Futures Lab: For Teams and Individuals
April 15 and 16, 2026 // Fort Worth, TX
Join Leadership+Design for a trip to the future.
Reframe the past, engage the present, and design for the future.
Over two engaging, interactive days at Fort Worth Country Day School, participants in this program will cultivate their presence as optimistic futurists. Working in teams, they will practice the habits, skills, and mindsets needed to create a preferred future – bringing tools back to their school.
We will time travel to 2037, using the signals of today to build out possible future contexts. We will imagine how schools might adapt and evolve to meet the needs, address the challenges, and leverage the opportunities of these unexplored futures. We will connect with other future-focused educators and generate a shared sense of optimism about our ability to exert agency and become the school we want to be.
The Program
Futurists don’t predict the future, so don’t expect any crystal balls or mediums at this program. Do expect to walk away with a toolkit for futurist thinking and new ways of thinking about the future of your school – not as just a better version of your school today, but a school that is relevant, adaptable, and designed for the students of tomorrow.
Topics Include:
Time Travel to 2037 (metaphorically)
Why Thinking Like a Futurist is a Critical Skill for Leaders
Futurist Skills: Signal Hunting, Episodic Future Thinking, World Building, and the Futures Wheel
Becoming Good Ancestors
Identifying Individual and Organizational Agency In a Rapidly Changing World
Bringing Futurist Thinking To Your School
Who Should Come?
This program is designed for school teams of three (3) to six (6) individuals who can come and learn together and bring back their learning to their schools. We’ve designed this experience with an incentive for team attendance because we believe that building shared knowledge among a group creates critical mass for these ideas and builds shared understanding, easing adoption.
Individuals may also attend. If so, they will be assigned to a mixed team during our two days together.
Teams might include the following:
A team of department chairs
A senior leadership team
A group of teachers
A team of board members
A team of division directors and deans
A completely mixed group of educators and board members from your school
Individual members of any of the above groups.
Schools may send multiple teams.
$3,750 for 3-6 people
A team with a shared experience, language, and toolkit eases the path to adoption at your school.
$1,300 for Individuals
Be an early adopter bringing futurist thinking to your community.
What is Futurist Thinking?
We’ve spent a year writing about futurist thinking and its application to schools and school leadership. Get a taste of our thinking by clicking on the button below and scrolling towards older posts.
Location and Hotel
Location, Transportation Options and Parking:
Fort Worth Country Day is our home for this event. As a Leadership and Design client that has used futures thinking with the board and leadership team – as well as one of the nation's leading independent schools – its spacious campus will make a perfect location for this event.
The flagship Dallas Fort Worth (DFW) airport has direct flights to major airports in the United States and throughout the Western hemisphere. The region’s other airport, Dallas Love Field (DAL), is a hub for Southwest Airlines, increasing the range of convenient options.
The best way to access the Fort Worth Country Day campus is by car, and free parking will be available on site. Participants staying at the nearby Residence Inn may be able to arrange carpools, and rideshare apps are also an option.
Hotels:
We have not reserved a room block for this program, but we have provided a list of hotels that are near Fort Worth Country Day school.
Residence Inn by Marriott Fort Worth Southwest
Approximately 1 mile from school; adjacent to restaurants and a Whole Foods
Average $200/night
Homewood Suites by Hilton Fort Worth West at Cityview
Approximately 1.5 miles from school
Average $200/night
Hyatt Place Fort Worth Cityview
Approximately 1.5 miles from school
Average $125/night
Cancelation and Refund Policy
Cancellation Policy:
L+D reserves the right to cancel this seminar if there is insufficient enrollment or if the situation regionally or nationally changes due to pandemics or any other other notable event. In this unlikely event, participants will be notified well in advance of the institute and given a full refund. L+D, however, cannot be responsible for any financial obligation incurred by participants because of travel cancellations.
Refund Policy:
When requested in writing, L+D will refund registration fees as follows: 75% of registration fee when requested 45 days or more from first day of the seminar; 50% of registration fee when requested 31–44 days from first day of the seminar; no refund within 30 days of the first day of the seminar.