I am currently in a fascinating course that spends most of the time looking to the future. In this course, we have been learning about how to use future foresight and scenarios in order to test our present-day strategies so that we are best prepared when the future arrives. As said, it is fascinating, and I’m enjoying it. Below is an excerpt of one of my posts written for the class discussions. You will see that it speaks about why looking forward is a good thing to do, not only for our organization’s long-term health, but for our present-day effectiveness. If we think forward, we can make the future better while simultaneously improving our impact today. It’s a win and future-win! Another important point is that the future is coming whether we like it or not, so it’s best if we decide today how we plan to participate. We can’t just let it happen; we must be engaged in the process. We have to buy a ticket for the future, otherwise the future may pass us by, leaving us on the side of the highway of life wondering what just hit us! That’s why I’m in my doctoral program and why I devote so much time to investing myself in the lives of other leaders. I want to be a part of the future when it gets here. I’ve bought my ticket!
Here is the excerpt highlighting one of my favorite innovative performing companies. As you will see, they can teach us a lot about being future minded. Enjoy.
Most of us have attended a circus and enjoyed it. However, often, once you’ve seen one traditional circus, you’ve seen them all. The acts, music, and cotton candy are pretty much the same and represent what could be classified as the “official future” (Gordon, 2009) of circuses. Then, along comes Cirque du Soleil, and beckons us to break free of the norm (Durham, 2000). They do as Chermack (2011) instructs must be done in superior scenario development: “create a mystique” that compels people to want to know more. One achieves this when the scenario is relevant, challenging and plausible.
Relevance comes through data collected through interviews, brainstorming and hands-on involvement of leaders. Challenging refers to “stretch thinking” that forces participants to go beyond what is presently accepted and reshape lives, which will improve the future (Cornish, 2004). More than simply announcing stretch goals which can seem impossible to achieve (Sitkin, See, Miller, Lawless, & Carton, 2011), stretch thinking creates an environment in which thinking the unthinkable is the new optimistic norm (Bullock, 2014). This leads to the third factor, plausible: members must believe that the scenarios created “might actually happen” (Chermack, 2011). Once again, Cirque’s mystique accomplishes these interdependent characteristics in that they are 100% current in their performance technology, making them relevant to today’s audience, whose minds are stretched to believe any stunt they attempt is plausible.
Relevant, challenging and plausible are key factors in the first three phases of scenario planning: preparation, exploration and development, and also in the next phase, successful implementation. The final phase, assessment, will prove if the three factors were a part of the entire process or not (Chermack, 2011). Canton (2015) speaks of a future that is plausible for people to grasp, if they first are able and willing to envision it. In other words, they must allow their minds to be stretched as they experience that which they had not thought possible, just as with Cirque. But first, they must buy a ticket.
I hope you will buy your ticket, too. You’ll get to the future without one, but you might not like your seat! Lead well.