Build these three foresight skills

Since the beginning of 2020, we have all lived through some pretty traumatic times. We are experiencing collective despair about our present and collective anxiety about our future as a society. Undeniably, this has caused a real fetishization of the future and the skill required to forge it. I began my graduate program in strategic foresight also during this time. Since learning and embarking on my own strategic foresight practice, I have recognized the three foundational skills for futurists to master. These skills are not specialized foresight skills but are generalized skills needed to engage with the future constructively. These skills include observation, pattern recognition and metacognition.

Even if you are not a futurist or do not wish to be one, I still believe nurturing these skills will prepare you to constructively navigate the crippling uncertainty of the future.

Observation is by far the most valuable skill to cultivate as a futurist. And this includes keen observation of oneself and the external environment. It sets the groundwork for the other essential foresight skills. Primarily, however, observation helps with gathering information about the future. But how does one research the future? The simple answer is: you don’t. You only seek to understand the present and past because it carries signals about the future. Early adopters and…