8790226 - Fundamentals of Futures Thinking

Course Description

Is your organization struggling to keep up with an ever-changing world? Are you tired of reacting rather than being proactive? Supercharge your strategic approach by creating a futures-thinking community within your institution. This 4-week course introduces the fundamentals for thinking like a futurist and provides participants with ideas on how to infuse futures thinking throughout the areas and processes of your organization to help keep you future-focused.

The course will progress with new topics and discussions or exercises introduced each week. Progression through the materials is self-paced.

Course Outline

• Orientation

• What does it mean to be a futurist?

• Futures Thinking in Your Organization

• Recognizing and Using Signals of the Future

• Building and Participating in a Futures Community

• Bonus Section: Tools of Futures Thinking

Learner Outcomes

At the conclusion of this course, students should be able to:

• Articulate why futures thinking is important for their organization.

• Explain the five futures principles.

• Describe the cycle of futures thinking.

• Identify the various concepts of futures thinking including signals, trends, and drivers.

• Apply the basic tools of futures thinking, such as the two curves framework, to aspects of their organization.

Notes

This class will be presented using the Canvas platform. Students will receive an email invitation to the course along with instructions from the facilitator on how to access the course. Content in the course will be delivered via readings and videos. There will also be exercises and interactive discussions to help the participant learn and practice the topics being explored in the course. The facilitator will also offer optional weekly Zoom student hours if participants wish to dig deeper into the material or ask questions. The course will culminate in the development of a very short presentation that a participant can use to share their knowledge of futures thinking at their institution.