The Outsider’s view of the Inside Futures
As a consultant, one of the great puzzles I consistently discover is the mindset many clients hold with regard to their own abilities to conceive of and pursue, their own approach to futures thinking. I know this is not an issues restricted to futurists as where some clients have a ‘not invented here’ approach to rejecting ideas, many others hold the ‘can’t invent it here’ view of their own capabilities. And that means that
a lot of my time working with clients is invested in showing them how much they do know and that they should have confidence to be able to do much (if not all) of their chosen activities without outside intervention.
In writing for the innovation magazine Fast Thinking a few years ago I took the same approach with the idea of innovation generation and processes – suggesting that in all likelihood, most organisations DO HAVE the skills they need to run their own innovation programs without outside intervention. A fellow writer and innovation consultant took me to task in the subsequent issue saying that wasn’t true.
On a strong personal note, I believe in ‘skills transfer’ – the idea that with a little bit of guidance and an effective model, the client organisation ought to be able to do their own futures work once I have left. I’ll always be available should they feel they prefer some outside assistance BUT overwhelmingly my aim is to provide them with a platform that gives them confidence to be able to do a thoroughly good job.
Which brings us to the Insider’s Approach to Futures:
a) You do have the skills
b) You may need a process or two to run with
c) An Outsider should be used to help with momentum for a futures project, not to develop ownership of it
d) Appreciate that timing matters – some people will get on board earlier than others and as such, the kinds of conversations that you have with people may seem repetitive to you, but will be likely new to them. So keep having them
I’ve worked with a lot of different clients – Large Corporate, Large Goverment; small businesses; Not for Profits; international, local; and everything in between. I am yet to experience a ‘dumb client’. Quite the contrary – almost every client I’ve worked with has held high levels of intellectual capacity. The one element missing is a model that helps them expand their Breadth of awareness; the Depth of information and the Distance of the forward view. Once they have that model, the pathways toward their desired futures are many and often clearer than they were.
The Outsider’s view of Inside Futures then is that you probably do have the skills you need. A good process will help bring that all together into an effective package
Okay the time has come again where people ask me, as a professional futurist, for my tips for the Melbourne Cup. As always I advise them that my area of expertise does not reside with horse racing so really, I have as much chance as anyone and their own system, of selecting a winner. That…
Read More >ABC Darwin’s Vicki Kerrigan and I chat about the future of dentistry – is it possible to grow you own teeth? Are dentist visits going to become a thing of the past? And in the second of today’s updates, we also chatted about the Future of Parenting – is it time that you needed a…
Read More >Organisations like CleanUp Australia and Take3.org have (along with many others) taken a leading role at identifying and removing waste that has entered our environment. Their efforts are fantastic yet have one clear problem – they rely on volunteers to clean up the mess of others, after the fact – it’s a ‘playing catch-up’ strategy.…
Read More >The Retail sector in Australia is slowing coming to grips with the fact that for the past 50 years, they’ve had a captured market and enormous profit margins. and that now, the times have changed. Whilst many point to the internet as a cause of their woes, others are pointing out the apparent high cost…
Read More >he many people who’ve been through one of The Australian Strategic Planning Institute’s workshops over the past six years, will know how much emphasis is placed on the need to pay attention to things going on around you. In particular as part of the idea of tracking your progress toward your desired future (your Vision).…
Read More >As a Futurist I’m often asked what I think about certain social media tools (and most technology for that matter). My answer is always aligned to the thought that ‘if the technology is working for you, and not against you, it’s probably a good thing. Here then are my thoughts about building up a useful…
Read More >Will alcohol have a legitimate place in societies in the years to come? As we slowly awaken to the horrendous impact of alcohol related harm and it’s social and financial costs, will Australia’s widely held acceptance of alcohol consumption begin to wane? This MP3 of my chat with Vicki Kerrigan on ABC Darwin drew…
Read More >Well as I’ve discovered them! These three questions (and my normal answers) are based on what I get asked consistently when I’m presenting or facilitating a session about Strategic Planning, ‘the future of…’, and how societies might look five, ten or twenty years from now: Question One – ‘What is the most important thing to…
Read More >Every now and again what sounds like a really good idea turns out to be less beneficial than what was hoped for. Strategic Futurist Marcus Barber wonders whether or not the Victorian Government’s ‘4 Minute Shower’ idea is a current example? For those of you that have read my paper ‘A Drop in the Ocean’…
Read More >There’s a lot to like about Mars. For centuries the name given to the Roman God of War (in honour of its blood stained hue) it has given us an opportunity and point of focus to think beyond our own planet. There’s been some vast mythologies about the deep channels (interpreted as canals meant signs…
Read More >