Name
Foresight Integration: Bridging the Implementation Gap
Date
Thursday, May 19, 2022
Time
2:10 PM - 3:10 PM
Description

Disruption is the new normal – multi-national organizations are experiencing increasing complexity, aggressive growth targets, and challenging labor markets, particularly amidst a global pandemic.   Whether consciously or not, we are creating the future each day with the actions that we take ‘right now.’ Foresight allows us to do so in a more collaborative, aspirational, and intentional way, dancing with the rising complexities we face.   To formulate future-empowered strategy that influences the present, we must develop the bridge or connection between the future and ‘right now.’   While it is impossible to provide detailed maps for every potential use case and situation, there are several key parameters that help shape the organizational structure and manifestation of most foresight efforts which should drive our strategy formulation. Together, these levers define a foresight persona or profile for the organization – what is the organization trying to achieve, who will champion the effort, or how will foresight be funded?   Understanding where an organization falls on these various scales will help it successfully implement an overall charter for its foresight efforts to achieve the best possible results today.   Practice applying the Foresight Profile Scales tool and learn how to discover the future and create more successful strategies today.   
 

How does this session align with the conference theme "Strategy in a 'Right Now' World" and topic areas
It is often misconstrued that foresight is “about the future” when in reality it is a method to create future-empowered decisions in the present. If we rely only on the present to see possibilities of the future, we are constrained by today’s operations, competitors, systems, and regulations. Instead, if we use foresight principles of research and creativity to view the world through the lens of the future, we are able to place ourselves in those times and spaces to imagine a landscape of opportunity that we can pull to the present. To navigate the chaos, increasing complexities, and disruption, we need to have a sound understanding of the possibilities of tomorrow to form robust strategy for the present. We must unlearn and relearn our approach to strategy for the success in our 21st century operating environment.