24Jan2025
In yesterday’s webinar with futurist April Rinne, hosted by Nordic Business Forum and Oslo Business Forum, attendees learned how to master a future-ready mindset in 2025. April shared her insights on navigating uncertainty, building resilience, and increasing adaptability, drawing on her global experience and expertise. The lessons she revealed can help leaders remain resilient and adaptable when it feels like too much is changing too fast, and it’s too hard to keep up.
You can also watch the webinar recording on our YouTube channel.
Cecilia Flatum of Deloitte: Why We Need to Master a Future-Ready Mindset in 2025
In the opening session of the webinar, Cecilia Flatum, Head of Technology and Transformation of Deloitte Norway, highlighted the forces shaping our world and the skills leaders must develop to navigate uncertainty, build resilience, and increase adaptability.
On the Global Level
Mastering a future-ready mindset means anticipating and preparing for ongoing and inevitable change. On a global scale, we are witnessing a shift in geopolitical and economic power, as well as a move away from a single dominant political or value system. At the same time, humanity faces an increasing number of existential, transnational challenges that demand collaboration and innovation.
On the Country Level in Norway
Norway is at an inflection point where converging trends will test trust in society. The public sector is operating with tighter financial constraints, and the economy must evolve to become greener, more digital, and more service-based. Climate change is not only an environmental issue but also a driver of economic transformation and increased immigration. Meanwhile, a growing skills shortage could threaten Norway’s ability to keep pace with rapid technological advancements, making transformation an urgent necessity.
On the Individual Level
At an individual level, the pressures of an uncertain world are taking a toll. In a recent Deloitte survey of 23,000 Gen Z respondents worldwide, the top five concerns were personal finances, geopolitical instability, terrorism, mental health, and climate change. Despite being digital natives known for their adaptability and productivity, Gen Z is navigating heightened uncertainty that makes resilience more critical than ever.
Three Key Takeaways
In conclusion, Cecilia shared three key takeaways for leaders:
- Individuals can win races, but only true teams can win championships. Build trust and collaborate with partners.
- No elite athlete can win a championship by training at high intensity week after week. You need to run slow to run fast.
- Get comfortable being uncomfortable. Train your resilience muscles.
April Rinne: How to Master a Future-Ready Mindset in 2025
April Rinne is a futurist and global expert on navigating uncertainty. With 25 years of experience across 100+ countries, she helps organizations and leaders adapt to change and uncover new opportunities. Her broad career in the private, public, and social sectors gives her unique insights into anticipating and managing key shifts in a constantly evolving world.
Change and Uncertainty
April’s philosophies on a world in flux emerged years ago but are perfectly timed for today. In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, current geopolitical uncertainty, and every other type of “flux” that has taken shape, we must learn to reshape our relationship to change.
Over the course of her experience and research, April has come to view change through three lenses: futurist, global, and human.
- Futurist: April has seen a pattern in which we all struggle with change and uncertainty. And while the last five years have taught us a lot of lessons about adaptability, we can use more help.
- Global: April’s work has taught her that every culture has developed wisdom around making sense of the unknown. We have a lot to learn from each other if we connect the dots, but unfortunately, most of us live in cultural silos with limited access to the knowledge that could help us broaden our perspective.
- Human: How we navigate change is a profoundly human experience. April’s personal interest in change ignited when she was just 20 years old, and both of her parents were killed in a car crash. In that moment, everything changed and she was forced to figure out how to make sense of a new reality.
The Thesis of Flux
Change is much more complicated than the word itself implies. Depending on the context, we might love or hate it, embrace it or resist it. “Flux” is different from “change” because it’s not just one thing; it’s constant and continuous.
April views flux as an antidote to change management. Conceptually, change management assumes we can control a given change—but we all know that’s not how life really works. This is where her Thesis of Flux comes in: in a world of rapid, constant change, we must reshape our relationship to it, learning to see uncertainty in a more future-fit light.
“Flux is going to continue for as far out as we can see.”
Cultures of Change
In her global work, April has closely studied cultures of change—how people see and talk about uncertainty. In Western cultures, change is largely looked upon unfavorably. In contrast, many Eastern cultures embrace change and uncertainty.
In Tibet, the Bardo is a liminal space of transition. This place of not knowing is sacred and celebrated. It is a place of transformation that ultimately leads to greater knowing. April is passionate about improving and expanding our lexicon with concepts like this that we can all draw upon.
Cultural responses to change can also manifest organizationally. When teams fail to adapt or innovate, their resistance might be traced to several things, but the most likely culprit is a lack of trust. To resolve this, leaders must uncover whether people see change from a place of hope or a place of fear. Fear shuts us down and causes us to lose perspective. Hope, in contrast, lights a fire and expands our vision.
“Hope can unleash innovation, creativity, and solutions.”
It’s important to remember that people respond differently to change when they choose it versus when they feel blindsided by it. A change we choose is easier to accept than a change we see as forced upon us. Consider how people can participate in change in your organization. Letting them in will strengthen trust, and over time, trust is the asset you need more than any other.
The Flux Mindset
The Flux Mindset is the ability to see all change (good and bad, expected and unexpected) as an opportunity to learn, grow, and improve. April encourages leaders to think of it as their “mental muscle” for change. It is the necessary mindset for a world and a future in flux.
When it comes to leadership, what we’ve been taught doesn’t align with what we’re experiencing today. We’ve been groomed to believe leaders must have all the answers, yet nothing could be further from the truth. “The number one leadership quality needed today is comfort with ambiguity,” April said.
The 8 Flux Superpowers
The 8 Flux Superpowers are practices for a world in flux. Consider them the “how to” of Flux—developing these superpowers enables you to put the Flux Mindset into action.
“The Flux Superpowers help you see change in new ways, develop new responses, and ultimately reshape your relationship to change.”
Some superpowers may be more essential for you than others, and they can be applied both personally and professionally, individually and organizationally.
Superpower #1 Run Slower: Manage your pace to be your best, for yourself and others. Not only does running slower help beat burnout and anxiety, but it also enables you to make better decisions.
Superpower #2 See What’s Invisible: Learn how to identify your blind spots, broaden your perspective, and embrace the full picture. This Superpower is at the heart of innovation.
Superpower #3 Get Lost: Get comfortable with discomfort and harness not knowing. Improve your relationship with the unknown, evoking the type of transformation that can occur in the Bardo.
Superpower #4 Start with Trust: Unlock the single most important factor to thriving in uncertainty. Learn how to navigate change in collaboration with others.
Superpower #5 Know Your “Enough:” Discover the foundation of true happiness and well-being. Recognize that an emphasis on “more” is unhelpful.
Superpower #6 Create Your Career Portfolio: Design and own a successful, meaningful career that’s fit for a future of work in flux. Success is not a ladder you climb but experiences you collect.
Superpower #7 Be All the More Human: Recalibrate your relationship to technology to favor human connection. Think critically about how to be human in an increasingly tech-driven world.
Superpower #8 Let Go of the Future: Level up your relationship to control for better outcomes. Let go of outdated assumptions and the desire to predict or control the future.
Where to start?
April left leaders with simple steps to begin building and flexing a new Flux Mindset. First, understand the dynamics of hope versus fear and how those feelings influence your team’s response to change. Second, work on building trust both cognitively and compassionately—in the head and heart.
Key Points
- Flux is the new normal. Change is no longer an isolated event but a constant, continuous force. The key to thriving is reshaping our relationship to uncertainty.
- Perspective shapes our response to change. Cultures and individuals who view uncertainty as an opportunity rather than a threat are more resilient and innovative.
- At both the individual and organizational levels, trust determines whether change is met with fear or embraced as an opportunity.
- Leadership is about navigating ambiguity, not having all the answers. The most effective leaders embrace uncertainty and foster collaboration.
- The Flux Superpowers offer practical tools for thriving in uncertainty. Whether it’s learning to let go of control, broadening your vision, or redefining success, these superpowers can help you see change in new ways and develop new responses.
Questions to Consider
- What outdated beliefs about change, control, and success might be holding you or your organization back?
- How do people in your organization currently respond to uncertainty? Are they driven by fear or fueled by trust?
- What changes in your industry are causing the most disruption, and how can you proactively adapt?
- How comfortable are you with ambiguity? What steps can you take to strengthen your ability to lead through the unknown?
- Which Flux Superpower resonates with you most? How can you begin integrating it into your leadership approach today?
