In the last 20 years since, agile, rapid prototyping and lean startup buld-measure-learn cycles have become the norm, we have not improved our rate of innovation. In fact, the data shows that the problem is worse than ever, where we are now stagnating - progress is getting ever hard and more expensive.

Why? Well, because we are addicted tot he dopamine of rapid iteration. Of doing for the sake of doing. Living through the Joy of getting things done. Fooling ourselves that busy-ness is business.

Well it turns out that the old saying of garbage-in-garbage-out has never been more true, except it is now holding the whole of humanity back. This stops now.

"It's not that I'm so smart; it's just that I stay with problems longer." - Albert Einstein

Somewhere along the way this generation (actually, data says 1970 - see Notion articles on Progress from Atlantic.) forgot about the problem. That answering the correct problem is more important than delivering the wrong solution. Progress has stalled because we fail to see this, instead we oscillate from one extreme to the other, failing to face up to the real issue. This is where &Think comes in

"The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function." - F. Scott Fitzgerald, 1936

"Negative Capability, that is when a man is capable of being in uncertainties, Mysteries, doubts, without any irritable reaching after fact and reason." - John Keats, (Letter to his brothers, December 21, 1817)

"We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them." - Einstein

Chunka Mui, a futurist and innovation advisor, believes we stand at the forefront of the greatest personal and professional opportunity of our time. His optimistic work, captured in his latest book, “A Brief History of a Perfect Future: Inventing the World We Can Proudly Leave Our Kids by 2050,” dives into the immense possibilities of science, technology, and human creativity. This book is a roadmap to a future filled with health, sustainability, and prosperity.

With a career spanning several prestigious advisory firms, where he has advised hundreds of companies and studied thousands more, Chunka’s insights are rooted in real-world experience. At Diamond Management and Technology Consultants (now part of PwC), he served as a managing partner and chief innovation officer. At CSC Index (now part of DXC Technology), Chunka co-founded the Vanguard emerging technologies research program (now TTI Vanguard). His journey began at Andersen Consulting (now Accenture), where he played a pivotal role in that firm’s Artificial Intelligence group and co-founded its Center for Strategic Technology Research (a precursor to Accenture Labs).

Chunka’s voice has resonated through the pages of numerous leading publications, including Forbes, Harvard Business Review, and MIT Technology Review. His has co-authored four other award-winning books, including “Unleashing the Killer App” and “Billion-Dollar Lessons.” He also publishes the Future Perfect Newsletter, available via LinkedIn.

An MIT alumnus, Chunka’s academic background in computer science and engineering laid the foundation for his groundbreaking work. His life journey, from his birth in Hong Kong to his upbringing in Chicago, and his current home in the serene Champlain Valley of Western Vermont, informs the diverse perspectives he brings to his work.