122 - Monday Musings - Futures Thinking

122- Monday Musings - Futures Thinking

Over the last week I got introduced to a new field of enquiry that has been emerging in the academic circles. This is what they call the futures thinking. What the futures thinking essentially does is to study the possible existence and creation of alternative futures include the study of underlying worldviews and myths that underlie them. Let me share with you what it basically espouses and what could be the possible significance that it holds for us.

If left to itself as things stand today, a future will unfold - either in our individual lives or in the teams we belong or the organisations we work for or the nations and societies we live in. This future is a result of the choices we have made in the past and the ones we are making as of now. But it will be naive to believe that that is the only future possible. There are distinct possibilities of alternative futures that exist. Let me illustrate that with an example. Our current state of health is a result of the way we have led our lives so far and the choices in terms of food and lifestyle we have made for ourselves. If we let things go the way they are going, we will end up with a certain health say a decade or two later. Futures thinking suggests that there are alternative futures that is possible and we can create a ‘preferred future’ (the one that we would like it to be) if we take appropriate actions today. Another way of saying it is ‘today is the first day for the rest of our lives’. Now think of the preferred futures that we want to create for our families, teams and the organisations we work for.

The pioneers of futures thinking are Ivana Milojević and Sohail Inayatullah authors of many books renowned academicians. Futures thinking has six pillars (see www.metafuture.org).

1. Mapping the Present and the Future through methods and tools such as the futures triangle and the futures landscape

2.Anticipation the Future through methods such as emerging issues analysis and the futures wheel

3.Timing the Future, understanding the grand patterns of change, macrohistory and macrofutures.

4. Deepening the Future through methods such as causal layered analysis and four quadrant mapping

5. Creating Alternatives to the Present through methods such as scenarios and nuts and bolts

6.Transforming the Present and Creating the Future through visioning, backcasting, action learning and the transcend conflict resolution method.

My own inspiration from the futures thinking hinges on two points – One that it provides a framework for understanding the work that I (and of course others) do as a manager. It gives a template to put in place actions, systems, procedures and practices that will lead to a preferred future. Outlining the preferred future itself is so inspiring and uplifting that all the trials and tribulations in the course of achieving it become mundane. The second point is that it provides hope, that we may not be doomed to live with all the imperfection of our current situation and that there is a possibility to create something more worthwhile and fulfilling. The practical plausible possibility of that future is a reason in itself to give things an honest shot. Future is not opaque act of crystal gazing but a conscious attempt to reach the El Dorado of our aspirations.

May you live the future of your dreams.

Guru