What if the biggest risk in the age of AI isn’t losing jobs, but losing our ability to imagine the future?

In this episode of The Mindset Economy, Jean Gomes and Scott Allender speak with futurist Sarah Housley, author of Designing Hope about why our collective imagination about the future seems to have stalled. As AI advances and change accelerates, many people feel less agency, not more. So how do we reclaim the ability to imagine and design better futures?

Building on ideas such as protopia (futures that improve gradually through experimentation, human ingenuity, and collective action), the conversation explores how leaders can create more hopeful visions of the future, why rapid technological change can undermine our sense of agency, and why developing more non-linear ways of thinking may be essential as AI and other forces reshape the world.

Reading from Sarah Housley:

Designing Hope: Visions to Shape Our Future (2025, Indigo Press)

Reading from Jean Gomes and Scott Allender:

Leading In A Non-Linear World (J Gomes, Wiley, 2023)

The Enneagram of Emotional Intelligence (S Allender, Baker Books, 2023)

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The Mindset Economy Podcast is researched, written and presented by Jean Gomes and Scott Allender with production by Phil Kerby. It is an Outside Consulting Ltd production.