Transformative Scenario Planning Working Together to Change the Future

People who are trying to solve tough economic, social, or environmental problems often find themselves frustratingly stuck. They cannot solve their problems in their current context; the larger system within which they are operating is too unstable or unfair or unsustainable. They cannot transform this system on their own, or by working only with their friends or colleagues; the system is too complex to be grasped or shifted by any one person or organization or sector. And other actors whose cooperation would be necessary to transform the system don't understand or agree with or trust one another enough to work together. This book describes a powerful new methodology for dealing with these challenges. Transformative scenario planning is a powerful way for actors from across a whole system to work together to transform that system. It is a way for them to get unstuck and to move forward on solving their tough problems. Transformative scenario planning goes far beyond conventional, adaptive scenario planning, Often people find themselves in systems that are complex, conflictual, not working, and stuck. In such systems, people need a methodology not simply for adapting to the system but also for creating new, better futures. Transformative scenario planning is a way that people can work together with others to transform themselves and their relationships with one another, and thereby to transform their systems. In this simple and practical book, Adam Kahane explains this methodology and how to use it.

Adam Kahane had pioneered the development and use of transformative scenario planning throughout the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Australia. He is a partner in the Cambridge, Massachusetts, office of Reos Partners and an associate fellow at the Saïd Business School of the University of Oxford.

Foreword by Kees van der Heijden
Preface
Chapter 1: An Invention Born of Necessity: The Mont Fleur Scenario Exercise
Chapter 2: A New Way to Work With the Future
Chapter 3: First step: Convene a Team From Across the Whole System
Chapter 4: Second step: Observe What Is Happening
Chapter 5: Third step: Construct Stories About What Could Happen
Chapter 6: Fourth step: Discover What Can and Must Be Done
Chapter 7: Fifth step: Act to Transform the System
Chapter 8: New Stories Can Generate New Realities: The Destino Colombia Project
Chapter 9: The Inner Game of Social Transformation
Resources: Transformative Scenario Planning Processes
Notes
Bibliography
Acknowledgments
Index
About Reos Partners
About the Author