Trista Harris: If You Want Solutions, Stop Loving the Problem

In this milestone 100th episode of The PlayFull Podcast, Kristine Michie closes the Just Transition series in conversation with philanthropic futurist Trista Harris. Together, they offer a masterclass in harnessing imagination, possibility, and joy—even (especially!) in uncertain times. Whether you’re leading a nonprofit, navigating systems change, or simply trying to stay lit from within, this conversation invites you to reclaim your future and your sense of play. Let your perspective—and your strategy—shift.

Key Takeaways:

• Dedicate 5% of your workweek to future-focused thinking so you can stay adaptive and intentional instead of reactive and overwhelmed.
• Start strategic planning by asking what success looks like 30 to 50 years from now to unlock bold, visionary goals untethered from current constraints.
• Replace rigid five-year strategic plans with a rolling three-year plan that gets updated quarterly in response to real-world shifts.
• Practice scenario planning to prepare for multiple plausible futures rather than betting on a single outcome that may never happen.
• Shift from analyzing what’s broken to designing what’s possible—spending time “loving the problem” keeps you stuck in diagnosis instead of progress.
• Use joy, play, and awe to energize your planning processes because emotional engagement builds trust, creativity, and collaboration.
• Lean into collective action over competition during funding or system crises by finding shared goals and resource-pooling opportunities.

"The future is not a big scary thing coming towards us. We create the future with the decisions that we make today." — Trista Harris

"My job as a futurist is not to have a crystal ball and say, "Here's exactly what the future is going to look like." My job is to make people curious about the future and teach them a set of tools they can bring... so they can tell me what's coming next—that expertise really lives in the sector." — Trista Harris

"We encourage people to set aside 5% of their time for the future... During that time, imagine what it would look like in your highest hopes, and what can happen to build towards your highest hopes... instead of just trying to uphold the thing that wasn't working fantastically beforehand." — Trista Harris

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