What on earth is foresight and futures thinking?

March 5, 2025 Matthew Lee

A Future scape image

One of the questions I am often asked is what on earth is foresight and futures thinking? The field of foresight and futures thinking has been around since the 1940s, yet it still catches many people off guard, even in large organisations. Reactions tend to fall into two camps: either excitement, with visions of spending the day imagining a Jetsons-like future; or scepticism, dismissing it as some kind of management pseudo-science. When I introduced foresight into one organisation, I even earned the nickname Mystic Matt.

But foresight isn’t about mysticism, nor is it just about imagining a world of flying cars (though sometimes, that’s part of it). At its core, foresight is a structured and rigorous approach to understanding change. It involves analysing historical patterns and present-day signals to identify emerging trends, disruptions, and inflection points.

Crucially, foresight doesn’t predict one definitive future, it explores multiple possibilities, uncovering the barriers, enablers, and assumptions shaping them. It is a collaborative process, engaging teams, customers, competitors, and stakeholders to add depth and strategic insight.

The real value of foresight lies in what happens next. By considering different futures, organisations can anticipate challenges, seize new opportunities, and make more informed decisions today. It helps leaders navigate uncertainty with confidence, ensuring they are not just reacting to change, but shaping it.

Foresight isn’t about gazing into a crystal ball. It’s about building the mindset, skills, and strategic agility needed to create better futures, rather than being led by or blindsided by them. If you would like to know more drop me a message or checkout www.BirchTreeAssociates.co.uk 

Mystic Matt