Futures Archetypes by DISCO
Image credit: Marc-Olivier Jodoin
We’ve had some great conversations about our DISCO Archetypes, introduced in the Shaping 2030 and Slow-Change Transformation articles. Now, let’s bring each one to life! Using their unique perspectives to contribute to organisational transformation and flourishing human systems.
1. Futures Thinkers
How they come to life: Futures Thinkers use scenario planning and strategic foresight to guide organisations toward possible futures. Helping leaders anticipate and embrace long-term trends, market shifts, and emerging technologies.
What we can do:
Lead strategic foresight workshops that explore multiple future scenarios.
Implement tools like futures scanning and horizon mapping to prepare for potential industry disruptions.
Guide leadership through risk assessment and long-term planning, ensuring flexibility in operations.
2. Design DJs
How they come to life: Design DJs remix and synthesise elements of organisational systems, designing new combinations that suit evolving business needs.
What we can do:
Craft cross-functional strategies by blending technology, brand, customer experience, and ESG considerations.
Facilitate design workshops to redesign key business systems, with a focus on employee and customer experience.
Help businesses create modular, adaptable frameworks for strategic innovation.
3. Shape Shifters
How they come to life: Shape Shifters adapt to fluid organisational needs and help teams adjust to new roles or structures with ease. They embody flexibility and change.
What we can do:
Support organisational restructuring efforts, ensuring flexibility while maintaining stability.
Train leaders and teams to thrive in adaptive roles and develop the necessary skills for agility.
Coach leadership on how to lead through ambiguity and transformation, particularly during Divisional/Executive Alignment phases.
4. Flow Cultivators
How they come to life: Flow Cultivators focus on creating environments where individuals and teams can achieve states of peak performance and connection. They harness the principles of neuroleadership to align energy, engagement, and purpose, driving collective impact.
What we can do:
Introduce rituals and rhythms that balance focused work with recovery, fostering sustainable productivity and creativity.
Lead workshops on group coherence, promoting relational synchrony and the collective regulation of nervous systems.
Use neuroscience-backed tools to enhance emotional intelligence, decision-making, and team cohesion.
Embed practices like movement, social connection, and reflective pauses into organisational routines to cultivate a thriving, connected workforce.
5. Sensory Architects
How they come to life: Sensory Architects heighten awareness of the human experience within organisational contexts, focusing on well-being and emotional intelligence.
What we can do:
Develop sensory-rich employee engagement initiatives that focus on creating meaningful experiences at work.
Implement human-centered leadership programs that foster empathy, resilience, and emotional well-being.
Enhance the organisational nervous system by focusing on elements like psychological safety, inclusion, and emotional congruence.
6. Storytellers
How they come to life: Storytellers shape the organisational narrative, ensuring alignment between vision, values, and action.
What we can do:
Use storytelling to align leadership and teams around the company’s long-term mission and cultural values.
Help craft compelling narratives for external communication, reflecting bold ambitions and strategic foresight.
Embed storytelling in governance and reporting mechanisms to translate operational success into compelling, human-centric stories.
7. Organisational Dancers
How they come to life: These archetypes move seamlessly between layers of an organisation, facilitating the integration of strategies across all contexts.
What we can do:
Lead cross-functional, collaborative workshops that engage leaders, employees, and stakeholders in coordinated decision-making.
Create rhythm and flow in operations, emphasising congruence between strategic priorities and daily execution.
Help bridge gaps between different organisational divisions and teams, ensuring alignment and smooth transitions during change.
8. Systems Shapers
How they come to life: Systems Shapers understand and optimise interconnected systems, ensuring that all parts of the organisation are deliberately connected.
What we can do:
Conduct systems mapping and analysis to identify areas where operational and strategic systems need alignment.
Create integrated governance structures that connect leadership vision with day-to-day processes.
Implement feedback loops and performance metrics that promote continuous improvement and system harmony.
9. Place Makers (co-designed, impermeant, cultural expression)
How they come to life: Place Makers create spaces—both physical and cultural—that foster inclusion, engagement, and community.
What we can do:
Design inclusive work environments (physical or virtual) that align with the organisation’s culture and values.
Facilitate community-building initiatives that enhance employee engagement and belonging.
Curate experiences and rituals that reinforce a sense of place and stability, even in times of change.
10. Space Technicians (more permanent, function and aesthetics)
How they come to life: Space technicians design the built or virtual structures and there use than enable the org to deliver its strategy, balancing stability with flexibility.
What we can do:
Assist in developing new organisational structures that allow for both stability and adaptability, focusing on sustainable design.
Guide leaders in creating long-term operational plans that align with evolving market conditions.
Align space design (offices, virtual workspaces) with the organisation's future vision and thriving culture principles.
11. Perspectives Seekers
How they come to life: Perspectives Seekers help the organisation shift its viewpoint, encouraging empathy, innovation, and broader strategic insights.
What we can do:
Lead perspective-shifting exercises, encouraging leaders to view the organisation from different stakeholder viewpoints.
Guide leadership through stakeholder engagement processes that uncover hidden needs or opportunities.
Facilitate empathy-based training programs that help teams understand diverse viewpoints, enhancing decision-making and collaboration.
12. Neuro Navigators
How they come to life: Neuro Navigators understand the intricate interplay between human nervous systems and organisational dynamics. They create cultures where regulation, safety, and well-being are foundational, enabling individuals and teams to flourish.
What we can do:
Design trauma-informed workplace cultures that prioritise psychological safety, trust, and belonging.
Facilitate training on self-regulation techniques like breathwork, mindfulness, and somatic practices to optimise team resilience and clarity.
Implement systems that recognise and support employees’ neurobiological needs, creating environments conducive to focus, collaboration, and innovation.
Develop policies and practices to identify and mitigate organisational stressors that hinder peak performance and emotional health.
With Futures Archetypes by DISCO you can ensure your organisation not only navigates transformation, but thrives through deliberate, human-centered approaches, stretching towards possible futures, and integrates the systems to support it all.
If you need to borrow a DISCO Archetype, or to train one up in your business, let us know!