What I’m Doing, Now

Inspired by Derek Sivers’ NowNowNow

“Time is the most undefinable yet paradoxical of things; the past is gone, the future is not come, and the present becomes the past even while we attempt to define it, and, like the flash of lightning, at once exists and expires.” — Charles Caleb Colton, English cleric, writer and collector. 1780–1832. Photo by Josh Newton.

I love the elegant simplicity of a regularly updated Now page, in parallel with the more traditional About page, so here’s what I’m working on now (updated May 2021).

Current Big Question

I love questions. A good question inspires a complex answer. A great question provokes complex thinking.

My current overriding question that keeps me awake at night is:

“How do we channel the latent energy from grassroots movements striving for a better world, into something more strategic?”

Current Projects

I’m currently in stealth mode, pulling together networks, cogitating and deciding where best to invest my time and energy. The only project I’m publicly aligning with is Society 4.0.

Society 4.0

Society 4.0 is the meta-community that recognizes the urgent need to redesign the value systems, reward systems, and social contracts underpinning modern society.

• Society 4.0 defined
• Society 4.0 taxonomies

Ongoing

Fatherhood

I’ve run multi-million dollar projects with multi-national teams all over the world. The most complex: 100 Indian and Taiwanese developers (based in Taipei and multiple locations in India), 5 American product specialists, an Australian-born Filipino project manager — all led by a South African. Go figure.

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None of these projects were as complex as raising a now 7-year-old daughter. I fail every day, but I’m getting better at it (single fatherhood, not failing). Here’s my big picture view of what I’ve got myself into:

Imagineering a World Where Women Thrive

Marketing & Technology Consulting, Mentoring & Advising

I work with very select visionaries, tech startups and change agents, usually with a focus on empathic technology, enhancement of humanness and the personal data economy.

Writing

I love writing — helps get my otherwise muddled thoughts into a somewhat cohesive framework. That said, I haven’t written anything in over 2 years — just too much else going one.

Earlier writing includes Postcards from 2035, a faction (mix between fact and fiction) and it’s inspired by my real-life daughter, who will turn 21 in 2035. These are short stories from her telling us what her life is like in an entirely new civilisation.

Hi, I’m Gracey. Let me tell you about your future.

Current Reading

I usually read voraciously. Of late, I haven’t found much to inspire me — let me know what I should be reading!

My all-time most recommended books are here (more recent) and here (slightly older):

The Best Books Ever Written

Past Big Questions

• “What does it take to birth an entirely new human operating system?”
• “Can a game be used as a Trojan Horse to birth new worldviews, new cultures and new civilisations?”
• “Can a nation’s culture — or even the world’s — be shaped by a skilled conductor, where social activists and technologists are the orchestra players?”