Managing the Future: A Guide to Forecasting and Strategic Planning in the 21st Century

Equipping your organization for an uncertain future is a daunting task. If you're already over-stretched dealing with the pressures of today - it can seem like an impossible one. But building future planning into your everyday practices is not only vital - it's eminently doable. And who better to show us how than Stephen Millett - historian, futurist and management consultant for three decades? Future studies and practices emphasize methods, techniques, and tools, but often lack a sound theoretical foundation enjoyed by the natural, and many of the social, sciences. Yet theoretical first principles provide the foundation for solving practical problems - including planning, investing, managing, etc. Dr. Millett outlines his Five Futuring Principles: they provide a clear theoretical framework for preparing an organization for the future. He then takes us through the practical steps involved in managing a forward-facing organization, including managing "futuring" (the external-to-internal process of scanning the environment to anticipate the trends that will affect your organization) and "visioning" (realizing the internal mission, values, aspirations and goals of an organization and its management, and then turning your organization outward to face the world). Managing the Future draws on examples of recent best practice from corporations and venture capital firms. It includes discussions of trend analysis as pattern recognition, the advantages and disadvantages of expert judgement, and both intuitive and analytical scenarios for forecasting and planning.