By

Sohail Inayatullah

Why use future-oriented planning instead of problem-solving?

Is Anticipatory action learning the best way of forecast and transform the

future?

Why are strategic planning and strategic visioning inappropriate and

in creating alternative futures?

What are the latest trends in Futures Studies?

What are the limits to scenario planning?

How can causal layered analysis unveil the future?

How can the study of grand patterns of social change help in understanding the future?

These and other questions on the nature of futures planning are explored in this book.

Along with chapters on foundational concepts, theories and methods in Futures Studies, Questioning the Future is a practical workbook for the manager or social activist who desires to use the future to transform organizations.

Futures Studies is linked to action learning and planning theory.

Chapters focus on a variety of topics including: (1) Macrohistory and the study of the Future; (2) Case studies in Scenario Planning and Visioning; (3) New Methodologies, such as Nuts and Bolts and Causal Layered Analysis; and, (4) Questions and Answers for the Busy Associate, an imaginary conversation with a bottom-line oriented executive.

Over 40 pages of appendices provide bullet point illustrations of approaches and methods in Futures Studies.

COMMENTS

This book outlines the discipline of Future Studies with uncommon clarity.

Inayatullah's careful explanations of the skills necessary for the craft

makes Questioning the Future an essential reference for both students and

practitioners.

Laurence Brown, Senior Researcher, Social & Behavioural Sciences, University of Queensland.

Questioning the Future represents a new synthesis in futures thinking. Bringing into futures studies disciplines such as action research, futures generations research, organizational development, critical theory, civilisational studies, macro-history and complexity science, Inayatullah is inclusive of the many traditions, the many patterns, and the dynamic holism emerging in the futures field. This book is at the cross-roads where new pathways to alternative futures will be created in the 21^st century

Jose M. Ramos

Swinburne University

I found your workshop on Futures profound and life-changing. My notes and your books won't stay on the shelf like much workshop material, they keep leaping into my head, heart and hands…

At a personal level we have taken some major steps towards our preferred future and with a lot more confidence than we had earlier. I'm also looking for starting to find ways of incorporating your ideas and approaches in to my work as a management and organisational coach…

I used the chapter on "Trajectories into the Future" yesterday as the basis for a coaching session with a manager snowed under in a new role...

Transformational!…

Workshop Participants, compiled by Alan Fricker, President, Sustainable Futures Trust, New Zealand

Available

Available April 2002 from Tamkang University Press for and directly from the author. Tamkang University, Center for Futures Studies, 151 Ying-Chuan Road, Tamsui, Taiwan, 251. 35$ plus postage.

Or directly from the author for 35$ plus postage. Email: s.inayatullah@qut.edu.au, sohail@mail.tku.edu.tw or sinayatullah@hotmail.com. Or mail: Sohail Inayatullah, 29 Meta Street, Mooloolaba, 4557, Queensland.