Future Thinking

The Future Thinking Process

The consulting process to arrive at a way forward for a company is shown on the left. It starts with orientation on how humans think about the future, followed by an array of tools that are used to draw the future landscape. This landscape is used to plot the way ahead, using roadmapping, business model innovation, strategic interventions and future readiness measurement. This process can be done in full or partially, depending on the need. It may take anything from a few days to months, based on the intensity the client requires. The experience of the process is a training path in itself for the senior management of an enterprise.

Future Landscape Development

In our future thinking consultancy we guide you to arrive at a landscape where the future is understood at four different depths: possible, plausible, probable and preferred. We use several future thinking tools to shape this landscape. The most important are technology, behaviour and event interactions. Following this we assist with roadmapping, business model innovation, strategic interventions and future readiness measurement.

Levels of the future

Four distinct types of future exist and are used to determine the future for the enterprise. Often future thinking stops at superficial depth of view of the future. It is important to take the thinking through all levels to arrive at preferred futures for the enterprise. Possible futures: Possibility thinking is guided by facts that are available, own beliefs and what others say and do. Plausible futures:  The plausible future that may happen is described by approximating the future and can best be determined using a combination of barriers from the past, drivers of the present and opportunity in the future. Probable futures: The probable futures are determined by looking at a space spanned by the factors of technology; human behaviour (in the marketplace and in the workspace); and major events, natural or man-made. Preferred futures: The preferred future is extracted after scenario planning has been done based on control (technology and behaviour) and uncertainty (events) considerations.