A priceless gift – Reflections on Richard Slaughter’s influence on working and living with the future

Abstract

Richard Slaughter’s approach to understanding and teaching futures studies is foundational to the thinking and practice of the more than 160 students that went through the Master of Strategic Foresight program at Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, Australia. I studied with Richard, worked with him and have been guided by his approach in my foresight practice for over 15 years. Richard’s contribution to the futures field is exemplified by his understanding of the role the interior development of the foresight practitioner plays in creating images of the future, his articulation of the civilizational challenges we face and his weaving of integral theory and futures thinking. This piece is a reflection on the impact Richard’s ideas about possible futures and the practice of foresight has had on the work I, and many others, deliver across numerous contexts and industries.