faqs.

The use of foresight in our planning will help us think about what might happen next so we can plan for it in advance, instead of just reacting when things change. This helps us achieve the impact we want with less risk and uncertainty because we have planned ahead for a range of futures. Foresight also helps us identify new opportunities and paths to achieve our missions.

We define foresight as the skill of looking forward in order to prepare for what might happen next. This is not about predicting the future but rather using proven foresight tools and skills to explore a range of plausible, possible, probable and preferred futures so we can better understand what could happen and prepare for it .

Both forecasts and foresight are about understanding what might happen next.

Forecasting usually involves a lot of quantitative data, it is based on numbers not assumptions and usually maps forward linear progressions based on what has happened in the past. Whereas, foresight is more about understanding a range of issues, signals and trends - it is more about exploring possibilities than predicting numbers.

insight & foresight uses the Futures Platform™ to create, identify and map phenomena, trends, points of inflection, contradictions and signals. 

This gives insight & foresight’s futures work strong validity and relevance. It saves time and provides a robust data set from which to create possible, probable and preferred scenarios that are used to create a futures focused action plan and make decisions today.

insight & foresight’s use of the Futures Platform™ is a unique offering in Australia.

Learn more about the Futures Platform™

Foresight can be used at all levels of business, for example to explore opportunities in new markets, to understand the impact of disruptive technologies on existing products or services offered by your business; to understand the changes in behaviours of your customer base, to anticipate social and political tensions that could affect your business. However, it is most valuable when it comes to build plans for impact and future growth because you can use foresight to explore a range of possibilities for what might happen next so you can decide which options will work best for your business.

It is useful to think about the different 'types of futures' that might result from your business activities, for example technical, social and political changes. Foresight projects need strong leadership and clear objectives. The best way to ensure this is at the start of a foresight project when it starts with defining the key question the foresight project is trying to answer. There are many ways of doing that but one method is to ask 'what might happen next?'. This means that instead of planning for what you want to happen next, you start planning for what could or might happen.

There are no guarantees in business so it is best to have a portfolio of strategies. One way businesses can prepare for what might happen next is by using foresight as an integral part of their planning and decision making process, this helps them plan for future trends and events that may affect the success of their business.

Another strategy involves leveraging technology. Today's technologies are enabling new business models so it is important to think about how your existing business could benefit from emerging technologies. By considering the impact of different technologies on your business, you can identify the opportunities and risks associated with them and plan accordingly.

It's like any other skill, you get better at it if you practise. So people who are good at forecasting are likely to be good at foresight. So if you currently do forecasting well, you are likely to have transferable skills for doing more foresight.

There are a number of other skills that benefit from being used in foresight such as critical thinking and creativity, the ability to inspire people and build relationships.

Foresight contributes by being action-oriented – instead of just analysing the present, it seeks to identify gaps in our knowledge and to develop ways of filling those gaps. Foresight identifies a range of futures and then allows us to think about how we might prepare for each one. It asks: “How can we build the capacities now that will allow us to respond effectively to futures as they emerge?”

The "purpose" of foresight is to help us structure and focus our thinking about the future to enable better decisions for the present. It's a structured way of thinking that provides a scaffold upon which we can build all sorts of different futures and action plans.

As uncertainty increases around us, foresight becomes more important as a way of preparing for future change and dealing with new circumstances. It helps us make better decisions for impact and future growth.

Foresight work has been carried out in various forms for thousands of years by people wanting to understand the future. People like Herodotus, Thucydides and Confucius asked themselves how they could prepare for different futures – how they could become more resilient.

Today there are a range of practitioners who use different methods, depending on the nature of the problem they are trying to solve. Global companies like Mars Wrigley and Disney have dedicated foresight departments.

Points of inflection or tipping points are important to business because they mark a significant change in the progress of a company, industry, sector, economy, or macro-political situation. They can be considered points after which dramatic change is expected to impact, with either positive or negative results. Because these events are so important, businesses must be aware of them and understand their potential impact.