Louise is a futurist at Future Navigator and she is my 6th guest for my ‘’on the roads’’ interview series. We talked about future navigator and her futurist perspective. She won a big national prize for a paper on the future of the Danish innovation system. She can help you and/or your organisation to find your way in the confusion and identify the skills that you and your organisation needs in order to be head of the game in the future.

1. ON THE ROADS-6
LOUISE FREDBO NIELSEN
02.03.2014

2. FOREWORD
Louise is a futurist at Future Navigator and she is my
6th guest for my ‘’on the roads’’ interview series. We
talked about future navigator and her futurist perspective.
She won a big national prize for a paper on the future
of the Danish innovation system. She can help you
and/or your organisation to find your way in the
confusion and identify the skills that you and your
organisation needs in order to be head of the game in
the future.

4. CONVERSATION

5. You are working at Future Navigator as a futurist. If I describe
your company as a solution shop, what would you like to say
about your job?
At Future Navigator we want to bring out the best in people.
We will do everything we can to help you visualise your better
tomorrow. The goal is to qualify your ability and foundation to
create new meaningful concepts, services, and products, and
select through a variety of great ideas. In short – using the
future as a springboard for success – today. I help people use
the future as their compass in order to be gasp-worthy and
kick ass in the future. I absolutely love to have the opportunity
to create value for other people and help individuals as well as
organizations get even better as well as ready for the future.

6. What are the key points for the futurists?
Do you also dream of making stuff better? Being a positive difference? Creating the
future? Be remembered for some really cool solutions? And moving from more to
better? Well, then you might be a futurist at heart. One of the most important things
when working as a (aspiring) futurist is to be curious. And to embrace what you see
coming – whether it is scary, exciting, welcomed or annoying. Look at the trends and
transformations that are happening all around you all the time and try to map them.
Then build some scenarios (just small ones in the beginning – you can even to it with
Lego brigs to make it even more fun) and thing about what you can make of that. You
can ask yourself questions like “what could these developments and trends change?”
“Who will they influence?” “How will they change the way we work/live/interact?”
“What is it that we do not know?” If you want to start spotting your own trends, you
can take a look at Future Navigator’s Trendspotting Guide.

8. Nowadays, shared working environment trend is rising unlike in a typical office
environment. According to some futurists, we will not work at classic offices in the
future. This trend also helps mobile life. What do you think about coworking spaces?
What are your foresights about that?
In the future our working environment is going to change as lot due
the all the electronic devices that make it possible for us to work
anytime and from everywhere. But interestingly enough what we see
is also that even though gadgets, phones and computers make it
possible for us to interact online without actually being together, we
are still building bigger airports and the office-cooperatives are
blooming around the world- cause people also need to meet each
other and interact in real life. But in the future we are going to
customize our workdays way more than we see today because we have
all these technological possibilities– and the wage-earner culture
where you have one job from crib to cradle is totally dead!

9. FREE CORNER

10. The way of living in the positive future lies beneath designing it.
What would you say if I wanted you to make me a future map on
a topic based on the four questions below?
What is the topic?
The need for entrepreneurship among young people
Within the subject, what is changing?
The labour market is changing dramatically. Young people today are probably going to reinvent
themselves 5,6,7,8,9 times or more during their work lives. Futurists predict that in 2030 2 billion jobs
have disappeared due to automation and the exponential development of technology. But that being
said, the good news is that the majority of the jobs that people will have in the future do not exist yet –
so we can play a role in creating them ourselves, it we want.
In the future we will likely switch between different jobs, between being permanently employed, being
freelancers, taking breaks to recharge at the Bahamas and starting our own companies. You can have
your own company while being permanently employed at a large company and you do not have to be
anything for all of your life. Because of the changes to the labour market that gets much more flexible
Why is it important?
Because the labour market is changing so dramatically, it is so important that young people also see
entrepreneurship as a possibility. I would love to plant a seed in other young people that
entrepreneurship is one way to go - a way where we can create our own dream jobs, make a difference
and create BETTER growth (as opposed to the out-dated paradigm of MORE).
How is it supposed to be?
That everybody truly has the belief that of cause they can start their own company if they want to – and
succeed even though people around them might tell them that they cannot to exactly that!

11. SHORTLY

12. • When was the last time you did something for the first time?
I talked over a thousand people at future day
• Do you have a motto? What is it?
Never let fear stop you from doing what you really want
• Do you have a book and a movie that is about the future which
you would like to suggest to us?
Book: Flash Foresight-Daniel Burrus
Movie: Star Wars
• When said ‘entrepreneur’ who comes to your mind?
Danish woman called Soulaima Gourani

13. • Some simple questions have difficult answers. What is your simple
question?
What are you seeing yourself in 5 years?
• Einstein said ‘’I have no special talent. I am only passionately
curious.’’ What is your passion?
Help young people..follow future dreams..
• Which animated film character are you?
Old Men in the animated movie ‘’UP’’
• If you were to begin a sentence with ‘’if’’ ,what would you say to
ignite our creativity?
What if I had all courage in the world?
• Who are the futurists?
Everybody 

14. Louise Fredbo NIELSEN
 http://www.futurenavigator.dk/louise-fredbo-nielsen/
 https://twitter.com/LouiseFredbo
 http://www.pinterest.com/louisefn/
Fatih CETİZ
 http://www.fatihcetiz.com/
 https://twitter.com/fatihcetiz