The science of a good day is also the science of a better future.

This week’s episode of How We Future with Lisa Kay Solomon features Caroline Webb: leadership coach, behavioral science expert, McKinsey Senior Advisor, and bestselling author of How to Have a Good Day.

Caroline’s work sits at the intersection of neuroscience, psychology, and practical leadership. She shares how we can prepare for chaotic times and gain agency by understanding the ways our brains handle uncertainty, stress, and decision-making.

You’ll learn:

• Why attention is your most precious resource
• A simple three-part framework (“Know. Be. Do”) that helps leaders navigate chaos
• How naming what you’re feeling instantly reduces stress
• Why imagining a future scenario trains your brain to respond better in real life
• Why realistic optimism, not blind positivity, is the mindset leaders need right now

This conversation is a practical, hopeful guide for anyone trying to lead with more clarity, calm, and positivity. Caroline shows that the skills we need to navigate the future aren’t abstract. They’re learnable, repeatable, and rooted in how we manage our minds today.

Links from the show:

• Learn more about Caroline and her projects on her website
• Buy the book: How To Have a Good Day by Caroline Webb
• Take Caroline’s LinkedIn Learning Courses: Science-based Habits for Modern Leadership and How to Have a Great Day at Work
• Link to HBR Chapter: Guide to Dealing with Conflict by Caroline Webb
• Even more resources from Caroline Webb to help you thrive!
• Psychologist Podcast with Scott Barry Kauffman

What if the future makes more sense when we treat it like a game?

In this episode of How We Future, Lisa Kay Solomon is joined by Jeffrey Rogers—futures facilitator, lifelong learner, and co-founder of PROJECTORY—to explore how play, prospection, and curiosity help people prepare for inevitable uncertainty. Jeff is an expert at designing experiences, workshops, and games that help leaders feel the future, not just think about it.

Together, Lisa and Jeff unpack why the future is “too important to leave to the futurists,” and how all of us can build their capacity to imagine, experiment, and act with more confidence.

Jeff shares stories from youth leadership trips, corporate workshops, and global facilitation work that reveal how people learn best when they’re invited to experiment, reflect, and play their way into new futures.

You’ll learn:

• Why prospection, or an ability to imagine forward, is a superpower we’re all naturally equipped with
• How games create low-stakes environments for exploring high-stakes ideas
• How simple imaginative activities (like interviewing a child about their future) promote agency and perspective
• Why designing your future self is just as important as designing future strategies
• Jeff’s favorite books and games, so that YOU can put his great ideas into action

This episode will encourage you to stay open, curious, and willing to try things that might not work (yet). Jeff’s approach makes the future feel expansive, collaborative, and wonderfully human.

Links from the show:

• Chair Zombie Game
• Gamestorming (practices by David Gray and Sunni Brown)
• Hal Hirshfield’s work at UCLA
• PROJECTORY

Bonus! Jeff’s recommendations for diving into futures practices:

• How to Future by Scott Smith and Madeline Ashby – an accessible toolkit for futures facilitation
• Timefulness by Marcia Bjornerud – a geologist's perspective on thinking across vastly different time scales
• Borne: A Novel by Jeff VanderMeer – science fiction that builds deep empathy for non-human entities (and yes, he cried at the end)

Is trust the foundation of the future?

In this episode of How We Future, Lisa Kay Solomon sits down with Zoë Jenkins, Director of Civic Trust and Recruitment at Civics Unplugged, to talk about how the next generation is reimagining democracy from the ground up.

Zoë’s journey started early—she joined Civics Unplugged as a high school fellow, went on to write her own job description fresh out of college, and now leads programs helping young people build community through civic trust, a term you’ll learn all about in this episode.

Zoë and Lisa cover:

• Why democracy depends on trusting your neighbors, not just voting with them
• How young people are turning frustration into innovation
• The difference between attachment and affection, and why it matters
• How flattening hierarchies and “breaking the model” unlocks leadership at every age

This episode is a call to action for anyone who wants to strengthen the bonds that hold our communities—and our futures—together. Zoë reminds us that democracy isn’t just a system. It’s a daily practice of showing up, listening, and believing in one another.

Links from the show:

• Zoë’s TEDx Talk on “Saving the World in an Empathy Crisis”
• CBS This Morning segment featuring Zoë and Generation Change
• Learn more about Zoë on her website
• Zoë’s partnership with Aerie to speak about “How to Contribute to Social Justice”
• Article from More in Common about the role of sports fans in democracy

How do we reclaim our imagination as a force for freedom?

You might know Ahmed Best from his role as Jar Jar Binks in the Star Wars universe– He is also the creator of AfroRithms from the Future and a lifelong champion of imagination as liberation. From the streets of the South Bronx to the worlds of the Jedi, Ahmed has spent his life proving that creativity can rewrite what’s possible.

You'll learn:

• Why imagination isn’t a luxury—it’s a right
• How watching the birth of hip-hop in the 70’s taught him that the future can be built from nothing
• The origin of AfroRithms from the Future and the joy of collective play
• What Afrofuturism reveals about freedom, history, and self-determination
• How his Jedi character, Kelleran Beq, teaches that The Force is love

Ahmed and Lisa trace a throughline from ancient Egypt to Dynamic Land to the Star Wars galaxy, showing that the power to future is in all of us.

This conversation is a reminder that joy, creativity, and imagination are the real tools of freedom—and that the best way to shape the future is to play it into being.

Read Lisa's thoughts on the episode on the How We Future Substack.

Links from the show:

• Learn about Afrofuturism from Ahmed's AfroRithm Futures Group
• Buy Ahmed's game: AfroRithms from the Future
• The Long Now Foundation Talk: When is Wakanda: Imagining Afrofutures
• The Long Now Foundation: Feel the Future with Ahmed Best
• New York Times Article: The Actor Who Played Jar Jar Binks is Proud of his Star Wars Legacy
• Sneak Peak of Marvel Comics: Jar Jar, written by Ahmed Best
• Disney’s Lego Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy Series

When you celebrate failure loudly enough, you stop fearing it.

In this episode, Lisa sits down with Dan Klein, improviser, Stanford lecturer, and master of helping people unlock creativity through play. Dan has spent two decades teaching improv at Stanford, and his work goes far beyond the stage—it's about listening, adapting, and building something together in real time.

You'll discover:

• How celebrating failure (loudly and cheerfully) can transform teams
• The "oh, good" principle: finding opportunity in whatever comes your way
• Why your job is to make your partner look like a genius
• How practicing flexibility in low-stakes moments prepares you for high-stakes life

Dan shares wisdom from improv legends Patricia Ryan Madson and Keith Johnstone, revealing how accepting offers—from others, from the world, and from yourself—creates connection and possibility. Whether it's a mistake, an unexpected curveball, or just life throwing you something new, improvisers are trained to see it all as creative fuel.

This conversation is about building resilience, reducing loneliness, and designing a life where everyone wins. If you've ever wished you could get more comfortable with the unknown, Dan shows you how practice, presence, and generosity can change everything.

Read Lisa's thoughts on the episode on the How We Future Substack.

Links from the show:

Two books in Dan’s improv classes syllabus

• Patricia Ryan, Improv Wisdom: Don’t Prepare, Just Show Up
• Keith Johnstone, Impro Improvisation and the Theatre

More about Dan

• Dan’s Stanford profile

What if the key to leading better isn't doing more—it's getting clearer about what you can actually control?

In this first episode of How We Future with Lisa Kay Solomon, Lisa is joined by leadership coach Rae Ringel to talk about showing up authentically in “swirly” times. Rae has spent decades helping C-suite leaders and teams become their best selves, and she's sharing the tools that actually work.

You'll learn:

• Why "for now is not forever" is the mantra you need right now
• How to spot the unarticulated request behind every complaint
• Simple reframes that can change your entire day
• Why spontaneity favors the practiced mind

Rae brings warmth, wisdom, and practical strategies to help you focus on what you can control. From teaching at Georgetown to coaching leaders as president of the Ringel Group, she's mastered the art of helping people show up better. Whether you're stressed about uncertainty, leading a team, or trying to be more present in daily life, this conversation will remind you: there's so much more in your control than you think.

Read Lisa's thoughts on the episode on the How We Future Substack.

Links from the show:

• HBR Mastering the Art of the Request
• HBR Plan a Better Meeting with Design Thinking
• HBR Please stop using these phrases in meetings
• HBR 5 Pandemic-Era Lessons on Leadership Through Dramatic Change (co-authored with Lisa Kay Solomon)
• Rae’s new facilitation certification for professionals program is going live soon at UVA!
• More about Rae: The Ringel Group: Where Leaders Turn
• Bonus: Learn about Camp Robindel for Girls (because that’s where Lisa and Rae met and where magic happens)

What if the future doesn’t have to be something that just happens to you?

Welcome to How We Future with Lisa Kay Solomon, where we flip the script on how we think about tomorrow. Drawing on 25 years as an educator, author, and strategic designer at Stanford's d.school and beyond, Lisa makes a compelling case: we don't have to just brace for the future. We get a say in how it unfolds.

Coming up on the show:

• An NCAA-winning coach on being a good teammate off the court
• A Star Wars Jedi master on using the force to stay hopeful
• Other amazing changemakers who believe our choices today genuinely shape tomorrow

This isn't about blind optimism or ignoring reality. It's about recognizing that we're not passive bystanders- we get a say.

How We Future is for you if you're:

• Stuck between anxiety about tomorrow and excitement for what could be
• Leading a team, building a career, or simply making sense of rapid change
• Ready to think differently about what's possible

Each week, Lisa brings her signature energy to joyful, curious conversations packed with actionable insights. Ready to stop waiting for the future to arrive and start creating it instead? Let's explore how we future, together.