Questioning the Future
Futures Studies, Action
Learning and Organizational Transformation
(Tamsui and Taipei, Tamkang University, 2002 – isbn
957-9078-42-4, 240 pages, paperback)
How can anticipatory action
learning help organizations plan for the future?
What are the limits to
strategic planning and scenario planning?
What are the latest trends
in Futures Studies?
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 studies, action
learning and organizational transformation 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.
The book is divided into two parts. Chapters in part one focus on: (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) Poststructuralism as method; and, (5) Tips and pitfalls of
futures studies as a consultancy.
Chapters in part two focus on: (1) action learning; (2) the learning
and healing organization (3) layered questioning; (4) organizational
transformation; and (5) 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.
This book outlines the
discipline of Future Studies with uncommon clarity.
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 21st century
Jose M. Ramos
Swinburne University, Melbourne, Australia.
Helpful and Useful!
Murray May, School of Social Ecology and Lifelong Learning, University
of Western Sydney, Sydney, Australia
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!…
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
Workshop Participants, compiled by Alan Fricker, President, Sustainable Futures Trust, New Zealand
How to order:
Available from Tamkang University.
Center for Futures Studies, 151 Ying-Chuan Road, Tamsui, Taiwan, 251.
35aud plus postage.
Or directly from the author for 35aud 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,
Australia.