READY?
"Any useful statement about the future should at first seem ridiculous" - Jim Dator
Why job descriptions? Job descriptions are a key artifact in the social work profession.
We know them, we use them, we see them...they are an easy conceptual bridge. For us...they are a familiar
doorway to explore new ideas. This game uses this device as a way to get a peek at possible futures in a framework that is familiar to us. Jump over to the jobs page to get some ideas and then come back here to read the instructions on how to play!
Here’s how to use signals to imagine what these jobs might look like!
Step One: Find a signal (or a few signals) that tell you something is changing in the world around us. What’s a signal? The future doesn’t
usually just “appear” - but rather it shows up in small ways way before a “trend” or a “shift” in the world occurs.
It may be something you want to see happen (a preferred future) or it may be something you don't want to see happen. Each way of approaching the signal helps us figure out what we might want to do in relation to the idea. Signal spotting is a primary activity for people who do futures or foresight practice. A signal is different than a trend - because a trend is already happening. What is AFTER the trend? A signal isn't a prediction - it may or may not "turn into" something bigger. However every big shift in the world...probably started out as a smaller signal. And you get better at seeing them, the more you practice. Sometimes these are called “weak signals”in the literature. Where do you find them? EVERYWHERE. Signals show up in the news, in culture, in the arts, in the streets - they are all around us. Normally we don’t take them very seriously until they “turn into something” bigger. But if we did pay better attention...and what if that might give us some clues about the future of our shared world and the role of social work within it? To play this game you're going to have to gather an article, website, or other example of the signal as it is happening in the world. This might relate to some part of social work where you practice, or with regard to the larger world that will impact the way that social work is practiced. Watch this to learn more about signals generally.
Step Two: Imagine what the world would be like if that signal expanded, developed and grew in the future. What would that world be like? Is it a world you’d like to live in? What do you think social workers might be doing in that world? What kinds of new roles might this social worker have? Can you give this new kind of social work job a title like you’d find in a job description? (While your idea for a job may be unexpected, wild and imaginative - foresight suggests that it will have more resonance if it is linked to something that is REAL in the world right now...not drawn from fantasy...but drawn from signals!)
Step Three: Decide for yourself - is this a future job for social work that is plausible, possible, preferable, preposterous - or absolutely NOT preferred?
Step Four: Enter your ideas here in this online form. Then in a bit, after we process your entry, and if it is appropriate to our game, we’ll add it to our collection on this site (see next page for ideas and get some inspiration to join in!!).
READY??? Let’s play!!! Can’t wait to see what you find and come up with!!!
Questions before you play? Email me at: nissen@pdx.edu