Strategic Foresight Tools
These free resources will help get you started learning and using the tools of strategic foresight, and shaping your future.
Introduction to Strategic Foresight
Strategic Foresight — a planning discipline that helps organizations assess and prepare for the future — is growing in popularity. A Google search for the term returns hundreds of thousands of entries. But what, exactly, is it?
At Prescient, we view strategic foresight as having five building blocks:
- A futurist mindset
- Foresight methods
- Data and evidence
- Anticipatory leadership
- Strategic narrative – story that links the past to the unfolding future
An organization that uses all five of these blocks is building a strong structure, able to withstand the uncertain weather of the future.
How Well Does Your Team Recognize Weak Signals of Change?
Signals of change are indicators that a large-scale development, such as the widespread adoption of a new technology or a new idea in society or politics, is likely to occur. People and teams who recognize these signals at an early stage, when they are ‘weak,’ and can identify complementary changes in different domains, are at an advantage. They are better positioned to see risks and opportunities and they have time to prepare.
This quick diagnostic can help you identify opportunities for your team to identify weak signals and incorporate collective insights into planning.
Worksheet: Build Your Future Workforce
If you are an employer intent on remaining competitive, you know that you need to begin preparing now to locate the employee talent of the future.
Automation, demographics, the needs of employees, and other transformations in the nature of work are driving new needs and new roles.
The enclosed worksheet offers your team a simple way to begin thinking now about the roles, talents, and skills that you will need in the next five to fifteen years.