Skip to main content

I use Strategic Foresight to capture and understand movements happening today that present possibility for tomorrow.

Forthcoming is a space I am building to have honest conversations, share in curiosities, and present my musings on Strategic Foresight.

I aim for this to be a place where others will not only learn about the power of Strategic Foresight but come to appreciate what it can reveal when put into practice.

I hope that a fresh and transparent perspective finds a way to serve you and your organization.

As with most things in life, I believe that community and connection strengthens this work. Please reach out if you find yourself feeling curious.

– Elaine Tait

FORESIGHT OUTCOMES

I have helped deliver Growth Strategies rooted in Strategic Foresight from the earliest days of UPLAND. Envisioning the future for clients is the foundation of what we do. Experience our results with me. There is so much power in having a clearer picture of where you are going.

CONNECTION POINTS

Connect with me at various speaking engagements and events throughout the year. Connect with me during Webinars I will be hosting. Connect with me to debate my musings. And please, connect with me if you are simply curious about what I have learned (and have yet to learn).

FORESIGHT MUSINGS

This work is a true passion of mine. I often feel like my wiring beautifully led me right to it. So, establishing a better understanding of what is happening today that can shape the future is on my mind, always. Enjoy exploring my musings and perspectives from Foresight 101, to daily discoveries, to my deepest questions, concerns, and hopes.

INSPIRING ARTIFACTS

I gain equal inspiration from an insightful datapoint revealed in a Global Study as I do from a singular, powerful sentiment that makes its way to the top of my Reddit homepage. Explore these inspiring artifacts – from powerful words, visuals, movements, studies, and more – to see what is rousing me at any given moment.

A little background

I am a seeker.

In all aspects of my life, I seek knowledge, connection, and understanding. I possess an innate desire to uncover newness and see the world through the eyes of others. It has been a part of me from an early age, and it has fueled my professional journey and outcomes.

This drive to seek guided the first decade of my career with Johnson & Johnson Consumer products (now Kenvue). It led me to pursue a full-time MBA at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business where I learned how to go deeper, ask more, and understand why.

Being a seeker has served me everyday since my MBA in my work as a Growth, Brand, and Innovation Strategist. Becoming Head of Foresight in 2022 was simply landing where I was always meant to.

Connect with me HERE | Learn more about UPLAND HERE

What I am reading

(and fanatically sharing with everyone I know)

Together

A core input and curiosity in our Strategic Foresight work revolves around studying and capturing shifts in societal sentiment. By mapping and tracking these shifts we can more deeply empathize with others who thrive and struggle in ways that are unique from our own lived experiences. And, in this work a core movement and opportunity that is regularly revisited centers around human connection, specifically how humanity’s need for meaningful connection drives the decisions we make, the solutions we seek, the platforms we engage with (or lurk within), and the efficiencies we enable to spend our leisure time where and with whom matter most.

I have yet to find a more holistic overview of the power and importance of human connection in modern life. Vivek Murthy, author and nineteenth Surgeon General of the US, reaches broad in his coverage of the importance of connection in work, neighborhoods, marriage, parenting, and community service. But, he also – very powerfully – shares the intimate stories of individuals who found healing, acceptance, and redemption in community.

In our qualitative research at UPLAND we have also found that loneliness persists as a key driver of many consumer decisions. Our own work combined with Murthy’s robust coverage of various research studies on the health and mental impacts of loneliness showcase why better ways of building community will remain a critical future opportunity for all organizations to solve in the manner most authentically aligned to their visions and missions.