Glossary of Futures Thinking
Introduction paragraph? About the purposes of this glossary for the Future of Coaching.
Action prioritization matrix:
A strategic tool to prioritize tasks and initiatives based on their potential impact on future outcomes and the effort required to implement them.
Delphi method:
A structured data-gathering technique used to gather insights among a panel of experts on a specific topic.
Drivers of change:
Broad, long-term forces and trends that shape future possibilities and outcomes, influencing the direction of societal, technological, economic, ecological, regulatory, and ethical shifts.
Forces of change:
The underlying values, mindsets, and norms that drive and shape observable trends, reflecting deeper societal currents.
Forecast:
A futures tool that describes what is likely to happen based on certain assumptions, based on data and the interpretation of trends.
Future Client:
A conceptual individual representing a potential client in a future scenario, used to explore how coaching needs may evolve.
Future Coach:
An archetype representing the evolution of the coaching profession in future scenarios, highlighting new roles, skills, and approaches.
Future ICF:
A fictional representation of ICF in a future scenario, used to explore how the organization might evolve in response to emerging trends and challenges.
Future Persona:
A research-based, fictional character designed to represent someone who could exist in a future scenario. of someone who might exist in a future scenario. Typically combined with scenarios to explore diverse responses to emerging trends, technologies, and societal changes.
Horizon scanning:
The systematic examination of potential threats, opportunities, and future developments that may affect an organization or field. It involves monitoring and analyzing emerging trends and signals.
Hunch:
Brief yet significant observations in the present that offer insights into potential future developments. Often described as a weak signal by futurists, a hunch may, or may not, evolve into future trends or signals.
Layered timeline:
A foresight tool used for historical analysis, divided into three levels that experience change at different rates: 1) daily practices, 2) systems, and 3) values.
Scenario:
Narrative-based explorations of various possible futures, incorporating the impact of multiple trends and uncertainties to envision different outcomes.
Scenario planning:
A strategic method used to develop and analyze multiple, plausible future scenarios. It helps organizations prepare for uncertainties by considering a range of possible outcomes and their implications.
Signals of change:
Early indicators of specific, often unexpected, and observable events, developments, or phenomena that suggest or demonstrate an emerging driving force of change.
STEERE framework:
A futures-thinking tool adapted for coaches from the STEEPLE or PESTLE framework, used to identify and analyze multi-dimensional drivers, trends, and signals across social, technological, economic, ecological, regulatory, and ethical domains.
Trend:
Global shifts across various social, political, and economic indicators. Trends often reflect the influence of underlying forces of change.
Trend analysis:
A futures thinking method that examines macro-level data across multiple disciplines to describe plausible futures. Trend analyses are often combined with signal identification for deeper insights into potential futures.
Learn more
- How foresight helps us create the future we want
- The Story of Futures Studies
- Dive deeper into futures theories and methods
