating the demands of the future into decisions today with foresight.
• Building consensus will also be essential to make sure all relevant stakeholders buy-in to the transition. We will hence continue to push trans-disciplinary approaches.

In any case, the 4Sing team looks forward to 2022 with a heightened sense of expectation!