Foresight and Planning 1
(Monday)
Context:
A key skill of the most successful individuals in both business and life is planning. There’s a saying, “Plan your work, work your plan”.
Planning implies that not only have you determined the specific steps needed to reach a specific goal, but that you’ve thought about possible obstacles or roadblocks, and have considered or created a contingency plan.
Having a plan is like having a map and a destination. Planning allows you to know where you’re headed, and how to get there. An important aspect of planning is foresight.
What it is: Foresight is defined as the ability to predict or the action of predicting what will happen or be needed in the future.
Why it’s important: Time management is highly valued in the workplace. An employee that makes great use of his time is one that companies want in their company for the long term. In order to use your time effectively, planning and foresight are needed.
In addition to using planning and foresight for self-regulation, all careers will require you to plan and use foresight to get the job done. The more you work at developing these abilities the more prepared you will be for the workplace and life.
Primer Questions
Have you ever heard the saying, “Actions have consequences?” What do you think it means?
Can you give a few examples of how that statement is true? Have you ever seen someone do something, or not do something, and you knew what the consequences would be?
Do you regularly think about the consequences of your actions?
Write down your answers and observations in your journal.
“
The circumstance you are in today, are a direct result of your action or inaction of the last eight months.
”
— Deepak Chopra
Look before you leap.
Have you heard that saying? What does it mean to you? Do you regularly think about the result of actions you take on a daily basis?
Watch the video then answer the questions below, or discuss them with others.
Note: The concepts in the video are very simple. Try teaching the simple main points to a younger sibling or friend to improve your ability to train others.
Questions for reflection
How would you define foresight?
In your journal, write about one or two times when you saw a situation or action that you felt wasn’t going to end well.
Regarding the incident, you cite in your answer to question two, what could have been done to prevent the situation’s negative outcome?
Have you ever done something that ended badly and thought to your self, “I should have known better.”
Do you learn from your mistakes? Do you learn from the past?
Write down your answers and observations in your journal, or discuss them with others.
Foresight in business.
“Unfortunately, foresight is often undermined as it gets labeled as a prophecy, but it is neither prophecy nor prediction. It does not aim to predict the future – to unveil it as if it were predetermined – rather, it helps us build it. It invites us to consider the future as something that we can create and/or shape, rather than as something already decided.
From a scientific point of view, foresight holds two facets: a mental and sensory representation of things that are not yet present or a sense or feeling of what may be or what may come, and a memory that connects the past and what we know to do with the future and what may be.
From a practical perspective, in the art of leading, it may be considered as a capacity for meta-analysis of past, present, and future. For example, if we don’t understand our past, we may become ignorant to many of the probabilities and possibilities presented. At the same time, if we spend too much time in the past, we can easily lose sight. Similarly, if we aren’t sufficiently attentive to the present, we may walk by what needs most care today. At the same time, we must actively relate today’s experience to the past.” - Forbes Magazine, The Importance Of Foresight: Why Intuition And Imagination Will Be Critical In The Future Of Work
REMEMBER: Developing foresight should start now.
“Education is another area where foresight is important. Students lacking foresight are more likely to neglect their studies because they see no connection between education and a successful future. But students with good foresight skills can recognize the importance of studying and can also select the courses most likely to help them meet their goals.” - Forbes Magazine, The Importance Of Foresight: Why Intuition And Imagination Will Be Critical In The Future Of Work
If you don’t develop foresight, you may later have difficulty saving money, relationships, job selection, and security, down payments on homes, and saving for retirement.
Metacognitive Goals
From now until Wednesday we want you to:
1) In your journal, write about times or situations that ended badly for you or someone you know. Write about how foresight may have prevented the negative outcome. What didn’t you or they consider? Did someone try to warn you or them? How would you or they handle the situation or circumstance differently?
2) Note if you use foresight to think about possible outcomes of your actions or words. Do you use foresight?
Thought of the day.
“One can have only as much preparation as he has foresight.”
- Jim Butcher