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This book closely examines the concept and theory of 'future' from a multidisciplinary perspective, focusing on the practice of forecasting, especially in its interaction with complexity. It highlights the relations between forecasting, decision-making and strategy, mixing technical arguments (but minimal mathematics) with ideas from psychology and philosophy. Rich with examples, the book highlights the role of values and attitudes in deciding how to look at the future.
Written in a casual but precise style that makes the ideas easily digestible, it helps corporate strategists, practicing futurists, and researchers in the field of strategy or public planning gain a fundamental perspective on the future - before starting to predict things.
List of contents
What Do We Mean by "the Future"?.- Risk and Uncertainty.- Values and the Future.- Why Do We Want to Know the Future?.- Prediction and Planning.- Seeing the Future: Ideas from Philosophy, Linguistics, and Sociology.- Complexity and the Future.- Analytics and the Future.- Imagination and the Future.- Expertise and the Future.- The Present and the Future.- Policy and the Future.- Attitudes, Expectations, and the Future.- The Future of the Future.
About the author
Fred Phillips is the Editor-in-Chief of the international journal 'Technological Forecasting & Social Change' (Elsevier). He is currently a Professor at University of New Mexico, USA, and Visiting Scientist at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing. He is the 2017 winner of the Kondratieff Medal, awarded by the Russian Academy of Sciences, and 2019 recipient of the INEKA Medal. He is a Senior Fellow (and formerly Research Director) at the IC² Institute of the University of Texas at Austin, and a fellow of the Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET).
Summary
This book closely examines the concept and theory of 'future' from a multidisciplinary perspective, focusing on the practice of forecasting, especially in its interaction with complexity. It highlights the relations between forecasting, decision-making and strategy, mixing technical arguments (but minimal mathematics) with ideas from psychology and philosophy. Rich with examples, the book highlights the role of values and attitudes in deciding how to look at the future.
Written in a casual but precise style that makes the ideas easily digestible, it helps corporate strategists, practicing futurists, and researchers in the field of strategy or public planning gain a fundamental perspective on the future – before starting to predict things.
