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Dr. Graham Norris Explores the Psychology of Foresight on The FuturesCoach Podcast



Dr. Graham Norris, organizational psychologist, futurist, and author of the viral TEDx talk Be More Futurist, joined host Prof. Dr Jan Mosedale on The FuturesCoach podcast to unpack why long-term thinking is so psychologically difficult, and what leaders can do about it. Drawing on cutting-edge research, Dr. Norris introduced the concept of the "Magoo Effect," explaining how our brains treat the distant future the way a nearsighted person sees the far end of a street: blurry, abstract, and easy to ignore. He also explored how our "psychological allergy to uncertainty" and emotionally triggered thinking pull us away from strategic foresight and into short-term decision-making.


The conversation moved from diagnosis to practical strategy, with Dr. Norris outlining three powerful approaches to cultivating a futures-oriented mindset: scenario thinking (using a prism rather than a crystal ball), probabilistic reasoning, and thinking in ranges rather than single predictions. He also addressed how leaders can bring their teams along on this journey — through shared vision, the Three Horizons framework, and helping people recognize their own agency in shaping the future. "However difficult you find it," Dr. Norris noted, "there are tools and techniques and ways to help you think more clearly about the future."


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