Introduction to Strategic Foresight 2 Day Workshop (Nov. 15 and Nov. 16, 2022)

To prepare for emerging trends and opportunities, and mitigate external threats, companies increasingly use the method of foresight. This is most often defined as a human capacity or a leadership intelligence that includes the sense to detect discontinuous change early, interpret its consequences, and formulate effective responses to affect the long-term survival and success of an organization or team.  And that’s a good reason to be here today…

Course Outline, Day 1. (2.5 hours)

MP1. Strategic Foresight – An Overview

   1A. What is Strategic Foresight?  

   1B. Why … strategic foresight?

   1C. Strategic Planning vs. Strategic Foresight

   1D. How do leaders use strategic foresight?

Roadmap.

Strategic foresight is not new. It’s really a native human capacity. This is the capacity or power that separate us from other species. For example, we can, not only reason about the present, but we can also imagine what the future could be.

Furthermore, knowing what the future could be, we can anticipate it, shape it, or even build it; examples abound all around us, regardless of your industry. In short, this is the essence of strategic foresight. We are not trying to predict the future, rather we explore the future as it may take its course through different routes (several futures are possible).

But there’s a systematic, non-linear way, to move us through this strategic foresight process. Something we will discuss in the next two days, so you, as a leader, can increase your competency. Let us take a peek.

Course Outline, Day 2. (2.5 hours)

MP2. Anticipating and Seeing Change

   2A. Recognizing Trends & Change Dynamics

   2B. Strategic Foresight Activity

   2C. Debrief: Patterns & Categories

   2D. Exploration of Emerging Trends

Roadmap.

We cannot set our sights on the current scenario (whatever that is) and forget to think about the unraveling future. The truth is the future is filled with opportunity and hope.

In business, non-profit, education, technology, can we see what’s changing and what’s emerging? Where are the opportunities? And where can we make a difference?

When we examine the present and link it to the past, we can see how several factors in our environment developed over time. Some of these are seen as forces of change; others are warning signs, weak signals, that were telling us change was coming.

Now, can you take that same exercise and do the same but projecting your observations of what you see today forward into the future? What do you see today? Do you see any marker of possible change for the future?

Leadership Value.

Many times, people try to predict the future, trying to get it exact. That’s not what we need to do or want to do. Otherwise, we lock ourselves into a particular view of the future, to then find ourselves surprised and disrupted once again.

What we need to do is see the myriad of futures and then shape what we want to see and prepare for the most likely undesired scenarios. In order to do this effectively, leaders need to understand what’s changing and what is not changing, as well as what will not change.

The point here is that change is not infinite. Some things will not change, and those things that do not change will be in direct competition with those things that want to change. It’s important we think about this concept because these things form a force against or for the acceleration of change.

As leaders, if we know these things, we can anticipate and shape the future!

Objective #1 Understand strategic foresight’s key components
Objective #2 Create new and innovative solutions to problems to induce organizational transformation
Objective #3 Provide students with practical experience using a foresight tool to illuminate the future of their sector and chart the course to innovation and robust decision-making capabilities