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FSG OUTLOOK

April 12, 2012

What We Are On About Here

Patrick Marren

Partner

Few people think more than two or three times a year. I've made an international reputation for myself by thinking once or twice a week. - George Bernard Shaw

April 13, 2012

Seven Wrong Things People Think About the Future

Patrick Marren

Partner

All along the untrodden paths of the future I see the footprints of an unseen hand. - Sir Boyle Roche

We who inhabit the Land of Scenariotopia (as a former colleague termed our little realm) think that the best way to predict the future is not to. That is, you should abandon the search for certainty and explore multiple scenarios of what might be. Many people don't do this, however. We find that lots of them subscribe, usually semi-consciously, to some or all of the following fallacies:

April 20, 2012

Scenario Planning at FSG

Patrick Marren

Partner

What exactly does the Futures Strategy Group do? We help excellent organizations make better decisions under conditions of uncertainty -- mainly through the use of scenarios.

April 21, 2012

The Future Is Now: Reading VINs from Space

Patrick Marren

Partner

Possibly frightening scenario fodder culled from the papers over Saturday morning coffee...

April 22, 2012

This Week's Scenario Blast from the Past: Nation-Building in '01

Patrick Marren

Partner

Despite our leeriness about extrapolation from the past, we do read a lot of history at FSG in order to write our scenarios. As Mark Twain wrote, "It is not worth while to try to keep history from repeating itself, for man's character will always make the preventing of the repetitions impossible." (Mark Twain in Eruption: Hitherto Unpublished Pages About Men and Events (1940, Bernard DeVoto, editor).

April 24, 2012

Creativity Diary, Monday, April 23

Patrick Marren

Partner

A little scenario about Jonah Lehrer's new book, Imagine: How Creativity Works.

April 25, 2012

Seams Like Old Times

Patrick Marren

Partner

"Silos" are an inevitable part of any organization; indeed, of any human activity. Even if you confine yourself to individual action, your own mind is thinking within certain categories, usually operating off a mental model that tells you what to expect - "If I do X, then Y will happen" - and what NOT to expect - Z or W or something completely different.

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FSG Outlook gives you a fresh look on how trends, issues and events can impact your business. With practical insight and analysis we help you respond to them strategically.