Foresight is the ability to look forward and think ahead. You might also think of it as futures intelligence. One of the best definitions of intelligence comes from the 1955 Hoover Commission on Intelligence Activities, which stated, “… intelligence deals with all the things which should be known in advance of initiating a course of action.” That’s our goal; to know as much as possible about the future ahead of time so we can make the right decisions now to best position for what’s to come.
Of course we can’t know everything about the future in advance. The future is a big mysterious place that’s full of unknowns. It’s cloaked in a fog with varying degrees of transparency. Some things stand out and can be counted on while others are revealed only through the passage of time. Further complicating matters is that everything we know about the future is based on the past and present, which is subject to change. Our view is therefore based on assumptions. Some have a high degree of probability that nearly everyone trusts while others are questionable.
Because the future is volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous, a futurist must recognize that repeatable perfect prediction is unattainable. Sure, we might get it right from time to time, but no information source, technique, oracle, or computer system can answer every question with complete accuracy every time, especially when investigating the distant future. There are far too many variables and unknowns to achieve perfect prediction with presently available imperfect information. The aim of foresight, therefore, isn’t perfect prediction, but information preparedness.
We won’t have all the answers. We won’t hit the nail on the head every time. But with the right approach we can identify and think through the possibilities and their implications to develop effective strategies that keep us within a favorable range and allow us to adapt as the future unfolds.
Foresight can be practiced by just about anyone for nearly any purpose, but success doesn’t happen by chance. A methodology is needed to properly evaluate the future and plan for what’s to come. Project Sunstone’s Future Discovery Framework™ offers such an approach.
Please look over the Future Discovery Framework™ overview and consider our e-book for more in-depth information. Also be sure to check out our free articles on Substack.