Could Should Might Don't: How We Think About the Future
Nick Foster
Aug 2025 · MCD
Ebook
352
Pages
family_home
Eligible
info
reportRatings and reviews aren’t verified Learn More
About this ebook
An invaluable guide for how to think—and not to think—about the future, from one of the leading futurists of our time.
You might not know the name Nick Foster, but after just a moment of googling you’ll realize he’s been guiding the missions of companies that have been shaping the world you live in. From Sony, Nokia, and Dyson to Google itself, where he was the head of design at Google X, Foster has been at the forefront of innovation for over twenty-five years, but his name might be unfamiliar because until this point, he’s been hidden behind countless NDAs.
Could Should Might Don’t is Foster’s public debut, the first time this much-sought-after designer is free to share his perspectives, explore how other people approach the future, and suggest how we can all improve our thinking about what might lie ahead. But this isn’t a book filled with predictions and prophecies, and it makes no assertions about what the future will hold. It’s a book that unpacks how we think about the future.
Foster has identified Could, Should, Might, and Don’t as the four primary mindsets we all adopt when thinking about what’s over the horizon, but he doesn’t advocate for any one of them. Instead, he explores how humanity has grappled with the concept of the future throughout history, tracing the emergence of distinct schools of thought and exploring the virtues, blind spots, and inevitable shortcomings of each. The book is, in some ways, about the history of the future and the history of the different futures that we have imagined, designed, or projected for ourselves.
But most of all, Could Should Might Don’t is a no-nonsense appeal to every one of us—whether we’re busy creating future ideas or trying to understand them—to radically improve how we think about the future, so we can improve what we leave behind for those who will follow.
You might not know the name Nick Foster, but after just a moment of googling you’ll realize he’s been guiding the missions of companies that have been shaping the world you live in. From Sony, Nokia, and Dyson to Google itself, where he was the head of design at Google X, Foster has been at the forefront of innovation for over twenty-five years, but his name might be unfamiliar because until this point, he’s been hidden behind countless NDAs.
Could Should Might Don’t is Foster’s public debut, the first time this much-sought-after designer is free to share his perspectives, explore how other people approach the future, and suggest how we can all improve our thinking about what might lie ahead. But this isn’t a book filled with predictions and prophecies, and it makes no assertions about what the future will hold. It’s a book that unpacks how we think about the future.
Foster has identified Could, Should, Might, and Don’t as the four primary mindsets we all adopt when thinking about what’s over the horizon, but he doesn’t advocate for any one of them. Instead, he explores how humanity has grappled with the concept of the future throughout history, tracing the emergence of distinct schools of thought and exploring the virtues, blind spots, and inevitable shortcomings of each. The book is, in some ways, about the history of the future and the history of the different futures that we have imagined, designed, or projected for ourselves.
But most of all, Could Should Might Don’t is a no-nonsense appeal to every one of us—whether we’re busy creating future ideas or trying to understand them—to radically improve how we think about the future, so we can improve what we leave behind for those who will follow.
About the author
Nick Foster is a designer and writer based in Oakland, California. He has spent his career exploring the future for technology companies including Apple, Google, Nokia, Sony, and Dyson, and has established himself as a leading figure in the field of Futures Design. In 2021 he was awarded the title Royal Designer for Industry—the highest accolade for a British designer—in recognition of his significant contributions to the discipline. Foster is also an accomplished writer and public speaker, delivering essays, books, talks, and lectures to share his thinking with audiences around the globe. He earned his master’s degree from London’s Royal College of Art in 2001, and in 2018 he was made a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. He has lived in the United States since 2012, with his wife, Jayne.
Rate this ebook
Tell us what you think.
Reading information
Smartphones and tablets
Install the Google Play Books app for Android and iPad/iPhone. It syncs automatically with your account and allows you to read online or offline wherever you are.
Laptops and computers
You can listen to audiobooks purchased on Google Play using your computer's web browser.
eReaders and other devices
To read on e-ink devices like Kobo eReaders, you'll need to download a file and transfer it to your device. Follow the detailed Help Center instructions to transfer the files to supported eReaders.
