In October 2020, the Royal Society for Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA) delivered a report titled A Stitch in Time? Realising the value of futures and foresight.Â
Foresight is the capacity to think strategically about the future.
In the report, five building blocks are shared for organizations to begin embracing longview thinking more deeply:
Broaden time horizons – commit to thinking beyond the immediate future and using foresight to “support the development of a vision and strong narrative for future wellbeing and prosperity…”
Develop capabilities – commit to developing a futures mindset and culture throughout the organization, “ensuring that most public servants have a basic knowledge of foresight and that decision-makers receive customised training so that they understand its value to public policy.”
Integrate with existing processes – commit to strategic foresight becoming a key structure within the organization, “not a process to be ticked off.“Â
Overcome resistance – commit to resisting push back to maintaining and preserving the status quo.
Evaluate and learn – commit to some metric of success, remembering “foresight is about stretching thinking and imagination into new possibilities more than it is about prediction.”
While these building blocks are not focused on the education sector, I share them here because they can get us thinking about the validity of such processes to support longer view thinking in our field.
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âť“ Provocation:
If transformation to a more human-centered system involves altering current structures, does elevating foresight practices within education support the transformation we seek? What are some first steps we can take?
đź’Ž Resource:
🧠Mindset:
Strategic thinking
đź’ˇ Area:
Longview (strategic foresight)
📣 Drop your thoughts in the comments, or in the Facebook group, and feel free to share resources. 🔥🔥🔥
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