John Rousseau
@johnrousseau.bsky.social
Strategic Design for New Futures | Sense-Making, Foresight, and Innovation
Website: https://www.johnrousseau.com
Blog: https://johnrousseau.substack.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnrousseau/
Website: https://www.johnrousseau.com
Blog: https://johnrousseau.substack.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnrousseau/
Pinned
John Rousseau
@johnrousseau.bsky.social
· Feb 10
Navigating the Fog
A Model for Organizational Foresight and Transformation in Complexity
open.substack.com
Does every organization need a futurist-in-residence? No.
Does every organization need foresight? Yes.
Read more here: open.substack.com/pub/johnrous...
Does every organization need foresight? Yes.
Read more here: open.substack.com/pub/johnrous...
I Just Saw the Future. It Was Not in America. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/02/o...
Great piece by Friedman that shifts the frame on China and counters the standard narratives. Well worth the time.
Great piece by Friedman that shifts the frame on China and counters the standard narratives. Well worth the time.
Opinion | I Just Saw the Future. It Was Not in America.
Beijing’s message to America: We’re not afraid of you. You aren’t who you think you are — and we aren’t who you think we are.
www.nytimes.com
April 2, 2025 at 5:04 PM
I Just Saw the Future. It Was Not in America. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/02/o...
Great piece by Friedman that shifts the frame on China and counters the standard narratives. Well worth the time.
Great piece by Friedman that shifts the frame on China and counters the standard narratives. Well worth the time.
At least there are dogs.
March 2, 2025 at 11:42 PM
At least there are dogs.
What happens with "Agentic AI" replaces a large number of knowledge work roles? Mostly collapse.
Introducing Dispatch: a new series on my blog showcasing work in progress.
open.substack.com/pub/johnrous...
Introducing Dispatch: a new series on my blog showcasing work in progress.
open.substack.com/pub/johnrous...
Dispatch 1.1 / A New Domain Map + Agentic AI
The Future of Knowledge Work in Transition
open.substack.com
February 25, 2025 at 6:00 PM
What happens with "Agentic AI" replaces a large number of knowledge work roles? Mostly collapse.
Introducing Dispatch: a new series on my blog showcasing work in progress.
open.substack.com/pub/johnrous...
Introducing Dispatch: a new series on my blog showcasing work in progress.
open.substack.com/pub/johnrous...
Imagine a world where the left used strategic foresight beginning four years ago to anticipate the present moment and develop strategies to A) envision and act on better futures, or B) develop strategies for resilience in the collapse scenario.
February 11, 2025 at 2:32 PM
Imagine a world where the left used strategic foresight beginning four years ago to anticipate the present moment and develop strategies to A) envision and act on better futures, or B) develop strategies for resilience in the collapse scenario.
Does every organization need a futurist-in-residence? No.
Does every organization need foresight? Yes.
Read more here: open.substack.com/pub/johnrous...
Does every organization need foresight? Yes.
Read more here: open.substack.com/pub/johnrous...
Navigating the Fog
A Model for Organizational Foresight and Transformation in Complexity
open.substack.com
February 10, 2025 at 2:26 PM
Does every organization need a futurist-in-residence? No.
Does every organization need foresight? Yes.
Read more here: open.substack.com/pub/johnrous...
Does every organization need foresight? Yes.
Read more here: open.substack.com/pub/johnrous...
open.substack.com/pub/johnrous...
The big question: Can trust be “rebuilt” by the same system that destroyed it?
Let me know what you think, and consider subscribing to my new short-form newsletter, The Dialectic.
The big question: Can trust be “rebuilt” by the same system that destroyed it?
Let me know what you think, and consider subscribing to my new short-form newsletter, The Dialectic.
Trust
A future without trust in business, government, media, and NGOs
open.substack.com
February 2, 2025 at 8:55 PM
open.substack.com/pub/johnrous...
The big question: Can trust be “rebuilt” by the same system that destroyed it?
Let me know what you think, and consider subscribing to my new short-form newsletter, The Dialectic.
The big question: Can trust be “rebuilt” by the same system that destroyed it?
Let me know what you think, and consider subscribing to my new short-form newsletter, The Dialectic.
The rapid pace of change and high stakes of AI generate a lot of noise, exacerbated by a dysfunctional information ecosystem that incentivizes real-time analysis and hyperbolic posturing.
January 29, 2025 at 2:04 AM
The rapid pace of change and high stakes of AI generate a lot of noise, exacerbated by a dysfunctional information ecosystem that incentivizes real-time analysis and hyperbolic posturing.
The Perfect Cacio e Pepe Recipe, According to Science www.nytimes.com/2025/01/24/s...
Important work.
Important work.
The Perfect Cacio e Pepe Recipe, According to Science
Italian scientists have drawn from thermodynamic principles to prevent a famous pasta from turning into a gooey mess.
www.nytimes.com
January 25, 2025 at 1:14 AM
The Perfect Cacio e Pepe Recipe, According to Science www.nytimes.com/2025/01/24/s...
Important work.
Important work.
New lab offerings for 2025, designed to amplify futures fluency in organizations. You will need it.
January 24, 2025 at 1:37 AM
New lab offerings for 2025, designed to amplify futures fluency in organizations. You will need it.
nautil.us/ai-is-the-bl...
“I told him the nature of justice is we have conflicting values and interests that cannot be made commensurable on a single scale, and that the work of human deliberation and negotiation and appeal is essential...It becomes two worldviews that don’t intersect...”
“I told him the nature of justice is we have conflicting values and interests that cannot be made commensurable on a single scale, and that the work of human deliberation and negotiation and appeal is essential...It becomes two worldviews that don’t intersect...”
AI Is the Black Mirror
Why the kinship between artificial intelligence and the human mind is terrifying.
nautil.us
December 13, 2024 at 2:33 AM
nautil.us/ai-is-the-bl...
“I told him the nature of justice is we have conflicting values and interests that cannot be made commensurable on a single scale, and that the work of human deliberation and negotiation and appeal is essential...It becomes two worldviews that don’t intersect...”
“I told him the nature of justice is we have conflicting values and interests that cannot be made commensurable on a single scale, and that the work of human deliberation and negotiation and appeal is essential...It becomes two worldviews that don’t intersect...”
Reposted by John Rousseau
I thought I was doing the Lord's work when I did adversarial testing of "Father Justin" and he was demoted. Can someone buy me a ticket to Lucerne? I just wanna see something. www.vice.com/en/article/a...
'AI Jesus' Is Now Taking Confessions at a Church in Switzerland
A church in Switzerland has drummed up a controversy by employing an AI version of Jesus in its confessional.
www.vice.com
November 21, 2024 at 5:09 PM
I thought I was doing the Lord's work when I did adversarial testing of "Father Justin" and he was demoted. Can someone buy me a ticket to Lucerne? I just wanna see something. www.vice.com/en/article/a...
There are no future facts.
November 21, 2024 at 2:12 PM
There are no future facts.
paradoxof.agency/Nora-Bateson-1
Agency. Interdependence.
Agency. Interdependence.
Nora Bateson — The Paradox of Agency
Home Leadership Within the Paradox of Agency By Nora Bateson In this era of multiple crises and global threats, I am increasingly uneasy with the call for...
paradoxof.agency
November 19, 2024 at 10:01 PM
paradoxof.agency/Nora-Bateson-1
Agency. Interdependence.
Agency. Interdependence.
Alligator catfish. www.technologyreview.com/2023/01/19/1...
These scientists used CRISPR to put an alligator gene into catfish
The resulting fish appear to be more resistant to disease and could improve commercial production—should they ever be approved.
www.technologyreview.com
November 19, 2024 at 2:26 PM
Alligator catfish. www.technologyreview.com/2023/01/19/1...
The value of a field trip vs. living in a garden of abstraction. Lovely writing.
open.substack.com/pub/sarahken...
open.substack.com/pub/sarahken...
The End of Days Inn
What Trump’s team wants to do to America, and how to fight it.
open.substack.com
November 17, 2024 at 2:06 PM
The value of a field trip vs. living in a garden of abstraction. Lovely writing.
open.substack.com/pub/sarahken...
open.substack.com/pub/sarahken...
Unfortunate that the entities most interested in the future of a given domain tend to have a vested interest in specific outcomes and thus dominant world views—e.g., future of work <> corporate real estate.
November 15, 2024 at 3:12 PM
Unfortunate that the entities most interested in the future of a given domain tend to have a vested interest in specific outcomes and thus dominant world views—e.g., future of work <> corporate real estate.
Signals: the AI resistance www.insidehighered.com/opinion/view...
Burn it down: a license for AI resistance (opinion)
Resistance is not futile, Melanie Dusseau writes.
www.insidehighered.com
November 14, 2024 at 2:58 AM
Signals: the AI resistance www.insidehighered.com/opinion/view...
I can't resolve the difference between 1. the AI skeptics that make sound arguments about capacity, externalities, 2. the factual reporting that suggests more reasons for skepticism than not, and 3. the ongoing hype and investment across multiple sectors. Can you explain?
November 14, 2024 at 1:30 AM
I can't resolve the difference between 1. the AI skeptics that make sound arguments about capacity, externalities, 2. the factual reporting that suggests more reasons for skepticism than not, and 3. the ongoing hype and investment across multiple sectors. Can you explain?