Foresight and Planning 2
(Wednesday)
Context:
Foresight is important because it allows you to use your logic and critical thinking ability to extrapolate and predict what may occur. Once you know what may occur, you can better plan for any situation.
Why it’s important: Having foresight in the workplace is essential. It allows companies to decide which features their customers may need in the future. Insight allows companies to identify trends and surging industries.
Using foresight can give a business valuable insight to help its company thrive in a changing world. Conversely, a company may use surveys and focus groups to gain insight to inform their foresight into what will be best for the company.
“Customer insight is essential for the optimization of customer journeys and to understand why a customer is doing what they are doing. Therefore it is imperative for marketers to not only generate insights, but to turn it into readable and accessible intelligence to make data-driven decisions.” - uplandsoftware.com
Primer Questions
1) Why is using foresight so important? Can you give an example?
2) Do you think it’s important to plan for the future? Are you planning for your future?
3) If yes, how are you planning for your future? If you are not planning for your future, why not?
Write your thoughts in your journal.
FUTURE PROOFING IN BUSINESS: Foresight is used for community development.
“Using foresight in planning provides multiple benefits. Planners can use foresight to help their communities navigate change and uncertainty. It can make long-range planning more resilient and nimbler. And it can foster community engagement and allow for more inclusive and equitable outcomes.”
— Planning With Foresight, Planning.org
Domino effect.
Oftentimes one action can lead to another, which can then set off a chain reaction of events that takes on a life of its own. If you’ve planned correctly, that’s a good thing. However, if you didn’t plan at all, those actions and resulting events can lead to negative or unintended consequences.
Many things in life can change our circumstances, even with the best planning. But still, can you see the difference between people who had foresight, and those who did not?
Watch the video.
Remember: Successful people use planning and foresight to create the futures they want.
If you use foresight to see what’s possible and what outcome you want, you can then take steps and plan to reach that specific outcome.
You can work towards making the future of your choice come true. It’s up to you.
A part of any plan should be developing positive mindsets, attitudes, habits, traits, and qualities of successful people.
Foresight and planning: Successful people use planning and foresight to create the futures they want.
In business and in life, planning requires that you first identify your future goal.
So what is your goal in life? Beyond going to college or getting a job? What do you want to do with your life?
Then working from where you are now, you can plan the steps to reach your goal. Make sure you are willing to make adjustments along the way if things don’t go exactly as planned.
The infographic to the right is used by businesses to be prepared and well positioned for the future. You can use this same process for yourself.
— Planning With Foresight, Planning.org