Joel Barker is a futurist who has been on the cutting edge of ideas for more than 25 years. He was the first to popularize the concept of Paradigm shifts in 1975 and strategic vision in 1989. Most recently he is redefining the process of innovation and has developed a set of strategic exploration tools for discovering the long-term implications of change.

Joel is one of the most sought after speakers in the world on the topic of change and vision. Formerly director of the Futures Studies Department of the Science Museum of Minnesota from 1975 to 1978, he has since spoken to almost one million people around the world.

His best selling videos, several of which are available in 20 languages, have been called by Industry Week Magazine, one of the most influential series of programs in the business world. His paradigm film was just translated into Russian in 2006.

His book, Future Edge, was listed as one of the most influential business books of 1992 by the prestigious Library Journal. He has an honorary Ed.D. in visionary leadership from St. Mary's University in Minnesota and another from Concordia University. In 2006, he was named one of the 100 most distinguished educators from the University of Minnesota's College of Education for the past 100 years.

His most recent book, Five Regions of the Future, co-authored with Dr. Scott W. Erickson was published in June of 2005.

• Innovation at the Verge: How Your Organization Can Create Better Ideas Faster! - Innovation is finally being appreciated for its ongoing importance in every aspect of business and society. Joel Barker has found a new source for innovation in the 21st century. In this presentation he will explain how to find, explore and use this new territory of innovation. Illustrating his theory with real-life examples from many industries around the world, Joel will show how Mother Nature has been using this territory for over 500 million years and how it works for humans.
  
  
• Five Regions of the Future: A New Way to Look at Technology - Based on the book of the same name by Joel Barker and Dr. Scott Erickson, this presentation offers a fundamentally new way to look at the evolution of technology. Did you know there are three shades of Green? If your company is looking into sustainable technology, you will need to understand the difference. Do you know what "Human Tech" is all about? If you are operating in the field of medicine, you will need to know. This presentation will give you a whole new way to catalog your own technologies and those of your competitors.
  
  
• Leading in the 21st Century: New Ways, New Tools, New Results - Key elements for being a 21st century leader are very different from the 20th century. Among the differences will be a better understanding of emerging technology and trends, understanding how improved productivity is a key to world competition, new methodologies for anticipating unintended consequences (both short term and long term) and a deeper understanding of the power and leverage of vision. In this customizable presentation, Joel will provide you with new ways of thinking about the future, new information for innovations and trends and new leadership skills for improved organizational vision.
  
  
• Finding the Future Faster - How can I get more information about the future in a more timely fashion without hiring a special staff to do it? With just a couple of changes in the information gathering structure, you can engage your associates in simple systems that will increase the amount of useful information gathered significantly at almost no added cost. Using "Strategic Exploration Tools," Joel Barker shows you how to understand the difference between strategic exploration and strategic planning. Using the "Possibilities Cone" framework for understanding, he shows how new ideas are brought to reality.
  
  
• The Power of Vision: An Update - There is a lot more to understanding vision than just what Jim Collins has written about. Joel Barker, who introduced the importance of vision to corporate America starting in 1985 shows you the qualitative side of vision that all leaders need to know:
  • How to quickly assess someone's attitude toward the future using the Polak Grid
  • How hope and vision are intertwined
  • How the mass media influences your vision of the future depending on your culture
  • How to inoculate your people with long term hope