What you'll learn:
- How to foresee the big picture for your organization – and understand how it could change
- How to visualize alternative ways your future could realistically turn out
- How to identify the critical uncertainties that will shape the future of a business, industry, or country
- How to generate a portfolio of contrasting but plausible future "landscapes", for any organization
- How to develop ideas and strategic initiatives that would be successful in each future scenario
- How to think like a far-sighted decision maker
- How to avoid unrealistic expectations based on linear thinking
The aim of this course is to help you visualize – and understand – alternative futures that could unfold for your business, project, product, industry - or entire country.
It is based on the course in scenario planning I teach in the Master's program in Future Foresight and Planning at Rochester Institute of Technology's Dubai campus – but with some extra content added which comes from my practical experience as a scenario generation workshop facilitator in over 30 countries, and from my bestselling books on this fascinating technique.
Why should you want to visualize your future? Because as a decision maker, you need to understand not just that the future will be different (we all know this), but how the future will be different – specifically, the future “business landscape” for your organization.
The reason this is so important is that you have to make decisions and plans today that will only play out at some point in the future – a future that right now is unknowable. And even though we can't confidently predict exactly how the future is going to turn out, the success of your organization may depend on how good those decisions and plans are, how well-aligned they are with the way the future has actually unfolded. Like it or not, though, you often have no choice but to make these decisions well before you know what the future terrain will in fact look like in which they will be implemented.
Scenario planning is a highly practical technique to foresee how this future business landscape could evolve – and potentially in different directions. It is not about predicting the future but exploring alternative futures – each of which could realistically emerge. Its practical value is clear: by helping you foresee different ways your particular market or business terrain could change, you're in a better position to make effective long-term plans today.
This Udemy course walks you step-by-step through the process of generating future scenarios for an organization, a product, an industry – even an entire country. The process is structured and logical, and yet very creative.
Join me for an eye-opening learning experience! I guarantee it will add a very valuable technique to your managerial toolkit.
