The present is important
It is where we imagine our futures.
Nothing is harder, yet nothing is more necessary, than to speak of certain things whose existence is neither demonstrable nor probable. The very fact that serious and conscientious people treat them as existing things brings them a step closer to existence and to the possibility of being born.
Herman Hesse, The Glass Bead Game (1949, Introduction)
An Idea does not exist in the physical world; it exists in the mind of man. None the less it may have a key role in history, for it shapes human events by the action it inspires. An Idea manifests itself in human action; although it never finds a fitting home in this world of imperfect mortals, its drives them onward and leaves behind a trail of human, historical experience.
Michael J. Hofstetter, The Romantic Idea of the University (2010, p. 10)
The present is all we have when we are thinking about futures.
Our futures don't yet exist, they are unknowable - which is why our imaginations are so critical today. Our thinking about futures happens in and is shared in the present. We can reframe the present to work towards enacting the futures we hope today will be positive futures for future generations.
We don’t seek to find a single right planned future. We think, talk and write about sustainable futures, better futures, utopian and dystopian futures, successful futures … the list goes on. We put energy and resources into imagining these possible future images - and then we go back to work as usual.
I am exaggerating some because there is some amazing futures work going on at the moment, but I am beginning to think we might be discounting the value and power of the present.
The present is the only space in which we can influence the futures that are with us today - imagined, emerging and nascent. It’s the space in which we do futures work, which is why finding and using our foresight consciously is so critical. The present is where we can collaborate to define new thinking and ideas, new perspectives and new actions to take today. The new is the only way we can truly evaluate the outcomes of futures processes with questions like this.
Has my/our thinking about futures changed?
Am I/we challenging some of my assumptions about how I used to think about futures?
Am I/we sensing a shift in my thinking about the present?
Am I/we exploring the present more expansively than I did before?
This type of questioning, of course, rarely gives tangible results in the current present in which we seek to deconstruct complexity and seek certainty, using data as the prime informant for our thinking and decision making.
Yet our thinking is at the core of futures work - or it should be. Not scenarios, not planning, not reports, not platforms. Heresy, I know.
Conscious use of our foresight is the starting point for all futures processes. Many of us have this foresight capacity but don’t know it. Many use it intuitively. Many are seeking it but don’t know where to look. How to find it?
This image is an early version of my current work. I’m not talking and writing about conversations now, but the content remains valid for me. The four elements address different assumptions that we need to explore, articulate and share.
The four elements are integrated - no single part is more important than the others. They are all needed for us as individuals and for organisations to become futures aware (individuals) and futures oriented (organisations) - that is ensuring finding and using foresight is embedded in organisational operations and promoting futures literacy as a key competency to achieve.
A long way to go yet sadly. The point is that we enact these four parts in the present - this is what enables us to expand and deepen our thinking and our imaginations. This is what focuses our attention not on ‘the future’ but on what we can change and reframe in the present. When done well, futures processes will help us re-perceive the present - we will see more than we have seen in the past.
It takes time to connect all the dots but allowing yourself the time to find your foresight will not be wasted. And this is why I developed my course - The Basics of Foresight - Finding and Using your Foresight. I’m adapting this with new information all the time, and it’s a starting point if you are new to foresight.
There are many courses, and this unabashed plug for mine is deliberate - I focus on how we think, not how we do. The thinking comes before we design futures processes. Not many other courses do that in any detail. If you are now asking ‘how do I find my foresight’, this course might help.y foresight’, this course might help.
Till next time.