The role of Environmental Scanning in planning departments
Environmental Scanning (ES) is the process of paying attention to the world in which you operate in order to identify and gain a sense of potential signals of change in how your world is developing. When discussing the idea of ‘change’ we need to be clear – a potential signal of change is likely to be one that alerts you to a possible difference between where you thought you were going, and where you now might be required to go. In other words, ES is about managing the difference between your assumptions and your expectations, and the emerging reality of what is taking shape. For any department that has a planning function (and there are in fact surprisingly few that do not) effective ES provides a key element – time. Effective ES acts as an alert function for staff and management teams so that they can prepare their business to take alternative or additional action. There’s some core elements to an effective ES:
First you’ll need a recognition and acceptance that ES signals can be both formal and informal
Second you’ll need to recognise and accept that effective ES is a distributed function – everyone has the ability to pay attention to the things they feel, see and hear and that they might be picking up valuable clues for the organisation
Third – ES works best when you have a system or framework for both gathering the assorted signals and then analysing them for potential relevance to your workplace. The framework provides a means to sort the useful from the mere noise of day to day operations. We want our ES initiatives to generate useful insights
I developed VSTEEP (Values, Societal, Technology; Economic; Environmental and Political) which is a step beyond the more commonly used STEEP and more functionally useful than PESTLE (where the ‘L’ stands for Legal. I see Legal issues as emanating from the Political process). Whatever model you use, someone has to gather the data and turn it into information. There’s lots of ways to do that and it is not quite as complex or as daunting as it seems and although there’s a few other things I’d recommend, just by following the three steps suggested here, you’ll be well on the way to providing your planning capability with more time to get your future right. And that is after all, what most of us want to achieve
Futurist Jack Uldrich has posted an item to his website looking at Ten Trends shaping Government today. Although each item is arguable and may be context specific depending on ‘which’ Government you’re looking at, it’s a good overall take suggesting things to do with data, the interenet, crowdsourcing and the like. However I think Jack…
Read More >Sir Paul Nurse has ‘weight’ when it comes to science. His position is the head of The Royal Society in the United Kingdom and in an address in Melbourne he suggested that we need to keep politicians away from scientists: “It also emphasises the need to keep the science as far as is possible from…
Read More >I’ve been thinking long and hard about what to call 2013. After saying 2011 would need to be the International Year of Resilience (much still needed) and 2012 the International Year of Problem Solving I’m thinking now that Crowdsourcing (the idea of seeking assistance beyond your own capabilities from the ‘crowd’ often through social media)…
Read More >There’s lots of talk about ‘next big things for 2013’ right now, just as there has been in past years. Rather than join the cadre of prognosticators, trend experts and (not so) disguised salespeople laying claim to knowing about what ‘will’ be for the coming 12 months, I offer an alternative approach – here’s five…
Read More >Here it comes, the 21st of December 2012 – the last known recorded date on the Mayan Calendar and for years people have wondered why the Mayans never got around to extending beyond 2012. What did the Mayans know that we didn’t and should we be thinking about opening our Christmas presents early this year?…
Read More >As a Strategic Futurist I love a good scenario like the rest of us in the futures community. And where I choose to diverge from many in my field is in the pragmatic applications of futures and foresight thinking. Scenarios left as ‘what ifs…?’ are at best, theoretical. All of my clients and most of…
Read More >Over at The Australian Strategic Planning Institute an observation has been made about the so called Top Ten Trends for 2013 and whether, with deeper consideration, the trends suggested deserve their place as new, or emerging or whether in fact, by relying upon them you might be chasing a ship that has long since sailed.…
Read More >Creative Commons is an approach that attempts to ensure that information in its various forms, can be shared by others for free. That is my take on it at least. And over time we’ve seen some major organisations shape the idea of ‘free’ to ‘free with conditions’ and ‘free for a fee’. The last one…
Read More >Some topics are too big to cover in a few minutes on radio. In this brief snapshot, the ABC Darwin’s Vicki Kerrigan and I chat about energy costs, causes and the future ahead for places like Darwin You can download the media file here: Marcus Barber Future of Energy
Read More >What does a City tell you of itself, by how it shows itself? There’s much to be learnt by noting the small yet ‘obvious’ signs of life in any city you visit, that reveal to a certain extent, it’s ‘true self’. I’ll mention a few cities here but will focus on my most recent visit…
Read More >