Future Backwards

Courtesy: Andrew Rook, Cognitive-edge.com

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The Future, Backwards method was created to aid in widening the range of perspectives a group of people can take on understanding their past and the possibilities of their future.

Typical Uses

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1. As an alternative to traditional strategic/scenario planning which place excessive emphasis on ideal future states.
2. To embed lessons from organisation’s past in decision making
3. To aid in conflict resolution between different groups with opposing views

How To

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1. Divide participants into groups. 6-10 people per group.
2. Time box
3. Start with current state ("Here" below). Within 5 mins ask the teams to write as much about the current state as possible. (One per post it note)
4. When time box is up, have the group write about the most significant recent event preceding the current state. [this forms the History, backbone).
5. Now ask them to write the Good and the Bad (Improvements) currently.
6. Follow it up with the Good and the Bad of the future. The "bad" of future is risk management.