Woody Wade on Scenario Planning
A few days ago, I asked if you think about the future.Rather a silly question. Of course we think about the future, all the time. What I was wondering was how you think about it.Have you got a structured approach for thinking about how the future could unfold? Do you come at the problem systematically?Taking some time to inform yourself about the evolving landscape is one way to challenge your vision for the future. For example, do you read any of the myriad books about how things could change in the years ahead? I’m reading a fascinating book right now called Future Files by Richard Watson, which is kind of a “history of the next 50 years.”What books would you recommend in this genre? Alvin Toffler’s Future Shock, written in the misty dawns of time (i.e. 1970), and John Naisbitt’s Megatrends (1982) are probably the granddaddies of the category. Many of the predictions in books like these are a bit far-fetched, but then, in 1982 – let alone in 1970 – it would have been beyond far-fetched that I would write a “blog” on the “Internet”... whatever those things are... composing my thoughts on a laptop computer in a café here in Switzerland. Then at the push of button, posting my text to a London-based “website” (?), and later using my phone (!) to check if it’s online.So far-fetched is OK. The main thing is that these books include stimulating ideas and insights to get you thinking.Question: Is there a source (book, website,...) that you turn to for ideas like these specific to the future of hospitality?Would you be interested in one? I’m interested in your thoughts -
wade@wadeandco.com