Futures Thinking
Futures Thinking is a transformative training course designed to provide professionals with the tools and methods they need to navigate and shape the future in an ever-changing world.
Futures Thinking is a transformative training course designed to provide professionals with the tools and methods they need to navigate and shape the future in an ever-changing world. Based on strategic foresight and systemic thinking, the course helps participants anticipate challenges, identify emerging trends, and develop innovative solutions for long-term success.
The course starts with a specific topic and uses a diverse set of future-oriented thinking tools, such as Horizon Scanning, Future Wheels, and Future Scenarios, to explore different possible directions. In addition, Design Thinking is integrated as an essential element of the program, helping participants transform future trends into concrete and achievable strategic actions.
By understanding the interconnections between global systems and exploring possible scenarios, participants will learn to go beyond the limits of traditional planning. They will acquire skills to design strategies that are resilient, flexible, and oriented towards a sustainable future.
Who is it for?
This course is ideal for leaders, strategists, innovators, and professionals from various industries who are responsible for shaping the future of their organizations.
Whether you are involved in strategic planning, innovation management, or policy development, Futures Thinking will provide you with the skills and knowledge you need to stay ahead in a complex and dynamic world.
Course objectives
- Strategic foresight: Develop the ability to anticipate future challenges and opportunities by identifying key trends, driving forces, and uncertainties that could impact your organization or industry.
- Systemic thinking: Gain a deep understanding of the interconnected nature of global systems and learn how to apply systemic thinking to analyze complex problems, identify leverage points, and create sustainable solutions.
- Scenario planning: Learn how to create and analyze multiple future scenarios to better prepare for uncertainty and make informed strategic decisions.
- Innovation and resilience: Explore how to encourage innovation and build resilience within your organization by developing strategies that are adaptable to changing conditions and future challenges.
By the end of this course, participants will be able to:
- Develop and implement strategic foresight processes within their organizations.
- Apply systems thinking to identify and address complex challenges.
- Create and use future scenarios to guide decision-making.
- Promote a culture of innovation and adaptability in response to future trends and disruptions.
Course modules
Day 1: Framing and scanning
Framework: Group activity, Masterclass Forward Thinking, Introduction to the topic/challenge.
Scanning: Emerging trends and changes, Exploration and impact analysis, Human component.
Day 2: Forecast and vision
Forecasts: Jobs to do and vision, Idea, Scenario planning.
Visioning: Strategic directions, Storytelling, Conclusion and reflection.
Adela Cristea
Managing Partner & Founder Ascent GroupAdela Cristea is the managing partner of Ascent Group and founder of the consortium. Adela's academic background is in Economy and Law, at the "West University" Timișoara and "Vasile Goldiș" University, Arad. Throughout the years she's become specialised in numerous areas, studying at universities abroad (Gent University - Belgium; Göttingen University - Germany; National Democratic Institute - USA), as well as become trained in the Systems Thinking course at Oxford University.
Adela's wide experience of 20+ years, particularly that pertaining to the area of management and human resources, has been accumulated with multi-national companies such as Unilever or International Resources, as well as with consulting groups, such as Archimedes Consulting Group and Ascent Group.
All along, Adela has been engaged in multiple business start-up projects, company restructurings, labor conflicts and training, for multi-national companies, as well as for local businesses in a wide array of fields, both in Romania and abroad. Adela's multi-disciplinary experience is rounded off with a 15-year stretch teaching at the university.
Since 2017, Adela has become the co-founder of Design Thinkers Academy Eastern Europe, contributing to the development of the company to reach over 20 countries in Eastern Europe, the Balkans and Central Asia.
