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Full-Spectrum Thinking: How to Escape Boxes in a Post-Categorical Future
Leading futurist Bob Johansen shows how a new way of thinking, enhanced by new technologies, will help leaders break free of limiting labels and see new gradients of possibility in a chaotic world.
The future will get even more perplexing over the next decade, and we are not ready. The dilemma is that we're restricted by rigid categorical thinking that freezes people and organizations in neatly defined boxes that often are inaccurate or obsolete. Categories lead us toward certainty but away from clarity, and categorical thinking moves us away from understanding the bigger picture. Sticking with this old way of thinking and seeing isn't just foolish, it's dangerous.
Full-spectrum thinking is the ability to seek patterns and clarity outside, across, beyond, or maybe even without any boxes or categories while resisting false certainty and simplistic binary choices. It reveals our commonalities that are hidden in plain view. Bob Johansen lays out the core concepts of full-spectrum thinking and reveals the role that digital media--including gameful engagement, big-data analytics, visualization, blockchain, and machine learning--will play in facilitating and enhancing it. He offers examples of broader spectrums and new applications in a wide range of areas that will become possible first, then mandatory. This visionary book provides powerful ways to make sense of new opportunities and see the world as it really is.
The future will get even more perplexing over the next decade, and we are not ready. The dilemma is that we're restricted by rigid categorical thinking that freezes people and organizations in neatly defined boxes that often are inaccurate or obsolete. Categories lead us toward certainty but away from clarity, and categorical thinking moves us away from understanding the bigger picture. Sticking with this old way of thinking and seeing isn't just foolish, it's dangerous.
Full-spectrum thinking is the ability to seek patterns and clarity outside, across, beyond, or maybe even without any boxes or categories while resisting false certainty and simplistic binary choices. It reveals our commonalities that are hidden in plain view. Bob Johansen lays out the core concepts of full-spectrum thinking and reveals the role that digital media--including gameful engagement, big-data analytics, visualization, blockchain, and machine learning--will play in facilitating and enhancing it. He offers examples of broader spectrums and new applications in a wide range of areas that will become possible first, then mandatory. This visionary book provides powerful ways to make sense of new opportunities and see the world as it really is.
208 pages, Hardcover
Published April 21, 2020
49 people are currently reading
288 people want to read
About the author
Bob Johansen
22 books32 followersBob Johansen is distinguished fellow at the Institute for the Future in Silicon Valley, where he helps top leaders around the world prepare for and shape the future. Bob works with corporations such as McKinsey, Tesco, UPS, Kellogg, Syngenta, and McDonald's - as well as a range of major universities and non profits. "The Reciprocity Advantage" is Bob's ninth book. A social scientist by training, Bob holds a BS from the University of Illinois, where he played varsity basketball, and a PhD from Northwestern University. To learn more about "The Reciprocity Advantage" visit the book's site at reciprocityadvantage.com
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
May 21, 2020
Bob Johansen has authored ten books on change management and leadership preceding his newest book, Full Spectrum Thinking: How to Escape Boxes in a Post-Categorical World, and serves a distinguished fellow with the world’s leading futures organization Institute for the Future after completing an eight year stint as IFTF’s president. His contributions as a workshop leader extend from universities and nonprofits through global corporations. Full Spectrum Thinking is a text boasting cutting edge relevance thanks to its exploration of the challenges a post-pandemic world will present individuals. This penchant for forward looking thinking is one of the hallmarks of Johansen’s writing and hits a high water mark with this volume.
Johansen strides the big stage of ideas. This is not a thinker and author who views the world along narrow lines; while he emphasizes our underrated commonality, he also connects with ideas stripping bare time-honored conceptions about leadership. Johansen’s view is essentially optimistic throughout the entirety of Full Spectrum Thinking, though he writes about the future’s potential obstacles with unvarnished clarity and honesty. The book’s three parts explicate the concept and practice of full spectrum thinking with unwavering focus. It is an idea advocating nothing else than a multi-dimension understanding of possibility in human life and endeavor. Johansen’s ambitions are considerable, but he achieves the necessary intellectual velocity to bring them off.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: http://www.iftf.org/fullspectrumthink...
His language is rich and challenging, but never inaccessible. Ten books allowed him for a distinctive style apparent from the opening pages onward. It risks losing more casual readers at scattered points, but this is nott a drawback to the book. The dominating voice of Full Spectrum Thinking is experiential and the value of his experiences when presenting his ideas rivals the wealth of academic research Johansen lavishes on the book. He draws from a wide variety of sources including pop culture but Johansen ties such seemingly disparate threads into the larger thread of the book’s themes.
Johansen includes a number of tables and figures throughout the course of Full Spectrum Thinking. These supplementary materials never weigh down the book and their comprehensible layout strengthens it overall. Each of its three parts open with a series of priority questions for readers to consider and it is little additions such as this that distinguish the book from similar efforts. The final point, however, is misleading. Johansen’s book goes a step beyond efforts looking forward to the future of thought and the evolution of key human potential.
His structure for the book helps clarify the ideas and myriad concepts for readers. It is no stretch Johansen’s penchant for expansive studies like this will continue with future books but Full Spectrum Thinking: How to Escape Boxes in a Post-Categorical World ranks as one of the most challenging texts covering leadership and the promise of the future. Bob Johansen will continue building on his solid reputation with his latest work setting another personal benchmark for exploring the possibilities of human thought. It will likely endure as an important text for many years to come.
Johansen strides the big stage of ideas. This is not a thinker and author who views the world along narrow lines; while he emphasizes our underrated commonality, he also connects with ideas stripping bare time-honored conceptions about leadership. Johansen’s view is essentially optimistic throughout the entirety of Full Spectrum Thinking, though he writes about the future’s potential obstacles with unvarnished clarity and honesty. The book’s three parts explicate the concept and practice of full spectrum thinking with unwavering focus. It is an idea advocating nothing else than a multi-dimension understanding of possibility in human life and endeavor. Johansen’s ambitions are considerable, but he achieves the necessary intellectual velocity to bring them off.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: http://www.iftf.org/fullspectrumthink...
His language is rich and challenging, but never inaccessible. Ten books allowed him for a distinctive style apparent from the opening pages onward. It risks losing more casual readers at scattered points, but this is nott a drawback to the book. The dominating voice of Full Spectrum Thinking is experiential and the value of his experiences when presenting his ideas rivals the wealth of academic research Johansen lavishes on the book. He draws from a wide variety of sources including pop culture but Johansen ties such seemingly disparate threads into the larger thread of the book’s themes.
Johansen includes a number of tables and figures throughout the course of Full Spectrum Thinking. These supplementary materials never weigh down the book and their comprehensible layout strengthens it overall. Each of its three parts open with a series of priority questions for readers to consider and it is little additions such as this that distinguish the book from similar efforts. The final point, however, is misleading. Johansen’s book goes a step beyond efforts looking forward to the future of thought and the evolution of key human potential.
His structure for the book helps clarify the ideas and myriad concepts for readers. It is no stretch Johansen’s penchant for expansive studies like this will continue with future books but Full Spectrum Thinking: How to Escape Boxes in a Post-Categorical World ranks as one of the most challenging texts covering leadership and the promise of the future. Bob Johansen will continue building on his solid reputation with his latest work setting another personal benchmark for exploring the possibilities of human thought. It will likely endure as an important text for many years to come.
November 10, 2020
VIDEO RESEÑA: https://youtu.be/kWevfkHYYRY
Una lectura futurista, entusiasta y reveladora.
"Muchas personas tienen certezas, pero pocas claridades. La categorización es una forma de certeza cuando no se ponen en duda las categorías. Lo contrario a claridad no es confusión, sino certeza."
Un libro sobre cómo pensar diferente, sobre tecnología y futuro pensado para la gerencia de grandes compañías, pero también para nuestra vida diaria.
Me hizo pensar mucho en cómo tenemos prejuicios o cómo juzgamos algo nuevo con categorías viejas. Este libro me alertó sobre algo muy importante: tomar las cosas como son, observarlas y no categorizarlas ni reducirlas.
"Las categorías son aproximaciones ficticias, pero el espectro de experiencia es real. Las categorías no cambian no cambian en sí mismas, somos nosotros los que cambianos."
Compralo en Colombia en: https://www.instagram.com/booksandboo...
Y en el resto del mundo: https://amzn.to/3li8S2u
Una lectura futurista, entusiasta y reveladora.
"Muchas personas tienen certezas, pero pocas claridades. La categorización es una forma de certeza cuando no se ponen en duda las categorías. Lo contrario a claridad no es confusión, sino certeza."
Un libro sobre cómo pensar diferente, sobre tecnología y futuro pensado para la gerencia de grandes compañías, pero también para nuestra vida diaria.
Me hizo pensar mucho en cómo tenemos prejuicios o cómo juzgamos algo nuevo con categorías viejas. Este libro me alertó sobre algo muy importante: tomar las cosas como son, observarlas y no categorizarlas ni reducirlas.
"Las categorías son aproximaciones ficticias, pero el espectro de experiencia es real. Las categorías no cambian no cambian en sí mismas, somos nosotros los que cambianos."
Compralo en Colombia en: https://www.instagram.com/booksandboo...
Y en el resto del mundo: https://amzn.to/3li8S2u
August 9, 2020
I feel bad giving this a bad review. I'm sorry Bob Johansen, I just... I don't understand why this book exists. It was uninteresting enough that I with I hadn't read it, but not actually bad enough that I can be upset by it. Bother...
April 13, 2024
The author is a futurist and highlights the need to break down silos and think cross functionally, leveraging technology in tandem with humans.
January 16, 2025
In Full-Spectrum Thinking, Bob Johansen presents a comprehensive exploration of how individuals, businesses, and societies can adapt to and thrive in an increasingly complex, interconnected, and rapidly evolving world. The central thesis of the book is that we must break free from traditional ways of categorizing and thinking about problems and opportunities, embracing a broader, more flexible approach to make better decisions and find innovative solutions.
Core Concepts of Full-Spectrum Thinking
The book emphasizes "full-spectrum thinking," which means looking at problems, decisions, and opportunities through multiple lenses, perspectives, and temporal spans. Johansen argues that we must escape traditional boxes—mental, social, and institutional—that limit our ability to perceive the richness of the world around us. Instead, we should adopt a mindset that encompasses broader spectrums of meaning, diversity, business and social value, human-machine symbiosis, and hierarchy.
A crucial element of this is shifting away from a narrow, reductionist mindset to one that is more fluid, holistic, and integrative. By embracing "full-spectrum thinking," we can better navigate an uncertain future. This thinking calls for accepting ambiguity and uncertainty while also maintaining a focus on long-term goals and values.
Broader Spectrums of Meaning and Diversity
Johansen explores how meaning is often misunderstood. Rather than viewing meaning as something entirely new or novel, he suggests that meaning comes from iterating on existing knowledge and refining our understanding of it. This process can introduce new insights, but meaning itself is the result of iteration rather than new discovery. This approach challenges conventional thinking and encourages a deeper understanding of how we make sense of the world.
He also discusses the importance of diversity—specifically, gender diversity—as a spectrum rather than a binary. In line with contemporary debates around gender identity, Johansen advocates for embracing the fluidity and variability in how people experience and define their gender. This broader view of diversity extends beyond gender to include various other aspects of identity and experience.
Faith Over Certainty
Johansen stresses that in a world of uncertainty, faith is a more valuable guiding principle than certainty. While certainty can lead to overconfidence and a narrowing of focus, faith allows individuals to stay open to opportunities and alternative pathways. He draws a distinction between blind certainty and constructive faith, noting that the latter helps individuals stay grounded while navigating unknowns.
This notion of faith, in contrast to certainty, resonates with the idea that leadership, particularly in times of rapid change, requires a willingness to embrace ambiguity and uncertainty. Leaders must be generalists, capable of seeing the broader picture across many areas, as opposed to specialists who focus on narrow, specific fields. As society becomes more complex and interconnected, leaders must adopt a full-spectrum mindset to adapt and thrive.
Human-Machine Symbiosis
In the age of artificial intelligence and automation, Johansen highlights the growing importance of human-machine symbiosis. He argues that rather than viewing AI as a threat, we should see it as a tool to enhance human capabilities. For instance, Johansen brings up the example of people using video games and flight simulators to gain valuable skills, such as a person who flew a stolen plane without prior experience because of the immersive nature of a flight simulation game. This symbiosis between humans and machines can provide powerful tools for learning, skill-building, and problem-solving.
While Johansen is optimistic about the potential of AI, he acknowledges the challenges of integrating AI into society in ways that benefit everyone. This requires a careful balance of ethics, regulation, and human oversight to ensure that the technology serves the greater good rather than exacerbating inequality.
Business, Social Value, and Experiences
In the realm of business, Johansen highlights the shift from a product-driven economy to a service- and experience-driven one. He uses examples such as Fender, which could expand its offerings by integrating music lessons and community-building tools for guitar players, rather than just selling products. He also draws comparisons between companies like Disney and Amazon, noting that while Amazon commoditizes services, Disney provides immersive experiences that add emotional and social value to its products.
Johansen suggests that the future of business lies in creating more holistic offerings that encompass experiences, education, and community engagement. Consumers increasingly seek not just products but the experiences associated with them. This shift requires businesses to think beyond traditional product categories and to create deeper, more meaningful connections with their customers.
The Role of Digital Natives
Johansen forecasts that digital natives—the generation born after the widespread adoption of the internet and mobile devices—will be the leaders of the future. These individuals are comfortable navigating a world that is constantly changing and have a mindset that embraces the full spectrum of possibilities. Johansen contrasts this group with previous generations, which were more likely to adhere to fixed categories and traditional ways of thinking.
He acknowledges the role of technology, including video games and social media, in shaping the cognitive and social development of digital natives. However, Johansen cautions that while digital tools offer immense learning opportunities, they must be used wisely and responsibly. For example, children and adults alike can benefit from educational games and simulations that promote strategic thinking and collaboration, rather than simply limiting screen time.
Clarity Filters and Distributed Authority
In a world flooded with information, Johansen discusses the importance of clarity filters—tools and strategies that help individuals focus on what truly matters. These filters help separate the signal from the noise, allowing people to prioritize what’s most important. Similarly, Johansen emphasizes the need for distributed authority, where decision-making is spread across networks rather than being concentrated in a single authority figure. This approach can lead to more innovative solutions and better responses to complex challenges.
The Future of Forecasting
One of the book’s key themes is the idea that forecasting is not about predicting the future with certainty, but about stimulating action and preparing for multiple potential outcomes. Johansen suggests that planning for the future requires thinking on a much broader timescale than most institutions currently do. For example, the Chinese government is known for planning 200 years into the future, while the U.S. typically plans only 25 to 30 years ahead. Johansen advocates for expanding our "temporal bandwidth" to make better decisions today based on both the past and the future.
Conclusion: Full-Spectrum Thinking for an Urgent Future
The book concludes with a call to embrace full-spectrum thinking as a necessary response to the urgent challenges facing society. By thinking beyond categories and embracing ambiguity, individuals and organizations can prepare for a future that is unpredictable and complex. Johansen urges leaders to be more adaptable, open-minded, and capable of seeing both the immediate and long-term implications of their decisions. In doing so, they will be better equipped to navigate the turbulent times ahead and create a more inclusive, innovative, and resilient future.
In essence, Johansen’s message is clear: to succeed in the future, we must break free from the boxes that constrain our thinking and embrace a more expansive, inclusive, and flexible approach to problem-solving and leadership.
Book #1 of 2025 Book #432 of All-Time
Core Concepts of Full-Spectrum Thinking
The book emphasizes "full-spectrum thinking," which means looking at problems, decisions, and opportunities through multiple lenses, perspectives, and temporal spans. Johansen argues that we must escape traditional boxes—mental, social, and institutional—that limit our ability to perceive the richness of the world around us. Instead, we should adopt a mindset that encompasses broader spectrums of meaning, diversity, business and social value, human-machine symbiosis, and hierarchy.
A crucial element of this is shifting away from a narrow, reductionist mindset to one that is more fluid, holistic, and integrative. By embracing "full-spectrum thinking," we can better navigate an uncertain future. This thinking calls for accepting ambiguity and uncertainty while also maintaining a focus on long-term goals and values.
Broader Spectrums of Meaning and Diversity
Johansen explores how meaning is often misunderstood. Rather than viewing meaning as something entirely new or novel, he suggests that meaning comes from iterating on existing knowledge and refining our understanding of it. This process can introduce new insights, but meaning itself is the result of iteration rather than new discovery. This approach challenges conventional thinking and encourages a deeper understanding of how we make sense of the world.
He also discusses the importance of diversity—specifically, gender diversity—as a spectrum rather than a binary. In line with contemporary debates around gender identity, Johansen advocates for embracing the fluidity and variability in how people experience and define their gender. This broader view of diversity extends beyond gender to include various other aspects of identity and experience.
Faith Over Certainty
Johansen stresses that in a world of uncertainty, faith is a more valuable guiding principle than certainty. While certainty can lead to overconfidence and a narrowing of focus, faith allows individuals to stay open to opportunities and alternative pathways. He draws a distinction between blind certainty and constructive faith, noting that the latter helps individuals stay grounded while navigating unknowns.
This notion of faith, in contrast to certainty, resonates with the idea that leadership, particularly in times of rapid change, requires a willingness to embrace ambiguity and uncertainty. Leaders must be generalists, capable of seeing the broader picture across many areas, as opposed to specialists who focus on narrow, specific fields. As society becomes more complex and interconnected, leaders must adopt a full-spectrum mindset to adapt and thrive.
Human-Machine Symbiosis
In the age of artificial intelligence and automation, Johansen highlights the growing importance of human-machine symbiosis. He argues that rather than viewing AI as a threat, we should see it as a tool to enhance human capabilities. For instance, Johansen brings up the example of people using video games and flight simulators to gain valuable skills, such as a person who flew a stolen plane without prior experience because of the immersive nature of a flight simulation game. This symbiosis between humans and machines can provide powerful tools for learning, skill-building, and problem-solving.
While Johansen is optimistic about the potential of AI, he acknowledges the challenges of integrating AI into society in ways that benefit everyone. This requires a careful balance of ethics, regulation, and human oversight to ensure that the technology serves the greater good rather than exacerbating inequality.
Business, Social Value, and Experiences
In the realm of business, Johansen highlights the shift from a product-driven economy to a service- and experience-driven one. He uses examples such as Fender, which could expand its offerings by integrating music lessons and community-building tools for guitar players, rather than just selling products. He also draws comparisons between companies like Disney and Amazon, noting that while Amazon commoditizes services, Disney provides immersive experiences that add emotional and social value to its products.
Johansen suggests that the future of business lies in creating more holistic offerings that encompass experiences, education, and community engagement. Consumers increasingly seek not just products but the experiences associated with them. This shift requires businesses to think beyond traditional product categories and to create deeper, more meaningful connections with their customers.
The Role of Digital Natives
Johansen forecasts that digital natives—the generation born after the widespread adoption of the internet and mobile devices—will be the leaders of the future. These individuals are comfortable navigating a world that is constantly changing and have a mindset that embraces the full spectrum of possibilities. Johansen contrasts this group with previous generations, which were more likely to adhere to fixed categories and traditional ways of thinking.
He acknowledges the role of technology, including video games and social media, in shaping the cognitive and social development of digital natives. However, Johansen cautions that while digital tools offer immense learning opportunities, they must be used wisely and responsibly. For example, children and adults alike can benefit from educational games and simulations that promote strategic thinking and collaboration, rather than simply limiting screen time.
Clarity Filters and Distributed Authority
In a world flooded with information, Johansen discusses the importance of clarity filters—tools and strategies that help individuals focus on what truly matters. These filters help separate the signal from the noise, allowing people to prioritize what’s most important. Similarly, Johansen emphasizes the need for distributed authority, where decision-making is spread across networks rather than being concentrated in a single authority figure. This approach can lead to more innovative solutions and better responses to complex challenges.
The Future of Forecasting
One of the book’s key themes is the idea that forecasting is not about predicting the future with certainty, but about stimulating action and preparing for multiple potential outcomes. Johansen suggests that planning for the future requires thinking on a much broader timescale than most institutions currently do. For example, the Chinese government is known for planning 200 years into the future, while the U.S. typically plans only 25 to 30 years ahead. Johansen advocates for expanding our "temporal bandwidth" to make better decisions today based on both the past and the future.
Conclusion: Full-Spectrum Thinking for an Urgent Future
The book concludes with a call to embrace full-spectrum thinking as a necessary response to the urgent challenges facing society. By thinking beyond categories and embracing ambiguity, individuals and organizations can prepare for a future that is unpredictable and complex. Johansen urges leaders to be more adaptable, open-minded, and capable of seeing both the immediate and long-term implications of their decisions. In doing so, they will be better equipped to navigate the turbulent times ahead and create a more inclusive, innovative, and resilient future.
In essence, Johansen’s message is clear: to succeed in the future, we must break free from the boxes that constrain our thinking and embrace a more expansive, inclusive, and flexible approach to problem-solving and leadership.
Book #1 of 2025 Book #432 of All-Time
August 28, 2021
I liked many of Bobs ideas and the book was well organized but it was really hard to understand and grasp Bob’s thesis and the chapters are all over the map and disconnected. It would be better titled “Heres a bunch of predictions for the future. “
June 3, 2020
Maybe the book have some value ...
But For me The book is very boring
Hardly reached 20% of the book
But For me The book is very boring
Hardly reached 20% of the book
April 1, 2022
It wasted my precious time.
April 25, 2024
We should not lock our thinking into pre-defined channels via easy categorization. Also Future analysis is good and should be done more. If you've read and mastered those two sentences, you now know the entire argument of the book.
While I was initially optimistic, since I hold a Pragmatism-inspired dislike for the idolatry of ideas, there's little attempt to either justify Johnsen's critique of categories, or to explain how we might do better.
The book isn't even consistent. For someone who dislikes categories and pre-defined answers, he often highlights the importance of setting very clearly defined long term goals, and praises the CCP for their apparent long term plans. But if we're thinking 'full-spectrum', then surely a defined goal narrows our range of desire/acceptable outcomes?
Most of this short book instead is filled with ad hoc examples of his business consulting career, praising random people as full spectrum thinkers, and assorted claims about the importance of futures analysis.
The central idea is good, but the reader has to do most of the intellectual heavy lifting here.
While I was initially optimistic, since I hold a Pragmatism-inspired dislike for the idolatry of ideas, there's little attempt to either justify Johnsen's critique of categories, or to explain how we might do better.
The book isn't even consistent. For someone who dislikes categories and pre-defined answers, he often highlights the importance of setting very clearly defined long term goals, and praises the CCP for their apparent long term plans. But if we're thinking 'full-spectrum', then surely a defined goal narrows our range of desire/acceptable outcomes?
Most of this short book instead is filled with ad hoc examples of his business consulting career, praising random people as full spectrum thinkers, and assorted claims about the importance of futures analysis.
The central idea is good, but the reader has to do most of the intellectual heavy lifting here.
August 26, 2020
Full-spectrum Thinking is about envisioning, comprehending, and improving what is to come. It is a reminder of the fact that the future is uncertain and there is no room for absolute speculations. The good news is that individuals and groups can learn and practice ‘foresight’ as a skill. This book informs readers that specialists will get an upper hand if they learn full-spectrum thinking. A foresight approach that operates by identifying patterns, looking for clarity, and refuting certainty helps practitioners grasp a realistic understanding of what is ahead. Full-spectrum Thinking attempts to shape a full-range mind setting by which making sense out of ourselves, the universe around us, and the future becomes possible. It provides a context for futuring and inspires readers to think about the future as widely as possible in light of uncertainty.
June 10, 2020
This is an example of a book that's ruined by its title and subtitle. I thought it was a method to think in new ways. It isn't. It's a book of forecasts for the next ten years mostly pertaining to organizations and technology.
I recommend reading this book out of order. First read part 2 to learn the major "future forces" that Johansen sees affecting his areas of interest. Then read part 3 for somewhat more specific examples of how these forces are influencing things. Then read the conclusion for suggested organizational action steps or read part 1 to judge whether Johansen's forecasting adds up to a future that is so nuanced, textured, and individualized that categories virtually disappear as a feature of human thought. (I don't think it does.)
I recommend reading this book out of order. First read part 2 to learn the major "future forces" that Johansen sees affecting his areas of interest. Then read part 3 for somewhat more specific examples of how these forces are influencing things. Then read the conclusion for suggested organizational action steps or read part 1 to judge whether Johansen's forecasting adds up to a future that is so nuanced, textured, and individualized that categories virtually disappear as a feature of human thought. (I don't think it does.)
June 20, 2020
Bob does a fantastic job at explaining the current paradigm of our noisy information environment where if you are not exercising discernment you somewhat automatically become the prey of external forces beyond the reach of understanding. Bob offers a very clear way to get out of the blind certainty and enter a clarity that will be rewarded with opportunities and peace. In addition to this essential message for the 21st century, Bob explain forces of the future that he believes will be significant enough to shape his foresight at large and the methodology that he and his organization uses to come to it. If anything Bob encourages everyone to become futurists and develop full spectrum thinking in a world that constantly pushes us and itself into boxes.
March 30, 2023
The book brings a perspective that we need to move towards a more fluid way of thinking and understanding of the world, meaning that we can no longer stay attached to the same “classifications” that previous thinkers established neither re-arrange this “classifications” because there is no more space for this type of method. For the now and to the future it states that we need to broaden or mind and way of thinking if we want to have a better understanding of our lives and the problems/solutions we need and will need to face.
January 23, 2022
Great book on why we need to stop putting people into boxes and how technology will force us to think about the future as a spectrum of multiple possible futures. The book is not primarily about Futures Think, but practicing full-spectrum thinking will help you image a wider array of possible futures.
October 2, 2022
Compelling forecasts on possible futures. I enjoyed the chapter on the future of organizations; a web is coming. Be prepared. Full-spectrum thinking in plain English is to see beyond our bias and categories for a more robust point of view that will allow us to navigate successfully the transformations that we live.
August 15, 2020
This is an excellent book. Thought provoking and real. Essential for any leader. Great lessons for preparing for what is next.
April 15, 2021
Inspiration
we are drowned in information in a fast-paced world. this book is a huge inspiration to have the clarity to take the next steps
we are drowned in information in a fast-paced world. this book is a huge inspiration to have the clarity to take the next steps
April 20, 2021
Less certainty, more clarity! The future is a scramble. Having certainty will only hold you back, whilst clarity will make you fluidly move your way forward into a future of spectrums.
January 7, 2023
Having heard his presentations on future thinking, learning, and work, I have enjoyed his books on these topics. He's a good story teller - which you made to work your way through these topics.
January 31, 2023
A book written for children chalked full of projections of the author's childish political views. I hate writting these kinds of reviews but this book was particularly bad.
January 25, 2025
A really good book to open the mind a bit.
September 7, 2023
Idk man, my therapist in one of the session, she emphasized to not think in dichotomies, black and white, to think in a spectrum, and I thought oh, here's a book whose title says exactly that. I'll find what I'm looking for here. But I didn't.
I guess I expected too much from Bob 😕. He's not a builder. He's more theoretical, less practical.
Note for me: Tho, I do need to buy a hard copy or pdf, to make notes from the scraps.
I guess I expected too much from Bob 😕. He's not a builder. He's more theoretical, less practical.
Note for me: Tho, I do need to buy a hard copy or pdf, to make notes from the scraps.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews