“The future” is an expanding space of possibilities, not a contracting one. This is why we typically talk about the futures ahead of us, speaking in the plural rather than the singular. So, when we are thinking about the broader future our challenge is to identify more of what is possible, not less.
Try this exercise: using a whiteboard or a big piece of paper, on the left side list the important future possibilities for your organization in the next two years. Now, in the center of the board, list the important possibilities over the next five years. Finally, on the right-hand side, list the possibilities over the next ten years.
What do the results look like? Is it a pleasantly balanced set of lists from left to right, from the near term to the long term? Are they roughly the same size? There are, in fact, more possibilities over the next five years than there are over just the next two. However many possibilities you listed for the next two years, there should be more for the next five years, and even more for the next ten.
This isn’t about overwhelming your team with a deluge of possibilities. Rather, this is about doing good futures thinking, simply.
Contact us today to talk about mapping the emerging landscape with your organization.
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