Future Search

Rachelle Tengco

FUTURE SEARCH

Marvin Weisbord & Sandra Janoff

Future Search is said to be a large group planning conference wherein it brings the entire system into a room to work on a task-focused plan. It was also said that people involved here have a chance to reflect on their past, present, and future state. Furthermore, it will be a way where their mutual values will meet and where they can commit to their action plans grounded in actuality. The main purpose of the Future Search is to get all the people involved in a common ground that entails their goals for them to be able to make their community healthier.

The process of the Future Search is as follows:

1. The Past – wherein people create time lines and reflect on them for all the data to be created

2. Mind Map – wherein people are grouped together to create a group mind map of all the trends that are affecting us right now and trends that might affect the future.

3. Beginning the Search for Common Ground – wherein people are commonly grouped together to reinterpret the mind map that they have created and redraw it from their own point of view where each and everyone can learn from it.

4. Proud and Sorry – wherein people take responsibilities and not to blame others on what they are proud of and saying sorry at the same time.

5. Getting into Reality – wherein reality kicks in and they get the taste of what is real as they go along the road of sharing what they are learning or what they have learned.

6. Creating a Vision – wherein members will create an ideal future for the community where they will act it out based on the themes that they are assigned to.

7. Getting Down To It – wherein people will reflect on what they have done by bringing in the common stuff and rearranging everything into similar themes.

8. Action – wherein people will finally report on how they have learned about every step and eventually learn the similarities of they came up with and also the differences that they have encountered.

Usually, the process of the Future Search countable groups of people. It should not be so large for it will be hard to have a dialogue with each and everyone. This is said to last for about 16 hours.

Future Search is said to be used when you want all the stakeholders to be committed and to cause more energy. The success of this process lies on the participation of the involved members and how they cooperate in every activity of the process.

Sustaining the outcomes of this process can be achieved if the participants are reminded occasionally for self-management and to take responsibility for every action they do. Furthermore, to remind them to focus on the common ground for the community to be healthy and at the same time for them to be open-minded. Plus, they should continuously observe issues and conflicts and consider them as information for this might be a help for certain situations.

REFLECTION

Future Search is a very helpful process for an organization to have a common ground for everything that they have to do for them to meet their goal. It will avoid differences and clashing point of views resulting for a much healthier working community. With a healthy working environment, the results of every steps and actions for attaining goals is very much of a success of actually reaching the main goal. This process will bring the members together for the organization to work as one and for them to be able to work their differences and actually make their common ground be more of in power of the whole development.

http://www.peopleandparticipation.net/display/Methods/Future+Search

http://www.co-intelligence.org/P-futuresearch.html