The Future Report

Thankyou™ is an organisation founded in Australia that seeks to serve people living in extreme poverty by redistributing wealth, from consumer spending. Thankyou provides consumers with alternate product choices for body care and baby care. When people purchase these products, it allows shoppers to purchase products that have a positive impact for those living in poverty. If you live in Australia,...

While most people have an interest in the future, educators have a direct role in shaping it, as they educate and equip the emerging generations. Importantly, this impact is recognised and appreciated by students. Our research shows that 70% of students can think of at least one teacher who has made a massive, positive difference in their life. Yet, amidst this positive student feedback, the waves...

If you know anyone born between the years of 1995 and 2009, then you know a Gen Z. Gen Zs are digital integrators who have been shaped in an era of social media and digital technology. While this generation are our high school students of today, the oldest of them are approaching their late twenties. Many of them may be in leadership roles in their workplaces and some even parents! In this episode...

Workplace culture is so important, yet it can be hard to define and measure. It can be an intangible thing, but something that impacts almost all aspects of an organisation, from productivity to employee satisfaction and retention. It is intrinsically linked to an organisation’s ability to succeed. In this episode, our host, Ashley Fell will be speaking to another thought leader in this space abou...

For the last two years, our lives have been significantly interrupted. We didn’t go out. We didn’t socialise much. We mostly interacted through a screen. Similar to the atrophy of muscles when underused, recent lockdowns and restrictions have impacted our social stamina and social fitness. Understandably, as the world opens up, we’re now having to use social skills that we haven’t had to use in a...

A fundamental human need that we all have is a place to call home. While the Great Australian Dream of home ownership is still alive and well among the emerging generations, it seems incredibly unattainable due to a combination of demographic and social trends. In this episode, host Ashley Fell sits down with Geoff Brailey to discuss the fading dream of home ownership.

Workplace culture can be complex to define and measure. There are many terms that stem from the word 'culture', anthropologists use the term to describe how people live. As social researchers, we define culture simply: ‘It’s how we do things around here.’ It’s the character and personality, the procedures and values, the purpose and ambition, the structures and traditions, and the pattern of behav...

We are living in an age of digital disruption, in what we call ‘The Great Screenage’, where we now spend more time on our devices, than we ever have before. In these technologically integrated times, our attention spans are short. In times of message saturation and information overload, if you have important data to communicate, it can be harder than ever to cut through the noise. We know the impo...

When you think of great leaders, who do you envision? Martin Luther King? Mother Theresa? Greta Thunberg? Author John Maxwell gave a helpful definition of leadership when he said, ‘Leadership is influence , nothing more, nothing less.’ Because everyone has a level of influence, it can be argued that everyone is a leader in one context or another. The challenge is in both how we wield our influence...

This week, people all over the world are celebrating International Women’s Day, a global holiday celebrating the cultural, political, and socioeconomic achievements of women. In celebration, our host, Ashley Fell is sitting down with a woman who many of our McCrindle team respect and look up to, Richenda Vermeulen. Richenda is the founder and CEO of digital agency ntegrity. She is also a mum and a...

As the times continue to change, expectations among consumers are shifting. Our research shows that people want to know what positive differences organisations are making. Enter social impact. Social impact is more than describing the activities an organisation does. It is the outcome of that work, and the changes that have occurred because of it. While 'social impact' isn’t a new term, we have no...

When you think about executive boards and governance, what do you think?  As our world becomes more complex, organisations are navigating changing social attitudes, demographic shifts, and technological disruptions. Boards play an important role in guiding the future of an organisation, and there's a shift happening with Millennials coming through in senior leadership roles. To discuss this i...

For a long time, the term “Millennials” was synonymous with young people. However, today these ‘young people’ are well into their 30s, having children of their own and emerging as leaders as they gain experience in their careers. In this episode, we delve into Millennials (also known as Gen Y) and their career expectations, how they differ from older generations, the challenges they face in the wo...

There is no doubt that the experience of the last two years has been transformative. Looking to the year ahead, we foresee important demographic, economic, social, technological, environmental, and political shifts to take place. As futurists, we believe that it is essential that leaders are equipped with an understanding of how to spot the trends, and what those trends are. So, what can we expect...

How does anyone predict the future? Well, we have some tips up our sleeve. In this episode, our host, Ashley Fell, sits down with futurist, Mark McCrindle to share the tricks of the trade with you and what 2022 might look like. 

In the first episode of season 2, we're talking all things Generation Z and what the future of work will look like for today's school-leavers. Joining the conversation about this emerging generation is the generational expert, Mark McCrindle.  Gen Z describes those born between 1995 and 2009, so today they are in their mid-late teens and mid-late twenties. 

For the final episode of Season 1, we are talking all things Christmas! Our host, Ashley Fell is joined by McCrindle's Managing Director, Sophie Renton to discuss our research on the best and the worst Christmas gift-givers, how younger generations plan on celebrating this Christmas with some unconventional celebrations and consumerism during the festive season. 

As the clock ticked over to 2021, many people looked forward to putting a pretty chaotic year of 2020 behind us. While it is good to have hope and optimism for the future, 2021 probably didn’t pan out as many hoped. With the Delta strain of the Coronavirus sending countries around the world into lockdown, and Australia navigating quite a different experience than that of the year before, 2021 pose...

Can you remember a time in your life when someone showed you an act of kindness? How about the last time you showed kindness to someone? It is universally acknowledged that it is cool to be kind, and there are lots of encouraging quotes about it.  From the ancient Greek philosopher, Aesop, who said "No act of kindness is ever wasted" to Mother Teresa who said, "Kind words can be short and eas...

A major event like a pandemic can cause a reassessment of life. From the 'Great Resignation' that we discussed in our last episode, to our relationships to our job, where we choose to live, and of course what we consider to be important, many aspects of our lives are being reassessed. In today's episode, our host Ashley Fell sits down with Social Researcher, Mark McCrindle to discuss what people a...

When was the last time you used cash to pay for something? Were you able to save money during the pandemic? And if so, what do you plan on doing with it? Did you perhaps buy a few too many packages online during lockdown? Will you be partaking in this year's Black Friday sales? These are some of the questions Ashley Fell will be discussing in this episode and sharing the latest research, with McCr...

Since the beginning of the pandemic, for many, working from home has become the 'new normal'. And while it can have its challenges, the benefits seem to outweigh them. So, if people love working from home and want to continue working this way into the future, where does that leave the future of the office? In today's episode, our host, Ashley Fell, asks Mark McCrindle if the office is dead, what r...

Ever heard of a 'Sea Change' or 'Tree Change'? It refers to people moving out of the big cities and into coastal or rural areas. While we were seeing this trend prior to the pandemic, COVID-19 has accelerated this in the last two years, as people increasingly work-from-home and reprioritise what is important. In today's episode, our host, Ashley Fell, sits down with McCrindle's Director of Solutio...

Have you ever heard the phrase "culture eats strategy for breakfast"? It's a quote made famous by management guru, Peter Drucker, who was communicating the importance of workplace culture. While he wasn't saying that strategy is unimportant, he was saying that an empowering and engaging workplace culture is a surer root of organisational success. While we believe in the sentiment of this famous ph...

Over the last few years, wellbeing has risen to the top of the agenda. It's one of the key challenges and opportunities that our society faces, especially when it comes to work. This became even more the case when, almost overnight, the global office-bound workforce relocated to their homes. For the first time in modern history, working-from-home became the norm. In today's episode, host Ashley Fe...