The Single Most Critical Skill for the 21st Century

The Single Most Critical Skill
for the 21st Century

According to the World Future Society, a publication I enjoy reading and love learn from the most critical skill for you to develop in the coming years will be FORESIGHT.

In this era of accelerating change, knowledge alone is no longer the key to a prosperous life. Foresight is the critical skill.

Knowledge quickly goes out of date, but foresight enables you to navigate change, make good decisions, and take action now to create a better future.

We often think people are successful because of luck, when in fact it was their foresight that made them “lucky.” If you look at any successful person, organization, even a country, you will find a high degree of foresight. That’s why foresight is...

The Secret Ingredient of Success


Foresight is critical to achievement in all areas of your life, including your major life decisions.

People who lack foresight are likely to find themselves unemployed when jobs are unexpectedly lost to new technologies, competition from overseas, or shifts in consumer tastes.

Foresight is the key to survival in a world of disruptive innovation.

Foresight enables you to see opportunities, avoid threats, and chart the fastest path to your goals. The key to success is seizing opportunity when it arises. But you need to see the opportunity and be prepared to take action. That’s why foresight gives you power and agility to achieve any goal you want to achieve.

7 Ways to Spot Tomorrow’s Trends Today

In the more than 40 years since the World Future Society was founded,
futurists have developed a range of techniques to study the future.
Here are a few techniques futurist use to spot new opportunities and
potential problems. These methods give individuals and organizations
an edge to help them succeed in a fast-changing world:

1.Scan the Media to Identify Trends—Futurists often conduct an ongoing and systematic surveys of news media and research institutes. These surveys help spot significant trends and technology breakthroughs. Futurists call this environmental scanning.



2.Analyze and Extrapolate Trends—After the trends are identified, the next step is to plot the trends to show their direction and development into the future. Trend analysis and extrapolation can show the nature, causes, speed, and potential impacts of trends.


3.Develop Scenarios—Futurists often describe the future development of a trend, a strategy, or a wild-card event in story form. These scenarios can paint a vivid picture that can help you visualize possible future developments and show how you can prepare effectively for future risks and opportunities. Scenarios help you to blend what you know about the future with imagination about the uncertain. Scenarios help you move from dreaming to planning and then to accomplishment.


4.Ask Groups of Experts—Futurists also conduct “Delphi Polls” which are carefully structured surveys of experts. Polling a wide range of experts in a given field can yield accurate forecasts and suggestions for action.


5.Use Computer Modeling—Futurists often use computer models to simulate the behavior of a complex system under a variety of conditions. For example, a model of the U.S. economy might show the effects of a 10 percent increase in taxes.


6.Explore Possibilities with Simulations—Futurists create simulations of a real-world situations by means of humans playing different roles. For example, in war games, generals test out tactics they may later use on the battlefield, or corporate executives can explore the possible results of competitive strategies.



7.Create the Vision—Futurists help organizations and individuals systematically develop visions of a desirable future. Visioning creates the big picture of the possibilities and prepares the way for goal setting and planning.



If you enjoyed this article and would like to learn more please consider a membership in the World Future Society. You can also discover how to use these techniques yourself in your business and personal life. We’ve prepared a special report that shows how to use these and other futurist techniques.

It’s called The Art of Foresight: Preparing for a Changing World. This report will show you how to use futurist techniques to prepare realistically and creatively for success in your personal and professional life. You can get a copy FREE with an introductory membership in the World Future Society.


Important Forecast The Millennial Generation Will Have Major Impacts
on Society
The millennial generation, born between 1982 and 1998, will have a huge impact on every aspect of society in ways similar to their parents, the Baby Boomers. Some futurists believe Millennials are the next “great generation” of U.S. society, exhibiting many of the heroic qualities of the World War II generation of Americans.

Millennials have a strong entrepreneurial bent. Twice as many say they would prefer to own a business rather than be a top executive. Employers will need to adjust virtually all of their policies and practices to the values of this new generation, including finding new ways to motivate and reward them. See how in your free report, Urgent Warnings, Breakthrough Solutions.

For more info please contact: World Future Society futuristupdate@wfs.org

Forecasts for the Next 25 Years.

THE FUTURIST: A Journal of Forecasts, Trends, and Ideas About the Future: This bimonthly magazine focuses on innovation, creative thinking, and emerging social, economic, environmental, and technological trends.



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