The Futures of Leadership in the Performing Arts
As an approved Major Research Project for OCAD University's Strategic Foresight and Innovation graduate program, and under the supervision of Zan Chandler, Jillian's project explores leadership and organizational change in Canadian nonprofit performing arts organizations.
Through systems thinking and strategic foresight tools, our research aims to imagine and understand the ways leaders and teams may navigate increasing complexities in an unknown future, and what it means to push against the colonial myths of perpetual growth and immortality.
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​​Our study addresses critical questions such as:
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How might leaders in the performing arts drive systemic change while holistically embodying it in their organizational structures and creative practices?
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What emerging signals and trends might influence leadership and transformational viability in the performing arts sector?
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Which governance and leadership strategies might be vital for values-aligned innovation and transformation in the future?
Methodologies
Systems Thinking
Generating and processing findings through life-centered systems design tools, mapping relationships, framing complexities
Strategic Foresight
Gathering signals & drivers of change, designing plausible scenarios, exploring strategies with a
Three Horizons workshop
Research & Analysis
Iterative sensemaking, expert interviews, research across social, political, environmental, economic, political and values
Team
Jillian Harris (Student Investigator : candidate for a M.Des in Strategic Foresight and Innovation) is a theatre artist, leadership coach and strategic designer. Passionate about authentic connections and wellbeing practices, her work champions transformation within individuals, organizations and systems through storytelling, coaching, conflict mediation and strategic foresight tools. Before pursuing a Masters in Design she was a member of Diasporakidz, an international and interdisciplinary artist collective exploring ancestral relationships and slow art-making. As a performer and theatre practitioner she’s created and produced award-winning productions and toured internationally with ever-queer, multimedia shows. Over the last decade Jillian has acted in films, television, video games and performed in all kinds of unconventional spaces. When she isn’t working she loves to move her body, write, read, and travel with her wife.
Zan Chandler (Primary Investigator: Advisor) is a foresight practitioner and educator whose practice sits at the intersection of futures, systems and design. An Adjunct professor at OCAD University, she has taught and supervised graduate students in OCAD U's Master of Design program in Strategic Foresight and Innovation since 2017. Zan is a Senior Foresight Analyst at Policy Horizons Canada, where she focuses on building the foresight capacity of Government of Canada employees, an executive member of the Board of Directors for the Association of Professional Futurists and a member of TFSX's Global Foresight Advisory Council.​
Get Involved
Your voice matters! Contribute to the dialogue on organizational transformation and leadership in the performing arts.
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​If you would like to participate by being interviewed, please follow
this link to a screening form.
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