Testimonials
What our clients say about us:
“When we engaged Emergent Futures to work with us on our strategic planning processes we were a little uncertain about how the process would go. It turned out that while we did not get what we originally thought we wanted, we got exactly what we needed. Because they shaped their approach to fit the organisation’s needs and were willing to stand up and challenge the way we did things we now have a flexible plan that fits the reality of our organisation and the environment we work in. We also have a strategic thinking framework that allows us to make responsive strategic decisions while still providing a strong governance structure for the board.”
Stella Avramopolous, CEO Kildonan UnitingCare following Emergent Futures work on their new strategic plan
“I couldn’t be more impressed at the professionalism and the commitment that Paul Higgins made to a recent Keynote Address that he gave at the National Small Business Summit. The presentation was informative, entertaining – he both delighted and frightened delegates. A sign of a good presentation is when speakers across the course of the day keep referring back to it and the key points that he made – and that certainly occurred with Paul’s keynote: The Double Edge Sword that is the future landscape for small business. What particularly impressed me was the effort that Paul put into preparing the presentation and ensuring that it would be well received – No pulling a set script off the shelf for this presentation. Paul initiated lots of communication before the event, ensured that his examples and case studies would be relevant to our guests and was an absolute professional throughout.
Thanks Paul – I hope that we get to work together in the future” Bambi Gordon, Director, The Growdon Group, on behalf of the Council of Small Business of Australia for the National Small Business Summit 2011
“Engaging Emergent Futures was one of the best things we did in our whole planning process. Their alternative perspectives and insights on how to think about the future were exactly what we needed to challenge our thinking and stimulate new ideas. Their approach also helped us frame challenging issues in a way that effectively communicated those ideas to others, which is something we couldn’t have achieved by ourselves.”
Bruce Finney, CEO, Cotton Research & Development Corporation,following a strategic foresight review of the CRDC R&D Plan 2008-13
“Every organisation like ours needs someone like Paul Higgins to come in every couple of years and shake up established thinking, present new ideas and really challenge the organisation about its future business model and strategies. We are a different and much better organisation because of his involvement. “
Stella Avramopolous, CEO Kildonan UnitingCare following Emergent Futures work on their new strategic plan
"Thank you for your input and helping us see the value in recognizing different patterns of thinking. We all came away with deeper insights and ideas and more importantly a commitment to test these ideas."
Bernard Desmidt, Global Talent Manager for Terrapinn, global events & training organisation (following a future business ideas generation project and workshop)
"As a result of holding this session we will be doing some new and different things in our organisation, there were immediate, tangible outcomes and benefits for us."
Sarah Davies, Chair of Kids Under Cover and CEO of the Melbourne Community Foundation, after Kids Under Cover participated in one of our new Strategic Innovation and Perspective Shift Workshops
“Emergent Futures gave us a framework to view the world differently. And some really great ideas.”
Greg Hitchen, Terrapinn, global events & training organisation
"Emergent Futures and Paul Higgins stimulated us to challenge our assumptions about how our organisation may develop in the future. They helped us clarify the path ahead and taught us how to factor in the inevitable disruptive forces and unexpected changes that are outside of our control”
Chris Evason, CEO, International Education Services Limited
"Emergent Futures has written and presented a number of excellent reports for the GRDC on biofuels and feed grains. The reports provide solid, verifiable data that clearly lays out the possible future scenarios and impacts. I have found the reports essential in determining strategic directions in my portfolio."
Dr John de Majnik, Manager, New Grain Products, Grains Research and Development Corporation
"I found the whole process very valuable for our organisation. Both the 3 hour session and the discipline for me to prepare and present a brief presentation on the future challenges we face were invaluable. Key issues were quickly identified. The real value for Vic Deaf was the different angles and perspectives on those key issues."
Graeme Kelly, Chief Executive Officer, Vic Deaf, after participating in one of our new Strategic Innovation and Perspective Shift Workshops
"Paul's process of preparing us for our workshop enabled us to get much better clarity on what we were trying to achieve. We would certainly use him again."
Jed Matz, Policy Director, Cattle Council Australia
Speaker Reviews:
(for more reviews and detail please go to our Speaking Testimonials Page or our Keynotes and Presentation Page .
Thank you very much for presenting at our Servorp Business Shorts Event
Those I spoke with after the event raved about your presentation and commented that it gave them a lot to think about.
Thanks again!
Fiona Hoppe
Marketing Executive
Servcorp Melbourne
“I couldn’t be more impressed at the professionalism and the commitment that Paul Higgins made to a recent Keynote Address that he gave at the National Small Business Summit. The presentation was informative, entertaining – he both delighted and frightened delegates. A sign of a good presentation is when speakers across the course of the day keep referring back to it and the key points that he made – and that certainly occurred with Paul’s keynote: The Double Edge Sword that is the future landscape for small business.
Bambi Gordon, Director, The Growdon Group, on behalf of the Council of Small Business of Australia for the National Small Business Summit July 2011
"As our keynote speaker Paul Higgins delivered a challenging and entertaining presentation that was tailored to our industry. Feedback from our conference delegates was very positive and I would recommend him in future"
Terry Robinson CEO Destination Gippsland. (Conference July 2011)
"Three people who I regard as among the best presenters in our association came up to me after your keynote presentation and all said that was great, best conference keynote in their time at DATTA Vic."
John Long, Conference Organiser, Design and Technology Teachers Association, after Paul's keynote presentation to their May 2009 Conference
“Paul Higgins presented a compelling vision of how to think about the future and what the future of the wind industry might look like in an engaging and entertaining speech that had everyone’s attention. His presentation gave our conference delegates a different perspective that challenged their way of thinking. Paul provided a refreshing new angle for our delegates and his concepts were widely discussed during the rest of the conference. We would highly recommend him as a conference speaker.”
Auswind (The Wind Energy Industry Association) on Paul’s conference key note presentation to the Auswind Annual Conference 2008
‘Excellent, challenging concept and perceptions, smooth presentation'
‘Very confident, clear and informative presentation'
‘This builds a new perspective on risk for my company'
Congratulations on delivering such an excellent presentation.
Denise Kafkalakis, Education Manager, Risk Management Institution of Australasia on feedback on Paul's presentation 'A Futurist Perpective on Risk' to the RMIA November 2008 Conference
