Future making : foresighting, imagining, and crafting desirable futures

Environmental instability has become a pressing concern for organizations wo­rld­wide. A range of disruptive and unexpected events—including political up­­he­avals, economic recessions, global pandemics, technological innovations, and shifting demographic and social trends—are creating increasingly complex challenges at all levels of management (Bennett and Lemoine Citation2014; Mil­lar, Groth, and Mahon Citation2018). Executives in both the public and private sectors are finding it increasingly difficult to anticipate and respond effectively to the rapid evolution of digital technologies and geopolitical dynamics. In this volatile landscape, organizations face the dual challenge of not only anticipating plausible future scenarios but also actively shaping futures that are socially responsible and ethically sound (Bühring and Liedtka Citation2018). Contemporary leadership req­uires an expanded perspective: one that embraces radically divergent futures and incorporates mechanisms for monitoring weak signals and emerging ­disruptions. As a result, fostering org­anizational resilience and adaptability requires the adoption of strategic approaches grounded in the exploration of multiple futures. These approaches facilitate flexible decision-making and support the development of purposeful, future-oriented strategies.

The growing emphasis on future making highlights its transformative potential to equip both organizations and society with the tools to confront complex and evolving challenges, whether societal (Gümüsay and Reinecke Citation2022) or organizational (Beckert Citation2021). In today’s saturated and intensely competitive markets, reactive planning is no longer sufficient (Whyte, Comi, and Mosca Citation2022). It is now imperative to proactively shape and craft preferred futures, transforming this capability into a source of strategic differentiation and a driver of sustainable, long-term value creation (Spanjol et al. Citation2023).