Combining Values and Scenarios in Enabling an Organization to Transform

It has been argued that the purpose of foresight and its approaches is not only to provide alternative, plausible pictures of the future but foremost to trigger change in an organization. This, however, implies that foresight work needs to be much more than issuing reports on “the future of…”. If foresight work is supposed to trigger change, for instance by creating a sense of urgency to act, then foresight needs to be much more understood as a participative approach, and organizational intervention, such as proclaimed in open strategy or in scenario planning.

We provide here a case study on the transformation of a financial institution that simultaneously started thinking about the future of its industry by using scenario planning and what the values of this organization are, what they should be and how they should be lived. This entire process was participative in nature and involved many members of the organization, following an open strategy approach.

By working on the question of what shall be achieved, in terms of the desired future, and how this shall be achieved, in terms of how the organizations want to work together and what values are relevant, the organization was enabled to take decisions on how to change its strategy and on how the organization was eventually able to transform itself.