Episode description

A company that looks to the future will know how to prepare for it. Strategic Foresight takes a comprehensive view of your past experiences and decisions, and brings dynamic clarity and focus to your company by creating a transformational framework for you to understand your decisions, processes, landscape, and pathways. In this episode, Frank and David explore Strategic Foresight and the work they did together at Disney.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Strategic foresight is about leveraging what is emerging and on the horizon, not accurately predicting the future.
• Firms that use it adapt and transform quickly and are resilient.
• Strategic foresight ensures that you build a workforce with the talent and skills to be ready for what comes next.
• Using strategic forsight it is possible to model and be ready for crisis events ”black swans” like CoVid. Events that speed up change.
• The disruption of CoVid has drastically changed the way we look at education. In some countries, students are now graduating with businesses as well as degrees.
• Generation cohort, purposeful work, neuro breakthroughs, phygital and the metaverse are just five examples of how the way we think and live is changing. All of which are talked about in the podcast.
• Research + data + intuition + creativity is the equation for strategic foresight. How that is applied is discussed in the podcast.
• It is not enough to identify trends. They merge and form new patterns of behaviour and create new worlds that organisations need to be ready to operate within.

BEST MOMENTS

'Foresight really is a way for people to leverage the future. '

'You need people that are able to meet whatever is coming next..to lay ahold of new opportunities.'

'In foresight, we have to look at multiple alternative futures. '

VALUABLE RESOURCES

The Learning And Development Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-learning-development-podcast/id1466927523 

CONTACT METHOD FOR GUEST

You can follow and connect with Frank via:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/frankspencer/

Website: https://thefuturesschool.com/

Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-wicked-opportunities-podcast/id1527341331

ABOUT THE GUEST

Frank W. Spencer

Frank W. Spencer holds a Master of Arts in Strategic Foresight from Regent University and has worked on strategic foresight projects for companies such as Kraft, Mars, Marriott, Duke University and The Walt Disney Company. He is a prolific speaker, having delivered presentations to groups and conferences in Atlanta, Buenos Aires, London, Los Angeles, Tokyo, Shanghai, Melbourne, Washington, New York City, Singapore, Mumbai, Wellington, Moscow and San Francisco over the last 20 years on topics such as leadership development, the importance of developing the skill of futures thinking, creating environments of foresight in businesses & organisations, recognising emerging trends and issues, identifying unseen opportunities, reaching aspirations and preferred futures, talent management, work, technology, and social innovation.

ABOUT THE HOST

David James 

David has been a People Development professional for more than 20 years, most notably as Director of Talent, Learning & OD for The Walt Disney Company across Europe, the Middle East & Africa. 

As well as being the Chief Learning Strategist at Looop, David is a prominent writer and speaker on topics around modern and digital L&D as well as an active member of the CIPD L&D Advisory Board. 

CONTACT METHOD 

• Twitter:  https://twitter.com/davidinlearning/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidjameslinkedin/ 
• Website: https://www.looop.co/