Futurist Derek Woodgate: CEO, The Futures Lab
Futurist and author Derek Woodgate is the CEO of The Futures Lab, a futures-based consultancy based in Atlanta, with six satellite offices around the world. The firm specializes in creating future potential for major corporations and institutions, especially in the fields of entertainment, media, culture, communications, and new communities.
He spent nine years as a British diplomat, and 13 years as a corporate executive, and is an authority on the application of emerging and immersive technologies and the changing human in the design and production of experiential entertainment with his creation of what are termed “Sense Events.”
He is also involved in integrating creative industries into urban/community development and future living spaces. His work on “remix” lifestyles in terms of archetypes, behavior, and identity was reflected in his renowned reworking of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, and has been applied by a number of clients of The Futures Lab.
In his foresight work, Woodgate is known for developing what is considered a paradigm-shifting approach to future studies, demonstrated in his book “Future Frequencies” (Fringecore 2004) and his work on leveraging dystopian futures and rhizomatic thinking techniques, as well as in his merging of progressive culture with future studies.
His clients have included Philips Electronics, Intel, Shell, Fiat, Nokia, Pemex, AKZO-Nobel, GSK, Casio, Nestle, SWB, MTV Europe, Intel, Ford, Kellogg’s, Coca Cola, BBC, WorldSpace, Nissan, and many more.
Woodgate has also served as chief creative officer for Plutopia Productions, Inc.—a future-focused entertainment and event-production company where he produced dozens of public events, including: The Science of Music, The Future of Home, The Future of Sustainable Living, Future Living Systems, The Future of Play, The Future of Imagination, and FutureMusic Summit 2012. He also produced events for SXSW, including the Chilean Showcase.
His books include:
- Future Flow (2013), with a preface by DJ Spooky
- Future Frequencies (2004) hailed as “creating a unique paradigm in the professional futurist field”
- Calling The Toads—A Burroughs Compendium (1999), co-authored with Lee Ranaldo of Sonic Youth, Allen Ginsberg, and Douglas Brinkley.
Future Flow: The Age of Upheaval—How will fundamental economic transformation reset the “American Dream”?
Despite recent improvements, according to two recent polls, two‐thirds of US consumers believe the future will be worse for their children and grandchildren, and 68 percent believe the worst is yet to come, when asked about the economy. The recent economic meltdown has raised concerns not only about the questionable trading behavior of a section of the financial services industry, but moreover whether the whole premise of the “American Dream,”—with its promise of trickle-down economics, upward mobility, and a strong middle class—is still plausible.
Failing education in math and the sciences, and high unemployment and shortage of loans, are hindering innovation, an area in which the US has dominated for some time. While the US continues to lead in GDP generation, the “public discovery” of America’s “third world” and the fact that 46 million of its people live in poverty has tempered the public’s belief and trust in the country’s future.
This presentation delivers a sense of hope based on the slogan: The New American Dream—Fairness, sustainable living, and the pursuit of happiness. In the presentation, Woodgate proposes critical future leverage points, as well as ways to kick-start the middle class, upward mobility, and the US economy. He considers the positive impact that can be gained from the dramatic changes in demographics, community, workforce, infrastructure, energy, sustainability, new technologies, and urban development. The presentation pushes the reset button for a magnificent new America with a new set of societal and economic values.
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James L. Martin, Sr. VP
Incite Director, GSD&M
“Derek is an engaging, interesting, and involved presenter—no matter what the subject matter he is talking about. Whenever I hire him to be a keynote, sit on a panel, or conduct a workshop, I can always count on Derek to bring a unique perspective and expansive thinking to the event.”
Ashley Smith, Director of Innovation Strategy, Philips Electronics, Amsterdam, Netherlands
“Even within the field of ‘Futurology’, Derek blew us away with quantity and quality of trends and innovations he is tracking. The true secret of his success, of course, is his ability to link these marvels to the business issues that we were facing right now.”
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By Derek Woodgate
Futurist, and President
The Futures Lab, Inc.
Advertising is experiencing a huge disruption to every aspect of the industry.
The revolution is certainly creating considerable concern among those comfortable with traditional industry structures and approaches. Yet this shift will open up new opportunities in terms of media and advertising formats, and consumer reach and engagement—not to mention cross-disciplinary collaborations, specializations, delivery technologies, financial structures, and reception performance approaches.
As Internet technology guru Clay Shirky recently stated: “It is the people who work out how to work simply in the present, rather than the people who mastered the complexities of the past, who get to say what happens in the future.”
As I see it, four very distinct but interacting layers will provide the strategic architecture for the coming revolution in the world of advertising.
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In his foresight work, Woodgate is known for developing what is considered a paradigm-shifting approach to future studies, demonstrated in his book “Future Frequencies” (Fringecore 2004) and his work on leveraging dystopian futures and rhizomatic thinking techniques, as well as in his merging of progressive culture with future studies.
His clients have included Philips Electronics, Intel, Shell, Fiat, Nokia, Pemex, AKZO-Nobel, GSK, Casio, Nestle, SWB, MTV Europe, Intel, Ford, Kellogg’s, Coca Cola, BBC, WorldSpace, Nissan, and many more.
So it was a pleasure to talk to Derek in this podcast interview about:
- The Futures Lab—what it is, why he started it, and what the organization is working on today.
- The big companies he’s worked with, and how the research he’s done for them played out in their business and society at large.
- His work on the Future of Play—and how it impacts small businesses.
- His books, including your newest, Future Flow to be published this year.
- And, the emerging issues that small business owners need to be aware of.
Download our interview here.
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By Derek Woodgate
Founder and President
The Futures Lab
In the 16 years since I founded The Futures Lab, Inc., I have been frequently quoted as saying: “My role is not about knowing the future, but creating it.” I am sure I am not the first person to articulate this concept, but it has proved to be the guiding premise on which my practice, expertise, and development as a futurist have been based.
From Data to Imagination: Every futurist needs a flexible, tightly integrated, deep-layered, multi-stage, robust future studies process, which from the outset explores, structures, magnifies, and contextualizes data and insights. So we use a process that provides a loose framework in the early stages, in which to develop avenues of exploration, scan, hunt clues, recognize patterns—leading to what I call opportunity-hacking—in order to future-map disconnects into organizing platforms/future landscapes that provide the context from which to create the future.
However, throughout the process, and especially once these future knowledge bases and springboards are in place, the critical way of creating revolutionary rather than evolutionary futures is to apply progressive thinking techniques to the task. In recent years, the concept of relying on hunches or gut feeling is fast becoming a common practice.
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