When we start to challenge business as usual and the ‘way we do things around here’, alternative futures can be revealed, like hidden worlds coming into view. We move from this idea of the default future, one future as an extension of now, to many.

To ensure that opportunities are not overlooked and risks are identified it is essential to challenge our assumptions and beliefs regularly. It has become even more imperative as the economic, technological, political, environmental, and social landscapes, among others, around us continue to morph and change rapidly.

The Futures Triangle is a foresight method developed by Professor Sohail Inayatullah with the end goal of mapping the overall game situation before a transformative foresight process may begin.

Many futurists believe that a good way to better understand people´s future-oriented beliefs, behaviour and decisions, is to use their world views as a starting point. Hence, following this logic, the key to better understanding our future-oriented reasoning is to know our world views, that constitute the lenses that we use.

What do organisations need to do to develop good strategies and prepare for the future in a rapidly changing and increasingly complex world?

To future-proof decision-making, organisations need a combination of systematic foresight, proactive visioning, plus hands-on making of the future we want. As famous sci-fi writer Arthur C. Clark put it “Unless we invent a better future, we won´t have one of any kind.”

In a world full of change, an in depth approach to foresight is needed, encouraging organisations to transition from technical fixes to adaptive responses, or even transformative journeys where they change as they create new futures.