How Future Studies and Innovation Management Can Help in a VUCA World

Innovation Management and Future Studies are working with things that doesn´t exist by now. So, both disciplines are working under a very high level of uncertainties, but still there is not enough attention paid to the role uncertainties play in both disciplines and where they overlap.

This paper will evaluate synergies of innovation management and futurology, under the aspect of uncertainties. Contrary to what is expected and often practiced, the minimization of uncertainties in the innovation process is mostly obstractive. Thus, it is a matter of establishing new methods and a new basic attitude toward uncertainties.
Futures Studies can help to enable long-term thinking through various approaches such as futures literacy, scenario management and backcasting. On the one hand, this enables open thinking, on the other hand, it can help to remain capable of action especially in times of high uncertainty.

More than ever, we must admit that we are living in a VUCA world. A World with high uncertainties and obscure correlations. Both attributes are elementary for Future Studies and Innovation Management, which makes them predestined to establish new ways of working during these times.