While I have been aware of the Futures Thinking Coursera Specialization of the Institute for the Future (IFTF) for a long while now, I initially dismissed the organization as a something that promises more than it delivers, assuming it does deliver something in the end – basically, a scam. Combined with the feelings of uncertainty regarding life during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, I signed up to this MOOC to have a taste of what IFTF offers (without being forced to muscle through the entire Specialization for the sake of completion should I get dissatisfied with one of the courses there). I am happy that I was proven wrong, elegantly, by the material.
After completing this course, futures thinking now appears to me as a wonderful and necessary competence to keep abreast with today’s world that, for better or worse, moves at an increasingly fast pace. I am amazed with the insights shared throughout the material that helped me realize both, in a systematic and concrete way, (1) the predictability of what has been happening and (2) the remaining amenability of the future, as bleak as it seems, to what we do, especially as part of a larger group, at present. The four patterns of change, the three habits of futurists, the need of a detailed sense of the future while planning for it, and the several readings are all eye-opening; applying at least some of (the learnings from) them to my daily life is something that I hope to instinctively do going forward. My most cherished takeaway from the course, however, is that my control of my own future is greater than I originally thought possible. I highly recommend this course to everyone, and I hope I can find time to take the entire Coursera Specialization of IFTF on futures thinking.