Futurists are a diverse group
This blog follows on from my table of top futurists. That table discussed predictive skill, but that’s all. Many futurists claim that isn’t their purpose, and that’s fine with me. In fact, I wrote this blog about all the various roles in the futures sector, along with Tracey Follows. Each to their own
Not all futurist roles are the same, and neither are the skills they require. Some demand deep scientific modelling; others rely more on facilitation, narrative construction, or public communication. To better understand these differences, we can break down the kinds of cognitive and emotional intelligence that various foresight roles typically involve.
But why bother? Well, understanding the diversity of futurist roles is essential if we want the field to remain intellectually honest and useful. Not all futurists do the same kind of work. Some are scientific modellers; others are storytellers, facilitators, consultants, or trend analysts. These roles differ not just in topic, but in the kinds of intelligence they draw upon. Different people might find their skills more appropriate to different roles. Describing these differences is not about ranking people —it’s about clarifying what kinds of cognitive and emotional tools are used in different parts of the field. It’s about defining expectations and giving credit where it’s due. Just as we wouldn’t expect a brilliant scientist to also be a world-class entertainer—or vice versa—we shouldn’t treat all “futurists” as interchangeable. If the term is to mean anything, we need to distinguish between its many flavours.
This framework doesn’t assess individual futurists but rather explores the common skill demands associated with different professional orientations in the futures space. Many people are overqualified for their roles in some respects, and admittedly a few are underqualified and struggle, so it isn’t at all about individuals, but about roles and their needs.
Definitions: IQ and EQ in Context
IQ (Intelligence Quotient)
In this context, IQ refers to abstract reasoning, systems thinking, pattern recognition, and conceptual problem-solving. It’s not a measure of academic success or qualifications, but of how much cognitive complexity a role demands.
High IQ (130+): Strong ability to model complex systems, anticipate multi-dimensional cascading effects, and reason beyond established frameworks.
Medium IQ (110–130): Comfortable with structured complexity; may operate well within known domains or methods.
Low IQ (<110): Limited abstraction; more reliant on intuition, scripting, or familiarity.
EQ (Emotional Intelligence)
Rather than treat EQ as a single attribute, we divide it into three components:
Cognitive EQ – The capacity to read and interpret emotional and social cues, often linked to verbal and social intelligence.
Performative EQ – The ability to project socially acceptable emotional responses (e.g., empathy cues, warmth, relatability), whether sincere or performative.
Moral EQ – The inclination to apply emotional insight with the intent to protect, support, or empower others. This reflects ethical orientation, not social skill.
Different roles may require different balances of these components.
Examples of EQ and IQ Interplay
A strategic foresight expert may need to interpret institutional behaviours (Cognitive EQ), work well with clients (Performative EQ), and advise ethically (Moral EQ).
A scientific forecaster may require little interaction but deep abstraction ability and principled reasoning.
A charismatic trend analyst might thrive on stage with high performative EQ, but have limited capacity or need for deeper modelling.
A charlatan may have excellent performative EQ and some cognitive EQ—but little interest in using either constructively.
What This Table Measures
This matrix is not about individual merit or career value—it’s simply a way to clarify the underlying skill profiles required by each type of role. Someone could be brilliant and choose a simple role, or take on a complex role and struggle. This tool is about the roles, not the people.
But don’t be a charlatan, or an astrologer.
The table probably exaggerates the low IQs assigned to these groups, because I don’t like them and think they damage the futures field by tagging along, but a few are actually very talented, maybe just at the wrong things. I often used to say that IMHO there are two main types: the fools and the charlatans. The fools believe it themselves; the charlatans know it’s nonsense but sell it anyway. There may be other groups, but that’s how it looks to me.
By way of light-hearted evidence that it is all nonsense, even though I have no idea who you are or when you will read this, I offer the following mystic-astrologer-style lottery prediction for this week:
I see a plumber in Birmingham and an electrician from London, and a young man called Bob. They will all win prizes. Also, your stars show that you will soon hear from someone you haven’t seen for a long time. How about some graphology and palm reading?
Hold a sample of your handwriting up to the screen, and then put your palm on the screen so that I can feel your psychic harmonics, all things are connected through all time at the quantum level so it will work just fine, have faith.
Ah yes, it’s all coming through now! I can tell from your vibration that you have quite a good sense of humour, that you have an inner artistic streak, you are a responsible driver and your ambient energy frequency shows that although you are usually quite sociable, you occasionally like to have time to yourself. But your fourth and seventh chakras are slightly out of balance, making your conscious self out of harmony with your heart, so you have probably had a tiff with someone you really care for recently, and although you are usually caring and creative, you have recently had a few periods when you have felt slightly drained.
How’s that? There is around a 70% chance or more that it works for you now, whenever you read it. If it doesn’t work, are you sure, perhaps your psychic aura is just concealing it from your conscious mind to protect you. Come back next week and try tying a red string around your wrist, it might work then, and get your crystal re-tuned, its energy field is probably out of alignment. Practitioners in these areas rely on the fact that if they get it right even occasionally, some mugs will fall for it, remembering the successes and forget all the failures in between. Please don’t be one of them. This stuff is all complete nonsense!