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The Framework

The Abundance 
Stack™ 

Five layers of capacity that make a person, team, or organization futures-ready. Compounding, not additive. The weakest layer sets the ceiling for the whole system.

Abundance = Signal × Sense × Shape × Sprint × Sustain

The Stack compounds, but only up to the capacity of its weakest layer. Every layer amplifies the value of the ones around it. The layer with the least capacity becomes the constraint that limits the whole system's throughput.

That's the bottleneck. That's what the assessment finds. Not "you're failing" but "here's what's capping you, and here's how much more value your strong layers could produce if this one constraint were addressed."

Drawing on futures literacy methodology, causal layered analysis, systems dynamics, constraint theory, and equity-centered design. Adapted into a practitioner framework for institutions and communities.

Five layers. One operating system.
01SIGNALSee what's coming.+

The discipline of scanning, filtering, and interpreting signals of change before they become consensus. Exponential awareness, critical signal literacy, source diversification, because what you're not seeing is more dangerous than what you are.

ENGAGEMENTS & INITIATIVES
Futures Intelligence ServiceInnovation Lab Signal FunctionWTF NewsletterStreet TeamsFuture Builders Program
IF THIS LAYER = 0

Without Signal, every other layer works from incomplete information. This is the constraint that caps your entire system.

02SENSEUnderstand what it means.+

Futures literacy in its purest form. Scenario thinking, implications mapping, and the emotional capacity to operate without certainty. Moving from 'this happened' to 'here are three things it could mean for us' using structured methods that surface hidden assumptions and deep system dynamics.

ENGAGEMENTS & INITIATIVES
Scenario Planning WorkshopsCLA SessionsQuarterly Futures ReviewsWTF 'So What?' FramingDigital ClubhouseCommunity Salons
IF THIS LAYER = 0

Signals arrive, but without Sense they stay noise. This becomes the ceiling — strong layers downstream can't compensate for misread inputs.

03SHAPEDecide what you want.+

The hardest and most values-laden layer. Choosing which future to build, for whom, with whose voices in the room. Equity enters the Stack here as design constraint, not add-on. Who gets to imagine the future determines who gets to live in it.

ENGAGEMENTS & INITIATIVES
Strategic Vision SprintEquity Architecture WorkshopCommunity Visioning EventsYouth Program Design Constraints
IF THIS LAYER = 0

Understanding without direction. When Shape is weakest, the system defaults to whoever moves fastest — not whoever moves wisest.

04SPRINTBuild the first version.+

Ideas that stay ideas aren't abundant; they're wasted potential. Rapid prototyping, AI integration, and disciplined build-measure-learn cycles that produce working artifacts, not decks. Small is good. Start with what you can build this week with tools that are increasingly free and powerful.

ENGAGEMENTS & INITIATIVES
Prototype SprintsAI System BuildsLab AccessATL Futures Lab (Coming Soon)Prototype AcademyFellowship Projects
IF THIS LAYER = 0

Vision without velocity. When Sprint is the constraint, great ideas stay theoretical and the system produces strategy decks instead of solutions.

05SUSTAINKeep building without us.+

The layer consultancies skip because their model depends on you coming back. We install training, toolkits, AI workflows, and organizational habits that let your team repeat the cycle independently. Our own obsolescence is a design feature.

ENGAGEMENTS & INITIATIVES
Train-the-Trainer ProgramsAI Workflow InstallationStack RefreshFellowship Teaching ModelCommunity Skill Transfer
IF THIS LAYER = 0

You built something great, then regressed to old patterns. When Sustain is the bottleneck, every engagement creates dependency instead of compounding capacity.

Why This Is Different

Traditional approach vs. Abundance Stack.

TRADITIONAL APPROACH
01Hire a consultancy for a trend report
02Get a 90-page deck nobody reads
03Leadership offsite creates 'vision' in a vacuum
04Expensive vendor builds a prototype
05Vendor leaves. Team can't maintain it.
06Repeat cycle in 18 months
OUTCOME: Dependency. Deck graveyard. No lasting capacity.
ABUNDANCE STACK
SIGNALInstall signal scanning as a team habit
SENSEFacilitate scenario exercises your team owns
SHAPERun equity-centered vision sprints together
SPRINTBuild working prototypes in 2–6 weeks
SUSTAINTrain your team. Hand over the keys.
RESULTYour team repeats the cycle independently
OUTCOME: Permanent capacity. No dependency. Compounding returns.
How It Scales

One Stack. Every scale.

Individual
Read beyond your feed
Think in scenarios
Clarify your values
Build something small
Teach someone else
Team
Signal-sharing rituals
Scenario exercises
Strategic vision sprint
Prototype sprints
Internal capability transfer
Organization
Futures intelligence function
Embedded foresight
Equity architecture
Innovation lab access
Train-the-trainer programs
Community
WTF newsletter
Salons & Clubhouse
Community visioning
ATL Futures Lab (Coming Soon)
Youth pathway