The Adjacent

A Strategic Imagination Methodology

Est. 2038 - Zürich - AdjacentEditions

The Adjacent is a structured imagination practice. It makes the invisible visible by giving things that do not yet exist institutional form - job descriptions, annual reports, policy gazettes, org charts - written from 2038, a world adjacent to this one that has decided to take human need seriously.

Find out what your people can already see that your strategy cannot.

The methodology is used in workshops, strategy engagements, and facilitated conversations with organisations navigating the future of work, the climate transition, and the gap between what they are and what they need to become. The Adjacent does not produce nice experiences. It produces organisational intelligence.

The Underlying Move
Step 1 - Set the positionWe are in 2038. Establish the world before describing it.
Step 2 - Choose the formatThe format determines what becomes visible.
Step 3 - Give it institutional formWrite it as if it already exists. Specificity is the tool.
Step 4 - Read the outputThe documents are early signals. A skilled facilitator reads them as intelligence.
The Gap Map

Each format surfaces a different dimension of organisational intelligence. Choose the format based on the question the organisation most needs to answer.

Job DescriptionsHuman infrastructure gaps - who should be doing what
Annual ReportMeasurement gaps - what should be counted that is not
Onboarding DocumentCultural gaps - what norms should exist that do not
Wikipedia EntryLegacy gaps - what should be built that has not been started
Press ReleaseInnovation gaps - what should exist for customers that does not
Policy GazetteGovernance gaps - what should be regulated that is not
Org ChartStructural gaps - what should be organised differently
Complaint LetterFailure gaps - what will go wrong if nothing changes
Format 01

The Job Description

Who should be doing what - and why does the role not exist yet?

Write a job description for a role that does not yet exist but should - the work someone is already doing informally, without title, budget, or recognition.

The output

A set of named roles. The human infrastructure the strategy has not yet accounted for.

The intelligence

If twelve people independently write roles involving grief, translation, or continuity - that is a structural signal.

What role does not yet exist in this organisation that should? Give it a title. Write the single most important sentence about why it needs to exist.

Format 02

The Annual Report

What would this organisation measure if it measured what actually mattered?

Write the annual report for this organisation in 2038. Not revenue and shareholder return - the metrics, the highlights, the letter from leadership that reflects what the organisation actually values.

The output

The gap between what the organisation currently measures and what its people believe should be measured.

The intelligence

The difference between stated purpose and actual accountability structure.

Write the single most important headline in this organisation's 2038 annual report. What does it say? Why does it matter? What had to change for it to be true?

Format 03

The Onboarding Document

What does a new employee need to know on day one in 2038 that nobody tells them today?

Write the onboarding document for someone joining this organisation in 2038. What is explicitly named that is currently implicit, unspoken, or entirely absent?

The output

The cultural aspirations that employee surveys never surface.

The intelligence

What would make this organisation worth joining for the next generation.

What is the first thing you would want a new employee to know about this organisation in 2038 - something nobody currently says out loud?

Format 04

The Wikipedia Entry

What is the historical verdict on the decisions being made right now?

Write the Wikipedia entry for this organisation in 2038. What is it known for? What is the historical verdict on decisions being made in the current period?

The output

What the organisation will be remembered for - and whether it is currently building toward that or away from it.

The intelligence

The long-term consequences of current decisions. Particularly powerful with next-generation cohorts.

Write the first paragraph of this organisation's Wikipedia entry in 2038. What does it say? What does it leave out?

Format 05

The Press Release

What has this organisation achieved by 2038 that is worth announcing?

Write the press release for something this organisation has achieved by 2038. Not incremental - genuinely significant. Something that required courage or a decision nobody thought possible in 2026.

The output

What the organisation's people believe is actually possible, versus what current strategy is aiming for.

The intelligence

The ambition gap. Working backwards from the press release - applied to transformation.

Write the headline for a press release announcing something this organisation has achieved by 2038. Something that would have seemed impossible in 2026.

Format 06

The Policy Gazette

What should govern this organisation or sector in 2038 that does not yet exist?

Write a policy or regulation for this sector in 2038. What has been formally codified that is currently informal, voluntary, or entirely absent?

The output

What the organisation expects to be held accountable for - and whether it is building toward or away from that.

The intelligence

The distance between current voluntary commitments and future mandatory standards.

Write the name and one-sentence purpose of a regulation that will govern this sector in 2038. What behaviour does it require? What does it prohibit?

Format 07

The Org Chart

What does this organisation look like when it is structured for what it is actually trying to do?

Describe the org chart for this organisation in 2038. What has been merged, split, eliminated, or created? What has moved from the margin to the centre?

The output

The gap between current architecture and the structure required to deliver the actual mission.

The intelligence

What the current structure is optimised for versus what it needs to be optimised for.

Name the department that does not yet exist in this organisation but should. What does it do? Where does it sit? Who leads it?

Format 08

The Complaint Letter

What will this organisation be held accountable for if nothing changes?

Write a formal complaint letter to this organisation from a future customer, employee, or affected community - dated 2038. Formal institutional language. A serious document, not a rant.

The output

The risks and failure modes forward-looking workshops avoid. The pre-mortem disguised as a formal document.

The intelligence

The decisions being made now that will look indefensible from 2038.

Write the opening sentence of a formal complaint to this organisation dated 2038. What is it about? Who is writing it?

The Workshop

The Adjacent runs as a facilitated workshop - 90 minutes to a full day, for teams navigating the future of work, the climate transition, and the gap between institutional language and human reality. Participants use the Adjacent framework to name the roles, structures, and policies missing in their own fields.

Piloted at Climate Week Zürich, May 2026, in partnership with GreenBuzz. Further engagements through GreenBuzz Changemaker Workshop Days, June and November 2026.

Enquire about a workshop The Gazettes

Physical publications printed on uncoated stock and hand-bound with waxed linen thread. Each gazette is issued from 2038 by a fictional department of a world that has decided to take human need seriously.

Annual Gazette - Issue 01

Open Positions

Ten roles for a better workplace. The Hamster Tender. The Meeting Archaeologist. The Attention Warden.

Issued As Required - Issue 01

Emergency Positions

Ten crisis roles the present has so far failed to staff. The Democracy Tender. The Last Witness.

Special Edition - CWZ 2026

Climate Positions - Roles the Transition Forgot

The human infrastructure the climate transition has failed to build. The Grief Cartographer. The Framework Archaeologist.

Available at AdjacentEditions on Etsy. Physical and digital editions.