Curious
A positive guide to serious change. Curious is our substack exploring ideas, insights, and prompts across culture, creativity, and change. Each piece is written to help brand leaders cut through the noise, think long-term, and move from reacting to shaping.
Ambient Uncertainty, Scroll Stopping and Big Fire Horse Energy
When trust is on the floor it means it’s now the most important thing. Trust is now the competitive advantage.
One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This
Real change rarely comes from fighting old structures alone. It comes from designing new ones.
Work in Progress with Kaitlyn Davies
Working on the computer should be in service of working off the computer!
No More Nostalgia and Restraint in the Real World
Do less, but better. Discernment and 2026 as the year of experiential marketing was a common theme at Web Summit last year. This is the time for meaningful, tangible ways people can get involved with your brand. Strike now.
Work in Progress with Dagmara Reczka
“As the resident introvert, my New Year’s mantra is “the price of community is your own inconvenience” and I love seeing this sentiment echoed in more and more digital content and conversations around me. “
From Pessimism to Possibility and Competence as Escapism
From aestheticising decline to craving basic competence, these three cultural tensions reveal where imagination is breaking down - and where opportunity is might just be forming.
Change is Always Possible
Change feels impossible until it isn’t.
Lately exploring why pessimism isn’t realism, how culture is craving competence and intention, and why imagining better futures is still a strategic act.
The Intention Economy, Continuity > Novelty and Brotox
Our weekly look at three curious points of tension, plus positive ideas for what to do moving forward.
Work in Progress with Marieke Neleman
“I would love to see the world changing to people being able see other perspectives than their own. I really think we would have less problems in the world if we accept that multiple perspectives on one thing can exist and even be true at the same time.”
Taking Bigger Risks
A new year, a new quarter of the century, and a punchy little provocation: take bigger risks.
Why Trust, Humanity & Differentiation are the Real AI Strategy
Three years of fanatical note-taking at Web Summit confirmed one thing: The noise around AI has peaked. It’s moved from “will it steal my job?” to “why is it still hallucinating?”
Hope Actually
We’re often told “hope isn’t a strategy,” but what if it could be? In this internal memo, we explore how curiosity and imagination can transform hope from a fluffy ideal into a practical force for change. Because maybe the most strategic thing we can do for the future—is believe it’s still worth building.
What if it just worked?
After years of talk about “diversity,” inclusivity has stalled at optics-only, creative opportunity is priced out of reach, and trust in systems is collapsing. What’s really going on beneath it all? People are done performing progress, they want proof.
Moving FWD breaks down the tensions shaping what’s next, and why brands that design for dignity, equity, and reliability will lead in the future.
Better Futures vs. Future Burnout
Q4 chaos doesn’t have to mean burnout. Let’s explore how brand leaders can reframe year-end pressure into opportunity by setting boundaries, making space for futures thinking, and turning the busiest season into a more intentional start to 2026.
From Revival to Remix to Belonging
This week in Moving FWD: London’s comeback, youth shifting from architects to followers, and the decline of big social all point to one thing: culture never really moved in straight lines — it only looked that way when gatekeepers packaged it neatly.
Available Now! The Mindset for 2026
Available now! The nouvôt futures 2026 Mindset Deck helps brand leaders cut through cultural noise, reframe challenges, and plan with pragmatic optimism. Includes a curated cultural calendar to turn foresight into action.
Coming Soon: nouvôt futures 2026 mindset
Feeling overwhelmed by the present but still expected to plan ahead? The nouvôt futures 2026 Mindset Deck helps leaders cut through the noise with clarity, optimism, and actionable signals for the year ahead. Coming soon!
From Burnout to Trust to Tension
From creator burnout to the erosion of trust, the cultural signals are clear: the old extractive models are breaking down. Here are three shifts shaping how brands can build real, lasting value in 2025.
Stranger than Friction
Friction is neither the silver bullet nor the enemy, just as an easy, frictionless future might not be the utopia we can make it sound like. Intentionality. It’s what we crave.
Beyond the Bait
The question for brand leaders is pretty simple: will you be an early adopter and lead the shift away from addiction-based engagement, or a laggard clinging to a failing model until it completely collapses?
Case in Point
Real work. Real outcomes.
Case studies of how we’ve helped brands and teams move from uncertainty to action.
Get in Touch
Better futures begin with a conversation. Let’s discuss what’s next for you.