Joel Barker's Strategic Exploration Tools

10/12/2026

Leader reframing is a disciplined practice that questions and invites others to question constraints to unlock new capacity.

10/12/2026

From a return to "simple" smartphones to timers that hide notifications, there seems to be a market for ways to disengage from our digital devices. This physical key from the innovative company Autonomous AI is the first I have tried, and I was doubtful.

10/06/2026

Really???

University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers worked on China's vehicle-road-cloud technology that lets roadside cameras track and command vehicles.

10/05/2026

Looks fascinating -- a concert soon?

Apple's latest innovation is a live concert venue unlike any other. Located in a decommissioned coal-fired power plant, the new space doubles as a recording and broadcasting studio – complete with a spatial audio setup.

10/05/2026

Although futures literacy (FL) has gained increasing attention as a key concept in futures studies and education, its empirical operationalisation and measurement remain underdeveloped. Existing approaches often frame futures literacy either normatively, as a desirable capacity, or functionally, ...

10/05/2026

Excellent insights on what appears to be a constantly changing concept. Identifying the trend or trends here is tough -- monitoring is critical for some stakeholders.

Restaurants have turned customer loyalty into a humiliation ritual. Not only are they toying with users, but they’re blowing the most important lever they have to succeed. Inside the ‘great rewards overhaul’ of 2026.

10/05/2026

OpenAI has thousands and thousands of contractors helping improve the company's AI models. Multiple contractors have been fired for using AI to train the AI.

10/02/2026

"Finding the Future Faster: The GUIDEBOOK" -- Just Released -

Yes, there’s a brand-new website replacing implicationswheel.org. Lots of new information added in almost all areas, particularly a new section, “Exploring the Thinking.”

09/29/2026

I definitely have to post this one. It's interesting by itself but Joel began posting about 3D printing in the very early days. He'd love this one also because of his interest in space.

The future where humans colonize Mars is fast approaching. A future with self-sustaining biospheres, autonomous rovers, helicopters with rotors that break the sound barrier, and – perhaps – mud houses. Yes, literal houses made out of mud.

09/28/2026

The burden of being early adopters.