Assumptions Again

Using foresight in practice needs to integrate clear understanding of how we *think* about futures as well as how to *do* futures.

I have written about assumptions before: here and here. How we find and use our assumptions about future is becoming a major focus of my work at the moment.

I recently asked folks on Twitter and LinkedIn when was the last time they challenged their assumptions. Simple question I thought. I explained I was developing a framework centered on assumptions. No one answered that question - see my last paragraph in this post for why this probably happened.

I also asked if thinking about how we think about futures was of interest and some folks sort of answered that with comments about assumptions generally or how they design their processes.

No one really answered the first question - which I asked because it's at the core of our futures processes.

This preference for the second question might be nothing (or my unclear question), but perhaps it reflects a tendency to focus on the doing of foresight - the process, the actions, the outcomes. That's essential of course and it's how foresight gets u…