Structuring Futures and Foresighting

Foresight, then, in an organisational context, is an aspect of strategic thinking, which latter is meant to open up an expanded range of perceptions of the strategic options available, so that strategy-making is potentially wiser. Foresight (as strategic thinking) is concerned with exploration (based on limited and patchy information) and options, not with the steps needed for the implementation of actions, which is the realm of strategic planning. The former is intuitive, disruptive and ‘what if?’ in nature; the latter is goal-oriented, pragmatic and ‘make it happen/can do!’ in nature. The junction between these two activities is the mysterious ‘black box’ of the strategy development process or strategy-making itself, where a particular goal or objective is actually set or a decision made. The focus here is on assessing options, examining choices, making a decision, and/or setting a goal, objective or destination.

- Joseph Voros, A generic foresight process framework, 2000-2005

Based on this, we created a scenario that paints the picture of life in 2027. The requirements, and therefore assessable criteria for this were: 1. Being immersive, 360 degrees and rich (visually and informationally)

2. Allowing the viewer to feel the future scenario, use a protagonist (or user) to walk them

through our scenario

3. Integrating this with research and environmental scanning

4. Integrating three scenario projections: Preposterous, Projected, Preferred

We did this by identifying LittleBits as our target company and considering an individual called Mellisa's perspective. 24 hours in their life were plotted: from the moment she wakes up to the moment she sleeps. Who does she interact with? What decisions does she face? What objects does she encounter? What does her world look, feel, and smell like? Considerations were lent to

the political, economic, social/cultural, technological, legal, and environmental context of 2027.