Applied research and diagnostics
Investigate a future-readiness challenge, map possible shifts in your industry or turn findings into a leadership decision and action plan.
CENTRE FOR FUTURE INSIGHTS / RESEARCH
Research that helps you act on the future of work.
The future of work is already changing what organisations need to know and do. Our Centre turns Dr Michele Sagan’s original research and the ideas behind Future Shaping into insight leaders can use: articles, practical frameworks, diagnostics and collaborations that move from possibility to decision.
WHY THIS RESEARCH MATTERS
Make sense of change before it reshapes your organisation.
AI is reshaping tasks; employees are asking more of their work; industries and regulations keep moving. Our research brings futures thinking together with organisational evidence so leaders can explore different possibilities and decide what to do now.
HR FUTURE OF WORK READINESS CHECK / GHRM
Is your HR function ready for the future it’s being asked to lead?
Based on our Generative Human Resource Management (GHRM) research, this three-minute check gives your HR team a personalised view across six areas of future readiness. It helps you see where you are strong, where capability may be missing and which questions to take into a deeper strategic discussion.
The check is a starting point within GHRM. If you need a fuller picture, our complete GHRM assessment examines 23 areas of HR maturity and can inform a tailored consulting and capability-building response.
READ / APPLY / DISCUSS
Read the research. Put the ideas to work.
Two original articles introduce ideas that inform our Future Shaping research. Each includes questions you can take into a leadership meeting.
OPTIMAL INSIGHT · RESEARCHThe Futures Cone01 / FUTURES THINKING
ARTICLE 01 / FUTURES THINKING
The future is not coming. We are creating it
Meet Raj and Maya in two versions of 2080—and use the Futures Cone to ask which future our choices are creating.
Read article ↗OPTIMAL INSIGHT · RESEARCHAI & the Future of Work02 / PEOPLE & TECHNOLOGY
ARTICLE 02 / FUTURE OF WORK
Redesign the work. Then redesign the organisation.
A deeper, book-informed guide to redesigning work across roles, resources and human–AI collaboration—with two decision diagrams and questions for leaders.
Read article ↗
THE BOOK / NOVEMBER 2026
Published by Penguin Random HousePreorder
Future Shaping.
The future is already here. And most organisations are nowhere near ready for it.
Drawing on two decades of original research, executive practice and fieldwork across Asia-Pacific, Dr Michele Sagan traces four compounding forces—Disruption, Disconnection, Discontent and Degradation—that are hollowing organisations out from within. Future Shaping introduces Generative Sustainability, a human-centred framework for creating lasting value across Prosperity, People, Purpose and Planet. It offers practical architecture for building organisational resilience and shaping what comes next.
Published by Penguin Random HouseRESEARCH INTO PRACTICE
Partner with the Centre on the questions that matter.
Dr Michele Sagan founded the Centre to connect research with the decisions organisations face. We work with business leaders, schools, universities and industry bodies to define a question, examine the evidence and create something people can use.
Futures literacy in education
Co-develop student and educator labs, real organisational cases and research about changing skills, work and leadership.
Speaking and sector insight
Bring a future-of-work question to life through a keynote, executive roundtable, sector briefing or collaborative study.
AI and human judgementGenerative leadershipOrganisational resilienceCulture and human–AI symbiosisWomen and the future of work
WORK WITH US
Start a conversationExplore a research partnership with us.
Talk to us about a research collaboration, keynote or applied insight project.