CAFE LifeThe Art Of Facilitation
CAFE LifeA look at why one key characteristic consistently ranks last – and why that needs to change.
Over the years of working with organisations to develop high performing teams, I’ve come to expect a curious pattern. Our process focuses on seven key characteristics of high performing teams, each grounded in world-class research and real-world experience. Toward the end of the workshop, leaders are asked to rank these characteristics, strongest to weakest, using tangible cards.
It’s always a revealing exercise. Ranking forces clarity. It pushes us beyond the default, surface-level thinking and gets people to really consider where their team stands. But what’s most striking is the card that consistently lands in seventh place… the bottom of the pile.
Want to guess what it is?
It’s being future fit.
To be a sustainable high performing team in today’s world, future fitness isn’t optional. In the past, this mindset and characteristic would have been less essential. Yes, change has always been present. But not at the pace and complexity we’re seeing today. Now, with exponential advancements in technologies across every sector, our ability to adapt – to become truly future-ready – can make or break a team’s success
And yet, it’s the area we consistently neglect.
You might push back. You might say, “But we are focused on the future.” And you’re probably right. To an extent. Most organisations I work with have clear goals, aspirations, and even five-year strategies in place. But here’s the key distinction: future focus is not the same as future fitness.
It’s one thing to articulate your company vision. It’s another to cultivate the mindset, capacity, and resilience required to thrive in that future.
Think of retirement. It’s one thing to save the money. It’s another to have the health to enjoy it.
Being future fit requires a shift in mindset. Sometimes a complete rewire – other times, just a more intentional focus. It means asking braver questions, reframing how we work, and reimagining what truly matters.
Here are a few foundational mindsets we encourage organisations to build:
1. Tomorrow won’t look like today.
It seems obvious, right? But as Bridgewater founder Ray Dalio notes, “We often incorrectly assume a future that is just slightly different from the present.”
We think of the future as just the next upgrade. But the real future often brings disruption – entire industries reinvented, sometimes overnight. We need to get comfortable with the idea of dancing with the big changes.
Action: Facilitate future-focused conversations in your organisation. Frame them around curiosity, not fear.
2. Elevate the ‘important, not urgent’.
Most corporate environments are wired for short-termism: month-ends, quarter-ends, results now. And while this is necessary, being future-ready means carving out space for what matters long-term – like capabilities, mindset, and growth.
Ask the hard questions:
Action: Make space for conversations around exponential change. Let curiosity drive imagination.
3. Anchor your team in a worthy cause.
Simon Sinek calls it playing the ‘infinite game’, where the goal isn’t just to win but to matter. Project Aristotle, Google’s deep dive into high performing teams, found that impact and meaning are core drivers of engagement.
When the journey gets hard (and it will), knowing your work matters gives people the resilience to keep going.
As Carl Elsner, CEO of Victorinox, puts it:
“We do not think in quarters. We think in generations.”
Action: Facilitate conversations that define your organisation’s long-term contribution. Why does your work matter 10 years from now?
4. Teach resilience like it’s a skill – because it is.
At CAFE Life, we created a resource during COVID called Resilience in a Box. It was originally for ourselves, an attempt to distill the mindset and practices needed to face adversity.
What we learned is that resilience is deeply practical. It’s teachable. And it’s a crucial part of being future fit. This product is now available for purchase and has helped many teams discover how to be resilient, change ready and future fit.
As psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi wrote:
“No trait is more useful or more essential for survival – and for improving the quality of life – than the ability to transform adversity into an enjoyable challenge.”
Action: Invest in resilience training. Build habits that help your people face change with strength, not fear.
Future fitness is not just a characteristic, it’s a capability. And if your team consistently ranks it last, it’s worth asking: what’s it costing us?
This isn’t about perfection. It’s about preparation.
Not about knowing the future, but being ready to meet it.
We run a Future Fit Process designed to build these mindsets in practical, meaningful ways. If you’d like to find out more, reach out. We'd love to talk.
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