FEATURE14 May 2013

Building the future

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Impact

For decision-makers in any organisation, there’s a real premium in knowing what’s coming next. Can we really use today’s insights to piece together an accurate picture of tomorrow? Or is foresight a load of crystal balls?

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Here’s a nice definition to get us started. “In the commercial world, insight is the raw material you gather about today – and foresight is what you make of those insights, what causes you to make decisions about the future. It’s compelling – and it ought to be ongoing and systemic.”

It comes from David Smith, CEO of Global Futures and Foresight (GFF) – and he’s had about 30 years to come up with a decent definition. But even he concedes that the term is tough to pin down. And, what’s worse, foresight is rarely done well.

“In the commercial world, insight is the raw material you gather about today – and foresight is what you make of those insights”

“There’s certainly a value in seeing what’s happening around us – and trying to work out what’s happening next, ” Smith says. “The problem is that foresight is rarely a joined-up process within organisations – and to come up with precise forecasts, ...