What is Futures Intelligence?
The future is now. The pace of change and innovation has never been so fast or relentless. As a result, organisations need to plan for impact and growth with an eye on the future - which means using futures intelligence: trends, signals, emerging changes data to build foresight.
Foresight is the ability to think about and systematically plan for a range of futures. It helps you understand what is coming next and make decisions today that will create the futures you want.
Organisations use futures intelligence to make strategic decisions about where to allocate resources, which new products or services to develop, which markets to enter and how to respond to disruptive challenges.
Futures intelligence can help you answer important questions such as:
What are the key trends that will shape our industry in the next 5 to 10 years?
What are the potential game-changers we need to be aware of?
What risks do we need to plan for?
What opportunities can we capitalise on?
Futures intelligence is not about predicting the future, but it is about understanding the factors that will shape it. This understanding gives you the ability to make decisions today that will have a positive impact on your organisation's future.
When used effectively, futures intelligence can help you become more agile and responsive to change, enabling you to seize opportunities and manage risk. It can also help you build a stronger, more resilient organisation that is ready for whatever futures emerge.
So how can you use futures intelligence in your organisation? Here are three steps to get you started:
Establish a clear purpose for using futures intelligence. What decisions do you need to make? What are your key priorities?
Gather data from a variety of sources. Look for trends, signals, and emerging changes that could have an impact on your organisation.
Make time to think about futures. Set aside time for brainstorming and scenario planning. Encourage everyone in your organisation to think about what futures could appear and how they could impact your business.
If you want to learn more about using futures intelligence, please get in touch. We offer a range of services to help organisations plan for futures.
