Transmission 24.4: WORLDBUILDING COLLECTION: AGENDAS
Here come insights and behind-the-scenes from our futures practice! A glimpse into our uncommon perspective and approach, to keep updated or to know what to expect when time traveling with us.
Summer is a concept season at The Time Travel Agency:
Worldbuilding for adaptation.
In each broadcast of The Time Travel Transmissions two sections:
Worldbuilding Collection, our latest tools for worldbuilding.
Hyperlink Stroll, a chill summer activity inspired by The Wiki Game.
Concerned with the question 'How does Worldbuilding fit in a process of adaptation?' we’ll look into the worldbuilding that happens in our futuremaking.
What if the process of adaptation was pleasurable? The playful nature of worldbuilding is an opportunity to feel so– worldbuilding processes and tools teach how to access creativity and pleasure especially when we are stressed. What if by stepping into a future world we felt good about where things are going?
Our Nordic experiments embrace play and social participation while our American experiments focus on implementing, taking risk, and adapting fast. When play culture meets adaptation culture, there’s a lot to learn from each other.
Like open-heart surgery, making futures is invasive, yet our clients work from the assumption that their organization is going to make it.
Worldbuilding is a stage in our process that allows futures to be explored.
We make worlds so our clients feel what it’s like to live in and affect those worlds;
to feel agency.
These are behind the scenes of our most recent worldbuilding tools,
developed between Sweden and California this year
for organizations envisioning how to move forward.
Here are the most recognized stages of our process:
Inside Worldbuilding is 'Agendas'
TOOL 4: AGENDAS
WHAT ‘AGENDAS’ IS
AGENDAS is a tool that comes all the way from early school days, as they were (in some countries) initially designed to assist students to keep track of assignments, appointments, and important dates. However, according to some users, those agendas often became a source of added stress, becoming a nemesis for children rather than a helpful tool. This sensation might have followed us as adults.
Amidst the struggles of maintaining an organized agenda, a fascinating idea emerged– the notion of agendas as a form of rebellion against this system of absolute organization! This new perspective helped us envision agendas as miniature time travel machines, allowing glimpses into the past or future, regardless of what had happened or had to happen.
What is curious about time traveling into our own lives? What juicy secrets and hidden plans have you held within pages of you agenda? How do you interact with past versions of yourself?
Agendas is a unique form of temporal exploration that focuses on personal timelines. By accessing specific dates and moments within their own lives, users of Agendas at The Time Travel Agency can observe their past decisions, experiences, and interactions from a fresh perspective. Then, we bring it all into the relevant worldbuilding.
This form of time travel also offers an opportunity for self-reflection and personal growth. Our travelers can revisit pivotal moments, learn from past actions, and gain insights into their own development over time. Agendas becomes a tool for introspection– enabling us to reassess past choices, explore alternative paths not taken, and perhaps even make subtle adjustments to future trajectories based on newfound understanding.
THE PLOT TWIST OF ‘AGENDAS’
However amazing, this unique time-traveling capability comes with a twist! Instead of transporting travelers to pleasant experiences, Agendas possess a peculiar tendency to take them to inconvenient or frustrating moments, such as only allowing folks to time travel to three Tuesdays ago. The act of placing that little ribbon on a date becomes a means of triggering these temporal leaps.
Furthermore, the unruly nature of Agendas becomes apparent when their ribbons inadvertently fall or get misplaced, resulting in accidental journeys through time. Dates like December 31st to January 1st may become intertwined, creating a sense of nihilism (as reported by some travelers) if one fails to pay attention. This aspect highlights the need for careful attention to detail when handling the Agendas, as they possess the potential to disrupt one's life or lead to unexpected outcomes.
Regardless (or because!) of their plot twist, Agendas has become one of our most intriguing tools that blend organization and temporal manipulation; and their propensity for unexpected journeys and the potential for accidental temporal shifts that at times generate great relief. This is a tool that adds an exciting layer of randomness to the worldbuilding experience.
We even made a film about it, where world-wide travelers recorded themselves reading from their Agendas to inspire a new crew of travelers in Sweden:
A question or two for ‘AGENDAS’: Amidst all the exhaustion and countless tasks you bear witness to, what keeps you motivated? How do you manage to persist in organizing our lives despite the weariness?"
“Well, I might be exhausted, but I'm committed to being the guardian of your schedules. My unwavering dedication to keeping your appointments and secret meetings stems from the satisfaction I get when everything actually falls perfectly into place. Besides, quite often, a strong cup of coffee finds its way onto my pages, giving me a temporary boost of energy."
A chill summer activity inspired by The Wiki Game for those taking it easier this season: in each broadcast, three links creatively related to worldbuilding, to hop from one to another in a breezy digital stroll.
Calliope Musicals - Fear This Body understood as a band of aliens who moved to Earth and are sharing their experience about having these bodies
Ritual Kitchen & Fanfare: Music for Toys and Household Objects
On the next transmission: the THE PLAY tool and more Hyperlink Strolling. See you in two weeks!
And on LinkedIn and Instagram: MOVING DAY, a storyworld we built using IMPACT: Learning Edition, a game (from fellow inventors KnowledgeWorks in Pittsburgh) that ignites deep and systemic conversations about the future of learning, which we angled at the future of a city’s garbage economy.