Scenario Planning is a strategic planning approach designed to keep us out of the deadly trap of trying to plan for an unknown future without first adequately challenging our current beliefs and prejudices .

Situation

This client was a large and successful organization. However, senior management was afraid that many people did not fully comprehend the magnitude of the threats they were facing. Far too many people saw the future as "business as usual". As a facilitator and consultant we needed an approach that would help them build consensus around the need to change.

Objective

Our objective in this case was to help the management team acknowledge and address the threats they were facing and to then come up with a viable strategy to counter these threats.

Process

To accomplish this we develop three very different future scenarios. In two of these scenarios the client's business was all but taken over by competition from alternative business approaches.  Teams made up of a cross section of different levels and departments within the organization were assigned to each scenario. They were instructed to gather evidence and to develop arguments as to why their description of what the future held was the most likely. When we re-adjourned the two most likely descriptions of the future did not describe very attractive situations at all. Once people realized that the future could be pretty grim if they didn't take action, we were able to move the facilitation on to the questions of what to change and how to change.

Results

The client is well on their way to successfully countering the threats that they once would not even acknowledge. We have used this facilitation approach with a variety of other clients as well. In every case the client was more than satisfied with the results.

For more information

If you would like more information on this approach or on our facilitation services please Contact Us