Speculation is orientation

Why I’m expanding from work commentary into signals, stories, and imagination.

For anyone who’s been subscribing here for a while, the last couple of pieces probably came out of left field. It’s not by accident, I’m trying to stretch the frame of what I write about…and how I write it.

The future’s coming at us fast. Maybe too fast for us to process. Sometimes we’ll want to hold on to familiar things. Examine the tools, routines, and stories that can help us feel grounded. But speculation has its own value. I don’t mean prediction - we’re useless at that - but orientation. It helps us to adjust to changes, rehearse what different possible futures might look like, or recognize nearer signals of what’s emerging around us already.

I started here writing about things tied to work. Quite literally, this site was “design systems and things,” professional commentary and reflection on my experiences. That writing still matters to me, and I’m still going to be pursuing it. But I also want room for different kinds of exploration, writing about what might be, as well as what is.

So sometimes I’ll be writing on those more grounded topics, based on my work, expertise, and experience. Sometimes I’ll be fanciful and imaginative. I’ll be thinking sideways about what’s possible. They’re both outlets I need, as well as the spaces in between.

I’m consciously building that here. Field notes that try to explain different fragments of the present. Signal essays to try to connect hints of what’s next into some larger patterns. And somewhere for stories of imagination about futures that might never exist.

I’m not looking to predict or prescribe. But I do want to test some ideas and tease at some threads. In its earlier days the internet was a place for that kind of speculation. Since then it’s been poisoned by cynicism and commodification. Maybe I can use this place to practice it on a smaller scale.

If the future’s coming faster than we can keep up, it’s not indulgent to speculate. The more possibilities we’ve considered, the more resilient we might be when reality doesn’t quite match up.

Anyway, this might be a reset, or just a widening of the aperture. I’ll keep writing what I notice about the world of work and technology. It still excites me…perhaps more than it has for a while. But you can also expect experimentation with more imaginative writing, and letting them blend where they may.

While I’m not trying to be right about the future, I’d love to be more ready for it. This is where I’ll be doing that.