" The very highest leader is barely known Then comes the leader they know and love Then the leader they fear Then the leader they despise.
The leader who does not trust enough will not be trusted. When actions are performed without unnecessary speech
The people will say, ”we did it ourselves.”
Lao Tsu


 

Thought leadership
Marvin Weisbord and Sandra Janoff

The pioneers of Future Search
Future search is defined as a “ a learning laboratory for shared leadership, self management and sustainable planning”. Through collaborative enquiry, individuals, organizations and communities using open and supportive structures at finding common ground and co-creating the future of organizations and communities.
It has also been described as PLANNING MEETING that helps people transform their capability for action very quickly. The meeting is task-focused. It brings together 60 to 80 people in one room or hundreds in parallel rooms.
Future search brings people from all walks of life into the same conversation - those with resources, expertise, formal authority and need. They meet for 16 hours spread across three days. The meeting design comes from theories and principles tested in many cultures for the past 50 years. It relies on mutual learning among stakeholders as a catalyst for voluntary action and follow-up. People devise new forms of cooperation that continue for months or years.

Marvin Weisbord and Sandra Janoff the pioneers of this approach regard it as a “ large group planning meeting that brings a whole system into the room to work on a task-focused agenda…in a Future Search people have a chance to take ownership of their past, present and future, confirm their mutual values and commit to action plans grounded in reality”.

Through its sequential stages of :

  • Reviewing of the past from several perspectives;
  • Mapping of the present
  • Taking ownership of the past
  • Creating a range of future scenarios
  • Identifying common ground
  • Developing and agreeing action plans

 

Future Search offers Organisations, Institutions, Companies, Businesses and Communities the ultimate strategy making framework using a whole system approach.

Malby & Fisher (2006) identified the principles of the meeting and practice as follows;

  • It uses peoples own experiences and ideas
  • Every one has a voice
  • All share: all learn
  • The individual is speaking only for them self
  • Cross fertilization of ideas between groups if highly encouraged
  • All informations is made widely available and accessible
  • There is a commitment to work to create the future as discussed.

At a time of embarking on High Quality Care For All or of continuing to develop World Class Commissioning, it is possible that Open Space and Future Search can foster more engagement and connection through meaningful conversations.

Marvin Weisbord and Sandra Janoff are the pioneers of FutureSearch and Founders of the Future Search Network. They have been at the forefront of spreading effective strategy planning world-wide. They have co-authored Future Search: an action guide at finding common ground in organizations and communities and Don’t Just Do Something, Stand There: Ten principles for leading meetings that matter

 

Peter Drucker Emanuel Gobillot Harrison Owen Marvin Weisbord and Sandra Janoff Don Tapscott Dr David Cooperrider Dr Marshall Goldsmith Rosabeth Moss Kanter Prof Lynda Gratton Rod Beckstrom