Proven Impact2, Useful Fiction

Proven Impact

Having collaborated with organizations that range from the US military and Hollywood production companies to the world’s leading tech firms, we pioneered a new methodology to envision, innovate, and communicate. Known as Useful Fiction™ or FICINT™ (Fictional Intelligence), it melds nonfiction research with the power of narrative to reach target audiences with greater effect.

Useful Fiction is a network of creators, thinkers, and artists, dedicated to the goal of using “the power of story to carry across real world lessons” (as our work was described on National Public Radio). Our projects have brought together the work of best-selling writers, former leaders of US military services, tech forecasters, movie, TV, and video game creators, and graphic designers, all sharing the purpose of exploring and explaining new or complex ideas through the power of the oldest communications technology of all.

Testimonials on Useful fiction events

Canadian Forces College

– Commandant

“…What inspiration, what insight, what Useful Fiction.”

Workshop for SOCOM

Attendee

“…One of the best development programs I’ve experienced in over 18 years in both SOF and Army Strategist career fields.”

USAF (retired), US Air War College

Colonel Mark Jacobse

“Being able to tell stories that operate at both the emotional level and intellectual level is gonna be more compelling than just facts.”

Chief Executive and Commandant of the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom

Major General Andrew Roe CB

“A method to introducing highly engaging change methodologies….The Useful Fiction workshop sought to describe capability options within a compelling conceptual narrative, by blending narrative and non-fiction elements in a persuasive, tangible, practical, and accessible manner…."

Director of US Air Force “Blue Horizons” Center for Strategy and Technology

Drew Wagstaff

“…The content was thoroughly engaging, whether it was discussions with the authors themselves, engagements with Hollywood executives, or hands-on assignments meant to teach the skills of creative writing and FICINT. Highly recommend to any program seeking top notch instruction that boosts the creativity and passion of their students.”

Office of the Secretary of Defense

Leadership & Organizational Development Director

“We’ve received very positive feedback on the design, structure, delivery, and content of the workshop. We appreciate your attention to detail and your commitment to meeting our needs. Your professionalism and expertise have made it a pleasure to work with you.”

RAF Tedder Academy of Leadership

Commandant

“It was great, exactly what I was looking for. It really captured their attention and created a great energy.”

Testimonials on Useful fiction visualisations

United Kingdom

Joint Services Command and Staff College (JSCSC)

“Useful Fiction makes facts compelling.”

Chief Scientific Adviser to the UK Ministry of Defence

Professor Dame Angela McLean

“I am sure you will find their stories enthralling and inspirational.”

The Economist on Useful Fiction

“…Decision-makers are more likely to sit up and listen if future threats, and the methods to combat them, are presented in a gripping story rather than in a plodding report.”

BG Norman

Director, Next Generation Combat Vehicles Cross-Functional Team, Army Futures Command

“You guys crushed it. You knocked it out of the park.”

Joint Special Operations University

President

“The work, in my view, is exceptional.”

Major General Matthew Trollinger

Commander, Marine Forces Special Operations Command (MARSOC)

” …Have already helped drive discussion on the evolution of MARSOC into 2040.”

RAF Tedder Academy of Leadership

Commandant

“It was great, exactly what I was looking for. It really captured their attention and created a great energy.”

Rep. Mike Gallagher

Co-Chairman of Cyberspace Solarium Commission

“To drive home the importance of the Cyberspace Solarium Commission’s recommendations, we wanted to make sure the reader fully understood the potential consequences of inaction. Singer and Cole built a compelling scenario that set the tone for the Commission’s report, making the stakes clear to every reader.”

Royal Air Force

Air Marshal Ian Gale

“…Helps us put ourselves in very different situations and think practically about how to win when ‘There is no spoon’!”

Chief of Staff, Strategic Plans and Policy

SEO Expert

“The team is knowledgeable, courteous, and friendly and provided us with timely and quality products throughout the duration of our work together. Our relationship has been nothing less than exceptional.“

Virginia Tech Applied Research Corporation

Director, Strategy Policy and Planning Division

Chief of Staff, Strategic Plans and Policy, NATO Supreme Allied Commander Transformation (HQ SACT)

“What an amazing story you create for the future operational scenario. After reading just the first two paragraphs, I immediately jumped up to go show it to my co-workers. They were equally excited and asked to get a copy of their own to read!”

Commander of US Special Operations Command.

General Bryan Fenton, US Army

“Through their creative talent and subject matter knowledge, the authors realistically portray what is within the realm of the possible. They draw upon the lessons of the past, while imagining the future.”

our BACKGROUND OF IDEAS INSPIRING ACTION

The Useful Fiction team has worked on a variety of projects that show both their experience and the potential impact of strategic narrative.

Before working together, our co-founders were NYTimes bestselling authors of nonfiction and a journalist at the Wall Street Journal. In 2015, they teamed up on Ghost Fleet: A Novel of the Next World War, which pioneered the idea of Useful Fiction™ (also known as FICINT™). Through the deliberate blend of narrative and nonfiction, it shared research on topics that ranged from assessing the risks of great power conflict to supply-chain and cybersecurity threats. The book not only became a best-seller, but soon entered the official reading lists of every US military service, the CIA, NSA, Coast Guard, Royal Air Force, Royal Australian Navy, etc. Our team was then invited to share its real-world lessons at locations that included the White House Situation Room, the “Tank” for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Fortune 500 C-suites, and multiple testimonies to Congress. Its insights were subsequently woven into everything from the US Marine Corps “Ghost Fleet” wargames to the US Navy’s $3.6 billion “Ghost Fleet” autonomous warship program.

The team followed this up with a years-long “AI Visualized” project, which culminated in Burn-In: A Novel of the Real Robotic Revolution. It explored the future of AI, robotics, and the Internet of Things and the security, political, economic, social, legal, and moral dilemmas that will result. Here again, the form of useful fiction proved better suited to surfacing new insights, reaching new readers, and informing leaders in manner beyond the typical white paper or powerpoint. Our team was invited to brief its lessons to multiple heads of state, including the US President-Elect, as well as 4-star generals, Fortune 100 C-suites, and leading venture capitalists, at locations that spanned three continents and ranged from the decks of aircraft carriers to the Nobel Institute.

Building on these projects, the team was then asked to create a series of FICINT™ projects on other organIzations’ strategic needs and research, ranging from helping them visualize and communicate cybersecurity strategy to geoeconomic trends. This included projects for the Atlantic Council, CIA, US Marine Corps Warfighting Lab, Norwegian Army, NATO’s Innovation Hub, U.S. Military Academy-West Point, Ubisoft, The Brute Krulak Center for Innovation and Creativity, and the U.S. Congress.

Drawing upon these models of success and identifying a wider need that organizations had for strategic narrative, so as to better tell their own stories, Useful Fiction LLC was founded in 2021. It has since worked with over 50 different public and private sector organizations and its work featured in media ranging from NPR to The Economist.