Friday, May 3, 2013

Prospection 30 April 2013



The 'prospection' stage in a foresight process answers the question 'What Might Happen?'

We played with two foresight methods tonight to explore what might happen to the Hub in the future.
The first was a visioning exercise, where the group 'travelled back and forward in time'. We imagined the Donkey Wheel House where this group works from (pictured below) and the activities, people, smells, sounds and feelings here in the past and future.

A vision is a compelling, inspiring statement of a preferred future which we want to create.



The second method we used is probably the most popular and well-known foresight method - scenarios.

Following Neil's suggestion we used an inductive scenario technique, scenario weaving, based on futurist Willis Harman's 'Harman Fan'. Neil's 'Scenario Weaving' is however different from traditional scenario techniques as it is not about time or chronology – rather about deeper understanding or texture.

Five sub-plots which came out of the visioning exercise (and earlier work) were mapped on a scenario field, as shown in the image here.



The five sub-plots (and possibly more) as well as the cross-weaves (how the sub-plots interact with each other on different levels) will now be developed in a shared document in our Yammer group.

When the output from the scenario work is finished, we will post it here on the blog.