The PostPod - Lessons from Jo Lepore, Foresight Doesn’t Get a Free Pass
EP 248 · Oct 29, 2026 · 18 min · Marc & V
0:00 / 18:08
The short version
Marc and Vassilis debrief their foresight conversation with Jo Lepore: why foresight isn’t futurism, how backcasting reshapes brand planning, and why brand, like foresight, doesn’t get a free pass.
Marc and V went into the interview as skeptics (“what is this voodoo magic?”) and came out convinced foresight is one of the most practical disciplines they’ve covered all year. In the debrief they dig into why it keeps getting typecast as insights, risk, or crisis comms, and what makes it its own thing. V keeps circling back to WestJet during COVID, an industry stuck in pure short-termism, and where a foresight function might have shortened the runway to recovery.
From there: backcasting (plant your brand ten years out and work back to what would have to be true), why a forecast nobody believes is still worth running, and the line that stuck with both of them, foresight doesn’t get a free pass. V’s reframe: neither does brand. Stop defending it on the back foot, and start arguing where the business should invest to build the future demand that drives tomorrow’s cash flows.
Plus the Monday move for 2027 planning (write down your assumptions), Roger Martin’s “what would have to be true,” and why they’re already building a foresight co-pilot.
New here? Start with the full interview, SBP 247 with Jo Lepore, then come back for the debrief.
Enjoy the show!
Chapters
00:00 Cold open: creating the future, not cutting cost
01:00 PostPod: debriefing the Jo Lepore conversation
01:30 Futurist vs foresight, and where the confusion lives
02:37 Getting typecast: insights, risk, or crisis comms
03:00 WestJet, COVID, and the runway that might’ve been shorter
04:40 “We don’t get a free pass”
05:00 Why run a 10-year forecast nothing will hold to
05:50 Backcasting: work back from ten years out
06:40 Foresight practices without a foresight team
07:00 Going agentic: building a foresight co-pilot
07:30 Pockets of foresight, Rethink, and cultural relevance
08:00 What makes a scenario realistic
08:30 The Monday move for 2027 planning
09:24 Brand doesn’t get a free pass either
10:51 Measurement, shareholders, and the revenue question
11:40 Roger Martin and “what would have to be true?”
13:30 Start small: adjacencies and existing fires
15:40 Write down your assumptions
17:00 Antifragility, black swans, and the close
The Sleeping Barber is a marketing podcast hosted by Marc Binkley and Vassilis Douros, breaking down strategy, marketing effectiveness, and the evidence behind what actually grows a business.
The Sleeping Barber is a marketing podcast hosted by Marc Binkley and Vassilis Douros, breaking down strategy, marketing effectiveness, and the evidence behind what actually grows a business.
Hosts
Marc Binkley
Quatical: https://quatical.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcbinkley/
Vassilis Douros
Website: https://vassilisdouros.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vassilisdouros/
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Chapters
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Transcript
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SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Sleeping Baba podcast.
SPEAKER_01: We're not measuring brand by a fish's ability to climb a tree. We're talking about brand in the sense of foresight. Like we're creating the future. So let's talk about that. We're talking about where are the opportunities for the business to invest in for building the future demand that's going to drive cash flows for the business down the road.
SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Sleeping Barber Podcast, a place for business leaders to get the best and most credible information on marketing, strategy, and innovation. Your hosts, Mark Binkley and Vasilis Turos, share their experiences as they gather insights from the world's leading experts. Now, on with the show.