Designing futures
We design our futures processes to meet client need. Most projects involve a combination of
Drivers analysis
We scan the horizon continuously to identify near, mid and long-term drivers of change. We provide customised reports for our clients that present drivers in a variety of formats, ranging from papers exploring individual themes in detail to presentations that provide strategic insight into the changing business environment.
Find a sample drivers presentation on our downloads page
Interviews
Stakeholder interviews are a powerful way of gathering information about the strategic issues facing the organisation and about the different perspectives of how to tackle them. We carryout confidential interviews with key internal and external stakeholders to identify the important issues facing the organisation and the range of opinion about how to tackle them. The output is a strategic issues paper that provides an important perspective on strategic choices facing the organisation.
Find a sample issues paper on our downloads page
Workshops
Classroom based workshops
We facilitate all kinds of workshops for our clients, ranging from small groups brainstorming change drivers over lunch to large groups of a hundred or more exploring The implications of scenarios for the strategic plan. We use a range of techniques and approaches and work with client to customise the design of each workshop to meet their particular objectives.
Online workshops
We offer our full range of services on our client’s preferred platform - Teams, Webex, Zoom, BlueJeans and Skype for Business are all popular - and we use a variety of collaborative web based facilitation tools to support futures conversations.
Scenarios
We build scenarios using the mix of desk research, workshop discussions and interviews that our clients need. Some scenarios are developed entirely in workshops, some are wholly research based and some are a combination. We have no fixed way of presenting scenarios and work with our clients to identify what best meets their needs. Some scenarios are short, others long. Some are set in a particular year, others describe timelines or different time points. Narratives can be developed from one viewpoint or can offer multiple stakeholder perspectives.
Find a sample Scenario for 2025 on our downloads page
Strategy development
All of our clients have strategies. Most of clients need to modify them to ensure they are fit for the future. We use the outputs from our drivers, interviews and scenario work to identify which elements of our clients' existing strategic plans are robust across a range of futures; which elements need adjusted in in light of changes in the market; and which elements are no longer required and need to be divested. We then work closely with the client to help them adjust their strategy and secure ownership of the changes across the organisation.