How to Future

Scott Smith is a renowned futurist, business writer and adviser who is an expert in strategic foresight and futures design. He has over 25 years of grounded experience in applied foresight and has advised global corporations, governments and NGOs including UNICEF, ASOS, the Dubai Future Foundation and Comcast. He has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, WIRED, Quartz and The Atlantic. He is based in Amsterdam.Madeline Ashby is a consulting futurist, expert and adviser on technology, culture, politics and strategic foresight, based in Toronto. She is a regular contributor to Slate and writes for MIT Technology Review.

• Chapter - 00: Introduction;Chapter - 01: Different futuring for different needs;Chapter - 02: Getting started – scoping;Chapter - 03: Sensing and scanning – finding signals of the future now;Chapter - 04: Sense-making and mapping – turning data and insights into patterns and themes;Chapter - 05: Scenario development – combining patterns and themes to tell strategic stories;Chapter - 06: Storytelling and prototyping – creating ways for others to engage with your future stories;Chapter - 07: Assessing effectiveness – tools for monitoring and measuring fitness of approach;Chapter - 08: What to do next? Building a futuring culture;Chapter - 09: Conclusion

"Just like great science fiction, 'futuring' isn't about trying to predict the future; it's about stimulating creative thinking about a range of possible futures. In How to Future, two of the best strategic foresight professionals in the business share all of their secrets, explaining how you can use the same tools they use to help their clients systematically think about and prepare for what's coming next--whatever it might be. It's a toolbox for taking control of your own future."