Over at Relevant HistoryΒ Alex Soojung-Kim Pang of the IFTF has one of the most interesting things I’ve read for a while about foresight and futures thinking.Β It’s a work in progress as he admits, but there were two paragraphs that immediately caught my attention:
…This could have profound implications for futures. It would shift the profession from one that communicates through texts, mainly influences leaders and elites, and influences strategic processes, to one that communicates through things, influences large number of people, and informs everyday decision-making. But this is an essential transformation, as it would give us the ability to help solve the critical problems of the 21st century– problems that, I contend, futures as it currently is practiced is ill-equipped to confront.
This is something that resonates with me.Β I’ve always maintained that black and white documents composed on A4 paper are generally useful only for a small subset of people who love having an office full of filing cabinets.Β For the rest of us, they’re about as useful as a rubber cheesegrater.
Give people a document and they’ll file it (a few – if you’re lucky – might read it)
Give people an experience and they will live it.
However I don’t entirely agree with the second paragraph that caught my attention :
To make the consequences of specific actions immediately visible, we will communicate primarily through things rather than texts, through interfaces rather than scenarios or stories. Finally, our work will need to be crafted to continuously reshape small behaviors, rather than grand strategy.
Good storytelling is something that has been proven to work throughout history.Β You can tell stories through interfaces, but the stories are the key.
I look forward to seeing how the discussion develops…
In his book “here comes everybody” Clay Shirky talks about the demise of the ‘scribe’ profession, the now the change in the journalist profession with the coming of web technologies. The question we need to ask is – is there something happening out there, that is working against the profession. If there are weaknesses today, such as the ones mentioned, then sure enough, someone will come around and find ways to break through that weakness.
I am of the opinion, that futurists should be people who champion the widespread dissemination of foresight practice in everyday life. Foresight practice does not belong in ivory towers and is not something you do once a year, but something that is an essential part of being for all. The extent to which you do that might vary, but to some extent each of us, individuals and institutions must practice foresight.
So, perhaps there is reason to think differently – from churning reports to becoming activists.
Sudhir
thanks for this – very insightful. I think you comment that that focus should move “from churning reports to becoming activists” is highly relevant. I’m currently working on a pro-bono project to do something exactly like that.
Cheers
Roger