Leanne Kaiser Carlson
Welcome!
In this space you will find a little about what I do as a futurist. Futurism begins with seeing problems and potentials early, while they are still taking shape. But its real power is to create the future we want--the preferable future.
Healthcare is the space I inhabit. So much is about to happen in this area that stretches our wildest imaginings. I speak about these trends, work with organizations to create strategy, teach and write, serve as a hospital trustee, and lead initiatives at the Kaiser Institute and Two Worlds Wisdom School.
You'll find more about this below. Enjoy!
What is Futurism?
Futurism is the art of both predicting and creating the future. Prediction is the beginning point. Many trends are visible as waves of momentum. But these waves do not impact all places at the same time. What is yet to sweep healthcare or one organization often already exists somewhere else. A futurist looks in different places--on the margins and edges.
A trend is simply a shift in energy. It propels as powerfully as it destroys. To see the way the world is changing is to be able to ride the momentum to a new destination. This is the second and more essential part of futurism--creating a preferable future.
The future is not a simple extension of the present. Neither is it fixed. For everything that is, there are other things that could just as well be. They exist as parallel futures and alternative realities. Which one occurs is a matter of choice.
The future is also determined by what we do, or fail to do, in the present. Each time we change, the future changes. In this sense we happen to the future as much as the future happens to us.
Futurism is the ultimate challenge for all leaders. We cannot have what we cannot imagine. What holds the future in its probable form is that we tend to think in the same ways and do the same things. But there are infinite possibilities waiting to happen.
Futurism is a path of power. It is a position of hope. It is a challenge and privilege for us all.
Bio
Leanne Kaiser Carlson is a health futurist who helps organizations and individuals consciously evolve. She sees potentials and resources in unusual places. Health systems seek her to think in new ways and create paths to a preferable rather than probable future.
Leanne is one of three founders of the Kaiser Institute, an organization that equips people with essential skills for the future. One of its newest initiatives is the Alembic, a program that teaches the 13 elements of transformation. The word Alembic comes from alchemy and means container of transformation. The Alembic began with 20 founding CEOs from innovative health systems.
She also initiated an innovation circle called Theater of Generosity. Organizations in this circle are designing hospitals and clinics where patients think about generosity, experience it in surprising ways, and are drawn to participate as philanthropic partners. Generosity comes alive as the heartbeat of the culture and unleashes hidden abundance.
Leanne is a Senior Fellow of the Estes Park Institute in the areas of Futures, Innovation, and Wisdom Cultures. She serves as a hospital trustee and has been a board member of other organizations including the VHA Health Foundation. Here she chaired the grants committee, reviewed the innovation strategies in hundreds of hospitals, and funded novel prototypes.
She began her career working in hospitals, attained her Masters degree in health administration, and rapidly became one of the youngest and most recognized health futurists in the industry.