Deconstructing the Future

Preview:

DESCRIPTION

Presented by Karl Albrecht Imagination is an invaluable resource for thinking about the future or solving a future-focused problem, but it also needs the support of a diligent, organized thinking process that lends depth to the inquiry. This session will demonstrate how to deconstruct a presenting problem or issue, using three simple whole-brained thinking tools. Combining the strengths of mind mapping, affinity diagramming, and card planning, you'll follow an interesting case study to see how the Structured Inquiry Method can lend depth and clarity to our understanding of almost any futures question.

Citation preview

“Deconstructing the Future”

Karl Albrecht

World Future Society

World Future 2014July 12, 2014

Orlando

Seeing Beyond“Magic Wand” Predictions

The “Oh-S***” Future

Whose “Future” Do You Believe?The “Gee-Whiz” Future

The Turning Point?

“Civilization is more and more a race between educationand catastrophe.”

~ H.G. Wells, 1902

Do Futurists Drink Too Much Coffee?

“Magic Wand” Predictions

About That OverpopulationProblem

Famous “Bad Calls”

“Forget it, Louis -no Civil War picturehas evermade a nickel.”- Irving Thalberg,business Adviserto Louis B. Mayer,who turned down“Gone With the Wind,” 1937

GONEwith theWIND

Famous “Bad Calls”

“Robert Goddard’stheories aboutspace travelare too far-fetchedeven to beconsidered.”- Scientific AmericanMagazine, 1940

Famous “Bad Calls”

“We will bury you.And you capitalistswill sell us the shovelsto do it with.”- Nikita Khrushchev,Premier of USSR, 1962

Famous “Bad Calls”

“I see no reasonwhy anyonewould needa computerin their home.”- Ken Olsen, founder ofDigital Equipment Corp.,1977

“We stand on the threshold of rocket mail”

What’s the Next “Rocket Mail”?

Computersto replacefuturists by2025

The Final Prediction?

How Do Futurists Think?

Two Thinking “Systems”

“System 1”:Reflexive

“System 2”:Reflective

“System 2” Thinking: What If . . .?

“System 2” Thinking: a Strategy Exercise

• 5 coins, each touching 2 neighbors.• Players alternate taking way coins.• Each player can take either 1 coin, or 2 if they’re touching each other.• Cannot disturb the other coins.• Winner is the one who takes the last coin (or coins).• What strategy will always win the game?

1

2

34

5

There Will Always be New Ideas

Square Watermelons?

Low-budget Funerals?

Wine Sling?

Musical Taser?

New Fashions?

The Digital Outhouse?

Underwater Hotels?

Space Tourism?

Electronic Tombstones?

Customer

Competitor

Economic

Techno-logical

Social

Political

Legal

Geo-physical

The Strategic Radar Model for Business

The Structured Inquiry Method

1. Map out the “Strategic Context”

2. Discover the Drivers

3. Build the Road Map

Starts with Asking a “Big Question.”

Then ...

1. Mind Mapping: The “Strategic Context”

2. Affinity Diagramming: The “Drivers”

DRIVER 4DRIVER 3DRIVER 2DRIVER 1

3. Card Planning: The “Roadmap”

Time Line

Better Questions => Better Predictions

A Useful Prediction Is …

• Anchored in a Context

• Time-bound [“… by the year 20xx”]

• Confidence-Rated [“+/- 5 years”] [“Conf. = 90%”]

• Testable [observable criteria…]

New Thinking for a New World

“Everything should be made as simple as possible – but not simpler.”

~ Albert Einstein

Books

Visit WFS Bookstore

Order & pay; provide shipping address

Will be shipped to you (no shipping cost)

Your Strategic Radar The Northbound Train

For More Information…

http://www.KarlAlbrecht.com

Recommended