Designing Future Narratives in a Changing Workplace: Lisa Kay Solomon and Jeffrey Rogers

From Workplace Stories by RedThread Research by Stacia Garr & Dani Johnson

April 15, 2026 · 53 min · Episode 125

About this episode

The episode discusses the importance of foresight in leadership and how narrative influences organizational readiness for change.

In this episode, we welcome Lisa Kay Solomon, designer-in-residence at Stanford's d.school and host of the "How We Future" podcast, and Jeffrey Rogers, principal of Learning and Facilitation at Radical and co-founder of Projectory. We discuss why foresight—the ability to anticipate and design the futures we want—is everybody's job, not just the domain of senior leaders or specialized futurists. They challenge the idea that organizations operate on an "official future" built from unexamined assumptions, and explore how narrative shapes both our approach to work and our readiness for rapid change, especially in the face of AI disruption. You will want to hear this episode if you are interested in... [00:00] Rethinking future-focused leadership [03:39] HR's evolving role in shaping the future [07:18] Understanding contested narratives and the potential to challenge them [21:50] The importance of adopting futures thinking through broad learning across multiple perspectives [25:47] Strategic foresight and future practices [35:13] Rethinking knowledge and learning priorities [39:21] Reflecting on AI adoption barriers [47:08] Helping leaders develop future-oriented skills [51:14]…

People in this episode

Hosts: Stacia Garr, Dani Johnson

Guests: Lisa Kay Solomon, Jeffrey Rogers

Topics covered

foresight
future-focused leadership
narrative shaping
AI disruption
strategic foresight
learning priorities
future-oriented skills

Keywords

foresight
leadership
narrative
AI
strategic foresight
learning
future skills

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Stanford's d.school, Radical, Projectory

Books & works: How We Future