The real currency of our time isn’t money. It’s ideas. You’re surrounded by ideas. Films, products, books, music, money, messages, services and everything in your culture began life as a vision in someone’s head. If you have ideas, you’re at the heart of things.

‘What abilities will someone need to succeed in 5, 10, or 15 year’s time?’ Rod Judkins asks himself this question when he devises projects for his students at University College London and Central Saint Martins. Universities used to teach students skills and then, out in the world, they applied them. But culture sped up. Soon, in the three years it took a student to reach the workplace, their skills were out of date. Now the pace of change is so fast, skills are of little use. To survive and prosper in our new culture, you need to think conceptually.

To be at home in the world of the future, you will need to be an adaptable, open minded, problem solver, communicator, inventor, artist and entertainer. For this reason, the exercises in this book are designed to encourage you to think beyond what is accepted and conventional. An Olympic athlete trains their body. A creative thinker has to exercise just as hard, but train their imagination. There are exercises in this book that will help you develop your ability to have ideas.