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Alfonso Montuori on Envisioning and Creating a More Desirable Future
Transformative Leadership, By: Alfonso Montuori
From Power to Partnership: Creating the Future of Love, Work, and Community, By: Alfonso Montuori“From Power to Partnership is one of my favorite books of all time, and I read it in 1995. I am proud to call Alfonso my friend ever since I reached out to him in ‘95 to let him know how much his book made a significant impression on me.”
~ Janice Caillet
Alfonso shared: How can leaders and teams envision and create a more desirable future? As I am sure you can all appreciate, there are challenges in thinking about a compelling future. In his book of essays, Routledge Handbook for Creative Futures, many scholars and practitioners share their perspectives on engaging in the creative thinking necessary to envision a more desirable future.
Alfonso Montuori, Ph.D. is an educator, consultant, and musician. With an Italian father and Dutch mother, Alfonso was born in the Netherlands, an Italian citizen, and grew up a “third culture kid” living in Lebanon, Greece, and England. He studied at the University of London before moving to the US in his mid-20s to go to graduate school. In the mid-'80s he taught at the Central South University in Hunan, China. Alfonso is the author of several books and numerous articles on the future, epistemology, creativity, leadership, transdisciplinarity, complexity, and education, most recently co-editing the Routledge Handbook for Creative Futures with TSD alumna Gabrielle Donnelly. His work has been translated into Italian, French, Spanish, and Chinese. Alfonso is Co-Editor of World Futures: The Journal of New Paradigm Research, and on the editorial board of numerous academic journals. Alfonso has consulted with organizations and individuals in the US, Europe, and Asia on creativity, complexity and leadership development. He worked as a musician in London performing and recording with several bands, and also started his own indie record label, Banana Records, in 1979. He has performed with or produced artists including Roy Hargrove, Joe Henderson, Joe Louis Walker, Charles Brown, and Aztec Camera. An active musician and voting member of the Recording Academy (The Grammys), he still performs and records, and collaborates with his wife, award-winning jazz singer Kitty Margolis, playing saxophone in her band and co-producing her recordings.
“Alfonso Montuori on Creating More Desirable Futures (39:00)
First Friday Thought Leader Alfonso Montuori, PhD shares how leaders and teams can envision and create a more desirable future.
The Power of Embodied Futures:
The future isn't a distant destination but a reality we create through our present actions and mindsets. Actively embodying our desired future selves today is key to shaping a better tomorrow.
Navigating Uncertainty and Change:
The current era is characterized by rapid change, complexity, and uncertainty. Cultivating a creative mindset that embraces ambiguity, fosters hope, and prioritizes our core values is essential for navigating this landscape.
The Expected Future Shapes the Present:
Our expectations about the future significantly influence our present choices and behaviors. Cultivating a positive and hopeful vision of the future can unlock possibility and empower us to act with greater agency.
Shifting from Avoid to Approach Motivation: Societal discourse often focuses on what we are against rather than what we are for. Consciously identifying and articulating our core values and aspirations is crucial for creating a future we truly desire.
Loss of Hope and the Importance of Possibility: A pervasive sense of hopelessness, especially among younger generations, can lead to apathy and inaction. Cultivating a belief in the possible, both individually and collectively, is essential for igniting motivation and driving positive change.
The Future Self as a Guiding Force: Connecting with our future selves through exercises like letter writing can help us clarify our goals, strengthen our commitment to personal growth, and bridge the gap between our present and desired future.
Embrace ambiguity and uncertainty as opportunities for creation and interpretation.
Cultivate independence of judgment and resist blindly following trends.
Practice self-critical contextual awareness and understand our interconnectedness with larger systems.
Develop a balanced approach that integrates both yin and yang qualities.
Regularly question assumptions and challenge existing patterns of thought.
Actively make connections between seemingly disparate ideas and concepts.
“What we’re becoming aware of now is that these, of course, are skills and attitudes that we can cultivate. It’s, they’re they’re not genetic gifts of genius."
— Alfonso Montuori
KEY INSIGHTS | from our First Friday with a Thought Leader Event*
Alfonso Montuori, “Creating Futures”
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