The present we are living through can feel extremely turbulent. For many, “the future” feels far more uncertain than it might have even two years ago. In these situations, we of course want greater foresight. One important way to apply foresight in these situations is to use it to stress test strategy.

Politics today – particularly federal executive branch politics – has introduced historic levels of uncertainty for many organizational leaders. And yet, despite such great uncertainty, leaders still need to make decisions in the face of that uncertainty.  How they make those decisions can be a source of anxiety and frustration.

4 Steps to the Future is a framework for developing foresight created by Dr. Richard Kaipo Lum, an academically trained futurist (and VFS’s founder).  The 4 Steps distills decades of training and experience into an easy-to-follow process for asking the fundamental questions important for effective foresight.

All leaders make decisions under uncertainty. Markets shift, technologies mature, and policies can change in ways that are hard to anticipate. Especially today.  Traditional planning tools struggle with this level of volatility. Scenarios solve that problem.

In a foundational foresight process, such as 4 Steps to the Future, a key activity and output comes from scenario forecasting.  Multiple scenarios looking at differing, logical pathways the world could take.  But once a team creates these scenarios, how then do they actually apply insights (new foresight) to develop strategy and to inform planning?  How do they transition from the expanding funnel of foresight to the narrowing focus of strategy?

The new year is in full swing, with organizations across the country busy setting and getting after their plans for the next 1, 3, and 10 years.  Part of that process needs to include some focused foresight work.

Lean how to boost your team's strategic conversation in 2026 with some strategic thinking quick fixes.

Foresight activities are often left off the annual planning calendar. Learn why foresight is critical and why it comes before all other planning.

It’s that time of year again: closing out the books, locking down the holiday party, and marking the calendar for next year.  That means this is the perfect time to work out the timing of your organization’s foresight work for 2026.

In today’s volatile business environment, executive teams are under increasing pressure to anticipate disruption, manage strategic risk, and position their organizations to seize emerging opportunities. To support this work, Vision Foresight Strategy is proud to release Foresight Playbook #2503 - American Workforce Futures - now accompanied by a powerful new tool: the Scenario Supplement.

AI personas could represent opportunities to preserve organizational knowledge and redefine work forces.

In the wake of yesterday’s powerful earthquake off Kamchatka and the resulting tsunami warnings for Alaska and Hawai‘i, organizations across the islands were reminded just how quickly a crisis can unfold.

Using WEF's Global Cybersecurity Outlook report as a foresight resource.

The recent report from the Congressional Budget Office, "The Demographic Outlook: 2025 to 2055," is an invaluable foresight resource.

Update your contingency scenarios with a little foresight.

Fortunately, it doesn’t take very long to have a good discussion about the future.  In fact, ninety minutes will do just fine.

Build your team's shared mental model of your operating environment.

Practical Foresight activity #1: 10 minutes each week to discuss signals of change.

It might surprise some people to learn that formal futures studies has a lot of history in it. When it comes to the topic of economic...