Conclusion

This book is intended to fill a gap. Going beyond interesting stories is critical to achieve widespread adoption of scenarios. Continuing to be vague about what to do after you have scenarios will only keep holding the field back. The alternative is a field that opens up with opportunities to develop more and different ways to use scenarios. This is the thriving and vibrant field that will make scenarios a whole practice. Scenarios and strategy should be the most important organizational activities. The follow-up on scenarios that explore multiple futures addresses how they can be used to have an impact in practice.

This book has described seven different ways you can use your scenarios. From creative thinking to detailed financial analyses—descriptions, examples, and workshop guidelines have been provided. Yet, these are only the beginning. My hope is that this book, while provocative in places, encourages others in the field to respond with additional ways of using scenarios that are not described here. The single greatest opportunity for advancing scenario planning is to be specific about how they can be used and what they can help decision makers achieve. It is in this realm that we have failed. To be sure, tools that go beyond interesting stories about the future that can connect those interesting stories to action are needed.

A focus on applying and using scenarios is the surest way to advance scenario planning practices and connect scenarios to action and outcomes. Without this, scenarios will likely remain a one-off activity. Instead, the goal is to make scenarios a standard practice that is widely used and just as common as strategic planning. In order to achieve that goal, scenarios have to be used and their value must be clear. This book has provided a first step in that direction. For those interested in advancing the field, I hope the tools I have described are helpful in demonstrating the value of scenario planning. Further, I hope to provoke other ideas about how to use scenarios. All of this is aimed at helping decision makers and leaders cope with a constantly changing future.