Various Applications of Futuring

Various Applications

The futuring method is extraordinarily flexible in both setting and extent. We have used the methodology across industries and a wide variety of settings. Beyond that, the depth of engagement can be varied from quite short to very lengthy. We really cannot think of a setting, industry, or discipline where the futuring methodology won’t work. Let us explain applications in three settings: organizational and human resource development, higher education, and technology. For most applications, the four steps remain intact, what varies are the four questions and kinds of inputs required to understand the forces. Let’s explore three examples and look at how the questions vary.

Organizational and Human Resource Development. The skills required for just about any job change over time. During times of disruption, they can change at very high rates of speed, so fast in fact that new jobs and occupations seem to be created in the matter of weeks or months. The focus here is on the skills and competencies needed now and well into the future. Then considering the implications for training and professional development. Depending on who is asking these questions – human resource functions, professional associations, training firms, staffing agencies or others – the actions and decisions will vary.

Higher Education. We use this methodology often when working with institutions of higher education in their strategic planning and program planning processes. We prefer to run separate futuring methods at the level of the school or discipline rather than the larger college or university level. The granularity is important and the action of the forces and rates of change are variable across disciplines. We look at the forces shaping the disciplines today and into the future. Then we plan from the future backward and consider the implications for both how the discipline needs to adapt and how professional practice will change. From there, the context for strategic planning and change emerges on two levels – initially for the program or disciplines themselves, the finally by exploring patterns across programs how strategy for the college or university needs to shift and evolve.

Technology. We also like to look at technologies (coding and software, hardware, user interface, mobility applications, nearly anything) and how the rapid and increasing changes impact future directions. Here the focus is at the level of the specific technology whether it be an application, set of code, user interface, larger system of hardware, or something else. We also shorten the timeframe from 10 years to something more reasonable like two to three years, or even less in an very dynamic and changing environment. We also reframe the future forces to consider the user experience before the implications are fully explored. Finally, actions required in development, resource management, and other impact areas in the coming year are unpacked.

Flexing the Depth of the Methodology. The methodology has the extraordinary ability to work in a short, half-day session, during a 3 week ideation project, or integrated into a 12 month strategic planning process. Let us give more clear examples of how we have done this.

Futuring in a Half-Day Workshop. We recently conducted half-day futuring sessions for organizations in different industries. Typically, the sessions include between 20 to 50 individuals who work both as a whole in small groups. Before the forces are explored, we set the context with a short 20 minute presentation on the context of the problem or area being explored, put some boundaries around the context, and explain some of the efforts to address change that may have been tried before. We sometimes add another 20 minute session on recent analyses or environment scans that may be on hand to help inform participants to a greater extent. The four questions or steps in the futuring method then become individual sessions of about 20-30 minutes each. Thinking is shared, harvested, then collected and recorded by a variety of techniques from pure analog paper, cards, and markets to pure digital using text, apps, or collaborative software to any soft of blended approach that best suits the audience. We have found that facilitating the opening question about current forces is done best with the group as a whole, then allowing tables or small groups to turn inward to explore future forces. We often collect and cluster these on cards or sticky-notes. We also like to conclude with a full-group exploration of the decisions and actions that need to be taken and apply one of a variety of consensus-building methods to help the group select and prioritize next steps. The whole process takes about 3 hours.

Futuring in a Three-Week Project. When we expand the method to a longer timeframe we have the luxury to do additional research and scanning to enhance the knowledge base of all participants and to extend the action planning. We set up the project with a kick off meeting, discuss the steps and activities, and make assignments with deadlines. We rely mostly on secondary sources rather than original research. We divide the research into two phases or two simultaneous projects with one focused on looking at the current environment and the second looking at trends that are expected to share the future. This research can take about 7 to 10 days of the three weeks and results in two reports, one on the current forces and another on the future forces. A meeting is held with all participants to review the results and begin to explore implications. To add depth to the identification of implications, we run separate sessions with different groups based on categories like organizational function, customer groups, organization level, job categories, or external partners. With a good map built of implications, we turn back to the decision makers and hold one or more sessions on action planning. Given the length of the project, we have more time to understand the actions in terms of their required resources, likely impacts, necessary timeframes, and unintentional consequences. We like to have one final meeting on review the entire project, resulting reports, maps, and outcomes, and action plans that resulted.

Futuring in a Twelve-Month Planning Process. Futuring on a year-long time scale is a big commitment but has great benefits to include deep knowledge building, addressing complex organizations, and extended engagement, participation, and eventual buy in. The first step is to develop a detailed project plan with the key decision-makers and participants and be sure that everyone understands and agrees to the activities, timelines, required staffing, and other resources needed for success. A good next step is to assign the research teams, typically 4-7 individuals each, from the major divisions or components of the organization. We once did a long-term futuring project with a university where each academic department – all 23 of them – completed a force analysis template that resulted in 12-15 page white papers on the current states and futures of the disciplines. We also included about a dozen cross-cutting issue teams for a total of nearly 35 separate research papers. This took about two months to complete the work in teams but provided the university with a level of environmental and internal scanning that was unprecedented. The next step was daunting, synthesizing the results and identifying the patterns that emerged, but what emerged was well worth the effort. In other kinds of industries, we have done this by business unit, site or location, user base, or any kind of organizational category.

A study then ensues of the implications. With such rich research and data in the force identification phase, implications can become complex. The make this more simple, we like to explore implications at three levels in the organization – top organizational and most strategic, next layer down with a blend of strategic and tactical, and by specific units, more tactical. These implications can include detailed financial analyses as well. The impact analyses help drive the kind of action planning applications that come next. Now we have the time for full action planning at both the strategic and tactical levels. To keep it integrated, we focus on alignment. What results from extended futuring is typically a series of strategic plans, actions, and change management plans that focus on transformation and strengthening of the organization. It’s a big effort that results in big reward.

In summary, we have presented futuring as a methodology all the while trying to make it understandable and accessible. In reality, it is nearly a philosophy. Good strategic thinking and the eventual actions that emerge require some kind of method for understanding the expected forces of the future and the implications they may create. Our method is a good one and has proven to be very adaptable. We would like you to give it a try, let us know how it went, or give us a call if you would like to partner in learning more about the future.