The book “Prototyping 2040: The Futures Thinking Book” opens up to readers a landscape of possible future scenarios, some more desirable, others less so. The publication is a structured collection of non-obvious inspirations for companies’ and institutions’ leaders, making it easier for them to make directional decisions and implement change in their organisations. During this book launch Zuzanna Skalska and Rafał Kołodziej will share more about the creation of the book and discuss the four scenarios outlined in this book with the audience.
Prototyping 2040: The Futures Thinking Book is the result of many months of research and interpretation of signals of change coming from a number of industries worldwide. The intersection of career paths of Zuzanna Skalska and Rafał Kołodziej – who both have over 20 years of business experience – resulted in the creation of a method of working with the future that supports and stimulates strategic thinking in organisations. It is based on the systematic construction of possible future scenarios, the selection of those with the greatest potential and testing them rapidly “here and now”.
Prototyping 2040 is neither a futurology nor science-fiction book. Its content is based on scenarios of the future that can already be seen on the horizon or have already been happening. The prototypes of the future proposed by the authors are built on constant observation of thousands of signals of change made during various years of professional practice of Zuzanna Skalska and Rafał Kołodziej. The book intends to give change leaders the impetus to think critically.
Zuzanna Skalska and Rafał Kołodziej present four prototypes of the Western civilization world in 2040: Kind Capitalism, Active Restoration, Self-Consumed, and Less is Enough. Each of the four scenarios represents a different response to the challenges that await the West. The authors show how our work, daily life, mobility, urban organisation, industry or finance will change in these scenarios.
Zuzanna Skalska inspires leaders and decision-makers to pivot their perspective on long term vision by implementing cross-fertilization process. She operates as a Strategic Trends advisor for Up-Front Innovation to businesses, public institutions and NGOs. In her way of working she is importing and mixing ideas from different places, markets or connecting people, to help business to step out their comfort zone. Her no-nonsense approach gives companies the insights needed for future business development. Zuzanna Skalska brings trends to life in a clear, distinctive and passionate way!
Rafał Kołodziej is a business and public services strategist, service and innovation designer. His main focus is reducing complexity and transforming possibilities into tangible solutions through the use of the Service Design, Customer Experience and Futures Thinking™ methodologies. He’s also the co-creator and content lead of the postgraduate Service Design degree at the SWPS University where he facilitates numerous classes on designing services, value proposition and business models. As Greenhat’s CEO, he’s worked with various clients, including Allegro, Santander, the city of Poznań, Tatrzański Park Narodowy, Allianz, Amica Wronki and the Volkswagen Group. Greenhat Innovation operates as a business advisor combining consumer knowledge, research process and design competencies with business awareness. The company builds new business models, innovative products and services based on the future customer needs.
Robert van Rixtel and Juultje van der Put are designers who create fresh, timeless designs for graphic products such as house styles, books and websites. Sometimes big and complex, but also nice and small. They also designed the book Prototyping 2040.
