"It has been an absolute pleasure working with you. I’m absolutely thrilled with how the Fresh! Seminars have been received and your contribution has been a massive part of that – really changing perceptions and providing excellent context for us presenting ourselves in a more dynamic way so I thank you for your support."
Joanna Stephenson, Vice President Marketing, LInpac Packaging
We help our clients to reduce their risk of being blindsided by change and to be better enabled to adapt to the fast changing world. We do this through collaborative projects and through undertaking our own research, gathering thought leaders’ views of the future and forming composite ideas of what our future could look like. Our clients number some of the largest and most prestigious firms around the world. We provide both content creation and organisational engagement as follows:
ENGAGEMENT
Having identified the external forces impacting on an organisation we helps our clients to factor them into their policies and strategies. We do this through using traditional strategy and futures methods and also through our own proprietary methods developed over the past decade.
Methods we use include: Horizon Scanning, Scenario Planning, 3 Horizon, Delphi, Futures Wheels, Cross Impact Analysis, SWOT, NEXT and ELM etc.
We can even help you identify how your personnel are likely to respond to change and how organisations or departments are positioned for change. The GFF 'NEXT' methodology uses the same framework to assess both the organisation and individuals in the organisation. The ELM - Entrepreneur, Leader, Manager tool helps individuals know their likely response to change.
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Here is a brief description of the methods that could help you. They are further described in the 'METHODS' section linked through each graphic below:
HORIZON SCANNING
Horizon scanning is a technique that works much like an early-warning radar; detecting early signals of potentially important change. Horizon scanning for future risks is used in only a limited way at many organisations. Only about 12 percent of organisations use any form of stress testing to test risk assumptions and plans. We are expert and experienced at investigating the future and producing multiply referenced views of what that future might hold.
SCENARIO PLANNING
Scenarios represent a process to structure, think about, and plan for, key future uncertainties. The aim is to improve strategic planning processes and outcomes. Typically, four scenarios are crafted – none of which are meant to predict the future but rather provide the means to consider key drivers and impacts cognisant of possible future developments.
Many organisations try to leap from horizon scanning to strategising and setting priorities, without a period of reflection, sense-making and understanding. A number of foresight tools can help in this period, most notably scenarios.
3 HORIZON
The primary benefit of the 3H framework is to give a structure for organisations and departments to assess future directions, shifts and opportunities without sacrificing the array of urgent needs that confront any organisation in the present.
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It is an excellent means to gather opinion across organisations about the influences that will impact them and put their impact in a timescale context.
DELPHI
Delphi is a qualitative process, as are many futures methods, that runs as a consultation process involving a wide group of participants. The questions are predefined and seek participant opinion on when events are most likely to happen as well as what their underlying influences are.
Delphi’s distinguishing feature that contrasts it to other data gathering and analytical techniques lies in the multiple iterations that aim to smooth out outlier opinions and build consensus. This feedback process enables participants to reassess their initial judgements based on comments and feedback from other panelists.
FUTURES WHEEL
Sometimes referred to as Consequence Wheels or Impact Wheels which are a structured brainstorming process that can be used to help document, develop and display thinking around future events, trends or issues.
This can help in mapping complex relationships and even identifying possible consequences of a given strategic direction or approach
CROSS IMPACT ANALYSIS
It is often used in conjunction with scenarios or Delphi that seeks to work systematically through the relations between a set of variables.
The biggest danger with any foresight technique is the assumption of linearity and whilst many techniques seek to counter it, CIA does so intrinsically as it seeks to evaluate changes in the probability of the occurrence of a given set of events.
SWOT
SWOT analysis is a strategic planning technique used to identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats related to an organisation. It is intended to specify the organisation or departments objectives and identify the internal and external factors that are favourable and unfavourable to achieving those objectives.
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Strengths and weakness are frequently internally-related, while opportunities and threats commonly focus on the external environment.
NEXT
The Next Matrix is a tool that allows an organisation to take both a high level and a detailed analysis of the barriers and enablers of achieving a meaningful vision and implementing the change necessary to achieve it. It highlights how the the characteristics and capabilities of the organisation interact.
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The tool includes an element referred to as 'Entrepreneur, Leader, Manager' (ELM) which is an online indicator that identifies the propensity for individuals to want to engage with new ideas and change.
ENTREPRENEUR, LEADER, MANAGER
The ELM indicator is a powerful personal profiling tool which helps you to understand how you are likely to engage with the process of change. It is not a psychometric test and it does not tell you about your personality.
What it will help you to understand is how your current outlook may affect your perspective in relation to your work, your colleagues and your organisations objectives.
CEOforesight
It's a challenge staying on top of strategic issues, and no more so than in the case of future changes in the political, economic, social, cultural and technological environment so we created CEOforesight.
We want to do the heavy lifting for you, by providing a foresight service specifically designed for the CEO.
Simply stated, we do the work, you get the credit.