foresights.
Sharing ideas, trends, issues and signals influencing the futures of organisations.
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Making the Right Choices for Your Business in a Rapidly Changing World.
In a rapidly changing world, business leaders have to make tough decisions every day—choose between addressing “clear and present danger” and preparing their organisations for the unexpected.
How Imagination Can Overcome Assumptions.
To truly create value for stakeholders requires reimagining what’s possible through creative thinking and questioning our own assumptions about what we know about business as usual.
The Future is Now: Anticipating Not Knowing.
To meet the challenges of tomorrow, we need to anticipate and prepare for the unknowns. This means understanding the systems and contexts that drive what is happening today in order to better understand what will happen next. It also requires a mindset shift towards embracing uncertainty instead of trying to eliminate it.
Developing Blockchain Strategy.
In this article, we are going to explore blockchain and some of the things you might consider when developing a blockchain strategy for your business, plus we explore a DAO for payment by outcomes.
"What if?" - a great question to start planning for impact and future growth.
"What if?" analysis is a powerful tool that can be used to make more informed decisions, identify potential risks, and develop strategies to counter potential threats.
The Benefits of Systems Mapping.
Imagine a world where you are able to understand the complexity of your operating environment, and make better decisions. Systems mapping can help!
futures insights: Working in a holacracy.
Holacracy is a system of governance that seeks to replace the rigidity of a traditional command structure with a more flexible and adaptive system. Could it be the future of work?
futures insights: Universal Basic Income.
Universal Basic Income is a system where all citizens of a country or state receive an income from the government to meet their basic needs. What could futures that include Universal Basic Income look like? How could it be funded?
futures insights: Robots as charity fundraisers.
As artificial intelligence and machine learning continue to evolve, so too will the role of robots in charity fundraising. Can we expect to see more human-robot teams in our futures?
futures insights: Direct-to-Avatar Services.
Direct-to-avatar (D2A) is a new business model that allows companies to sell their goods directly to avatars or digital twins of customers in the virtual world. Could it become a reality?
futures insights: Leased Standard of Living
A leased standard of living could exist where people pay one monthly subscription to receive all the goods and services they need - housing, food, entertainment and transport. Could this work appear?
futures insights: Social Ranking Systems.
Social ranking systems - part of our futures, or unlikely to happen? Have we already made the decisions that pre-empt a social ranking system?
futures insights: Participatory Budgeting.
Participatory budgeting - reality or fantasy? How could citizen lead decision making change the way you operate your for-purpose organisation?
Strategic Foresight - a robust method for dealing with adaptive problems.
Adaptive problems occur when organisations are faced with situations that require individuals throughout the organisation to alter their traditional ways of thinking to effectively address them. These types of issues are often challenging to solve, as typical problem-solving approaches and existing knowledge may not be sufficient for addressing them.
Transforming your Business Model with Futures Intelligence.
You've been running your business for a few years now and you're starting to feel like you're stuck. The business model that made sense when your organisation started is no longer providing the results you're looking for. It’s time to find a better way.
Futures Scenario Planning.
Futures scenario planning is using future intelligence to inform alternative visions of possible, probable, and preferred futures, and interpreting how those futures might impact your organisation.
Backcasting - A Tool for Planning and Decision Making.
Backcasting is a powerful tool that can be used to manage change and uncertainty. It can help us to identify the steps we need to take to get from where we are now to where we want to be. If you’re facing a complex challenge, backcasting could be the answer.
The Business Case for Foresight.
Foresight is a critical business tool for today because it helps organisations to identify potential future opportunities and threats, adapt to rapidly changing and uncertain environments, and make better decisions. Foresight can help leaders understand the potential implications of deep changes in their industry or market, and enable them to maximise first-mover advantages.
Are Australian charities rich or poor?
The ACNC data set selected for analysis comprises 3,914 Large ($1M+ annual revenue) Australian charity entities with DGR Item 1 or 4 and ACNC Group entities who have submitted audited financial statements and conducted activities in 2019. These entities represent $102B of annual revenue, ~%60 of the total 2019 revenue reported by Australian charity entities to the ACNC.
Managing the Risk of Innovation.
Innovation is a tricky beast. It's not always clear that the risks outweigh the rewards. For those of us in for-purpose organisations, getting the business case right to fund innovation is critical; uncertainty can be a roadblock, but it doesn't have to be.