What is a Future Search?
How do you move forward with complex issues? I have had good experiences with the Future Search method. Even when a situation seems hopeless, a Future Search can release new hope and energy for improvement. I would like to share a brief description of the method and an example to give you a better idea. Future Search is an interactive planning meeting in which a group of between 60 and 80 stakeholders of a complex issue turn their capabilities into a shared vision, strategic plan and/or action plan. The design of the meeting is highly structured, based on principles and experiences tested over 50 years in many different cultures. The meeting lasts 16 hours, spread over three days. That ‘sleeping twice‘ is an essential part of the planning process. Marvin Weisbord and Sandra Janoff, the founders of this method, call this process ‘riding the rollercoaster‘.
What do participants do in those three days?
In successive working rounds, participants explore past, present and future together. Not only by talking about it, but also by making overviews together and making sense of it together. They visualise the past in large timelines and discover patterns in them. They map developments and trends in the present using Mind Mapping and analyse what this means for their own stakeholder group. They then create images of the future and present them to each other, often in creative ways. They then look for the common ground in the future images, and a round action planning follows to create pathways to a desired and feasible future. Participants work alternately in mixed small groups, in more homogeneous stakeholder groups, and in plenary in the large group. The small groups lead themselves with the help of clear instructions.
An example: The story of the Future Search Enschede
What that might it look like? The picture story on this page from the Future Search about safety and quality of life in the city centre of Enschede gives a good impression. Other examples from my own work: FS development of the Berkel Valley, FS for exploring the future of the National Fire Service. I have also supervised shorter future searches, lasting only 1 day. It can be done, but it yields much less in terms of ownership and follow-up.
What it delivers
How does it work and what does a FS deliver? This video summarises it clearly
More information
Interested? Contact me for a further introduction. The Future Search Network website provides extensive information on backgrounds, principles, conditions for success and experiences and videos of Future Searches.
Book Future Search, with a practical guide