The Future(s) of Innovation

It would be a fool’s errand to try to predict the future of innovation, yet this chapter leans into such foolishness by suggesting a number of scenarios that may play out in the coming years or decades—separately or (more likely) in hybrid forms. Here I suggest that there are particularly four scenarios that should receive extra attentions. One, fast futures, in which new technologies super-charge innovation capabilities. Two, slow futures, where resource limitations force us toward more considered innovation engagements. Three, diverse futures, where new innovation players and modes of organization emerge. Four, weird futures, which are fundamentally unknowable. The chapter does so not to predict the future, but to guide the reader in their own thinking about the possibilities and problems of future innovation.