Thinking the Future

Do you know how to think about the future? All our decisions are about the future, whether its tomorrow, next year or the next decade, yet our choices are often undermined by desires, expectations and common mental mistakes making assumptions, worrying about things we cant control, missing signals because were distracted by the noise. But if you can learn how to think, you can learn how to look ahead. Isaac Newton said: If I have seen further than others, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants. In Thinking the Future, Clem Sunter and Mitch Ilbury teach us the futurists art of decision-making by reimagining seminal concepts from some of historys greatest thinkers. They encourage foxy, flexible mindsets and reject the popular but misleading self-help tenet that you can decide your fate through the relentless pursuit of a single goal. An uncertain world demands a more dynamic approach. The point is not to forecast one outcome but to plot multiple scenarios of what could happen. Using scenario-planning techniques, we can all harness the power to work towards the future we want, avoid the ones we dont, and prepare ourselves for the possible risks and opportunities no matter what transpires.