Compared to other methods
Future-basing® brings with it a number of distinct advantages, overcoming many of the common blockages that people suffer when thinking and planning ahead:
(The images here show a Human Resources team in the UK Health Service Future-basing new working methods & relationships)
- It is results-centred, generating accurate specification of desired outcomes rather than problems. Most of us are more motivated by thoughts of achievement than of difficulties.
- It is success-centred, side-stepping common feelings such as fear of failure and seeing only hurdles that need to be overcome. It begins by generating a sense of achievement.
Universal & creative
- It is universal, being well suited to virtually any need to plan or make decisions about the future from just hours to years ahead.
- Future-basing® releases creativity, especially when several people work on it together. The very process of imagining achievements neutralizes the kind of negative thinking that tends normally to interfere.
- It builds compelling visions due to the quantity and nature of descriptive information generated. The seeing, hearing and feeling dimensions and descriptive language are the most powerful part of this.
Engages people
- It lends itself to involving people and motivating them to act. Future-basing® can be cascaded across and through an organization, enabling groups, teams and individuals to develop their own part of the vision and implementation plan.
- A strong sense of common purpose develops in Future-basing® groups, partly because individuals tend to visualize ideal relationships and mutual support as parameters of success. As they describe these relationships and feelings together in the present tense, individuals come to realize they are already rehearsing what they want, and finding the experience pleasant and rewarding.
Specifies & promotes action
- It helps people spot opportunities to take action, often almost immediately. This tends to happen at the point where individuals or groups begin to accept specific roles and responsibilities. Having Future-based ideal outcomes and considered first steps, it often becomes clear that there is nothing preventing immediate action and people become motivated to achieve early results.
- Future-basing® can be very broad and general and many groups and individuals have found that completion of the vision alone is sufficient. If followed through to completion of “remembering back” and mapping “past” actions, then it can be used meticulously to support complex decisions.
Quick updating
- It is easy and quick to update. During any phase of implementation, the vision and key actions can be reviewed and updated rapidly in the light of new experiences or unexpected developments. In fact, one way of following through implementation of the various steps to success is to Future- base next steps as specific projects are completed or turning points reached. This is one way in which actual experience and results guide progress in bringing about change.
Easy to learn & use
- The Future-basing® process is relatively easy to learn, and is not reliant upon jargon or technical planning expertise. Apart from its name, there is no specialized language needed in Future-basing® When developing a Future-based vision, people will normally reflect personal and organizational values and beliefs in their impressions of success. This is one way in which the process remains both organizationally and culturally acceptable.