FIF Series EP 17 - Challenging Your Biases and Assumptions

Steve Fisher explores how cognitive biases affect our ability to think about and prepare for the future, showing why our brains take mental shortcuts that feel like common sense but often lead us astray.

• Confirmation bias leads us to seek information that supports our existing beliefs while ignoring contradictory evidence
• Status quo bias makes us assume things will continue as they are today, despite history showing constant change
• Recency bias causes us to overvalue recent events as predictors of the future
• Groupthink pressures us to conform to consensus views rather than challenging them
• Historical examples like Kodak, Blockbuster, and the 19th century "horse manure crisis" demonstrate how bias blinds us to coming disruptions
• Strategies to combat bias include actively seeking opposing viewpoints, using premortem thinking, practicing "future flip" scenarios, and surrounding yourself with diverse perspectives

Over the next week, pick a future scenario you strongly believe in, then actively look for evidence that suggests it won't happen. Read something, watch something, or talk to someone who sees the world differently.

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🎧 Listen Now On:

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/think-forward-conversations-with-futurists-innovators-and-big-thinkers/id1736144515

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0IOn8PZCMMC04uixlATqoO

Web: https://thinkforward.buzzsprout.com/

Thank you for joining me on this ongoing journey into the future. Until next time, stay curious, and always think forward.