What Even Is Foresight?

The Futurist’s Introduction to Foresight. Explaining futures thinking for the curious, the confused, and the committed. A beginner’s guide into the wonderful world of futures and how to get started with foresight.

Photo by Red Zeppelin on Unsplash

When I started working with the future, I thought the hardest part would be the complexity of it all. The uncertainty. The unknown unknowns. The shifting landscapes of change. But honestly? One of the most challenging things has been simply explaining what I do to friends, family, or clients hearing about foresight for the first time. The blank stares. The polite nods. The occasional, “So... you predict the future?”

After years of experience with foresight projects across sectors, from climate governance to innovation labs, impact investing to urban futures, I’ve learned (the hard way) that the best way to start is with a few basics. Some simple truths to hold onto before diving into the depths of methods and models.

This is my attempt to offer you just that: a plain-language guide to what foresight is, why it matters, and how to think about different futures in a more structured way. Whether you’re a policymaker, strategist, student, CEO, or just someone wondering how to make sense of the chaos around us, this is for you.

The Future Is Not Singular

Here’s the first thing to know: there is not just one future. The future is not a fixed point we’re all heading toward. It’s multiple, open-ended, and influenced by our actions, choices, and systems. That’s why in this field, we always talk about futures—plural.

That might sound abstract at first. But think about it. There’s the future that might happen. The one that could happen. The one you hope will happen. And the one that probably will happen if we do nothing. Strategic foresight helps you explore that landscape and make better choices based on it.

We’re not trying to predict what will happen next year or in 2040. We’re trying to stretch our thinking to prepare for a range of possibilities, and ultimately shape the future in more intentional ways.

This plural view of the futures helps us break away from fatalism. It reminds us that the futures aren’t written yet. We have agency. And in times of crisis or rapid change, that reminder matters more than ever.

Enter the Futures Cone

A helpful way to visualize this conceptually is through something called the Futures Cone, a conceptual model originally developed by Joseph Voros. Imagine a cone that starts at the present moment and widens as you move into the futures. The further you look ahead, the broader the space of possibilities becomes.

Our version of the futures cone, adapted from Voros.

That cone is divided into four zones:

• Probable Futures: What’s likely to happen based on current trends and data. This is the domain of forecasting, where we try to extrapolate from the present. It’s often used in risk assessment, economic modeling, and short-term planning.

• Plausible Futures: What could happen given what we know, considering known drivers, uncertainties, and system dynamics. This is the sweet spot of strategic foresight. It’s where we build scenarios, explore implications, and develop strategies that are resilient to change.

• Possible Futures: What might happen, even if it feels unlikely. These include wild cards, disruptions, and speculative futures. They’re useful for stress testing, innovation, and imagining radical change.

• Preferable Futures: What we’d like to happen. These are normative futures, grounded in our values and aspirations. They help us ask: where do we want to go? What kind of future are we working toward?

The cone reminds us that futures thinking is about opportunity space. The further ahead we look, the more open the landscape becomes. That’s both the challenge and the beauty of working with the futures.

So What Is Foresight, Then?

At ANTICIPATE, we define foresight as the structured practice of exploring what might lie ahead to guide better decisions today. It’s not the same as prediction. It’s not just scenario planning. It’s a way of thinking and working that helps us engage with uncertainty in a more informed, creative, and strategic way.

Foresight gives you tools to:

• Spot weak signals and emerging trends

• Challenge assumptions

• Explore different possibilities

• Build more resilient strategies

• Align people around shared direction

It’s a way to see the forest and not just the trees. To step back and ask: what’s changing, what’s staying the same, and what might that mean for us?

We use it with clients who want to work around complexity, rethink strategy, explore innovation, or simply prepare for change before it happens.

Foresight vs. Anticipation vs. Forecasting: What’s the Difference?

Let’s clear up the naming confusion:

• Foresight is a structured process to explore multiple futures and inform strategy.

• Anticipation is the mindset we build, being proactive, curious, and intentional in how we engage with change.

• Forecasting focuses on what’s likely to happen based on data and past patterns.

• Prediction aims to say what will happen (something we don’t claim to do).

• Futures thinking is the broader ability to hold these possibilities in mind and about the cognitive aspects.

All these terms live in the same neighborhood, but they serve different purposes. Think of foresight as the toolkit, anticipation as the attitude, and futures thinking as the skill.

Understanding the differences helps you pick the right tool for the right job. If you need to budget for next year, you might use forecasting. If you want to rethink your 3-year strategy or craft a 10-year vision, foresight is a better fit.

Why Work with Foresight?

Because the world doesn’t stand still. Whether you’re a startup, a city, a non-profit, or a global brand, you’re operating in a world shaped by uncertainty, disruption, and rapid change.

Foresight helps you prepare and developing responses instead of always reacting. It helps you ask better questions before making big bets. It helps you align teams both on what’s urgent and on what’s emerging. It doesn’t guarantee certainty, but it helps you build clarity and resilience.

Foresight is also about equity. When we expand who gets to imagine and shape the futures, we build more inclusive and resilient strategies. The futures shouldn’t be left to a few—everyone has a stake in it.

And when done well, it brings people together. Because the futures are something we co-create.

What We Do at ANTICIPATE

We design and lead strategic foresight processes, trainings, workshops, research and much more. Sometimes it's a one-day sprint to reframe a challenge. Sometimes it's a year-long journey to build internal capability. Sometimes it’s a megatrend deep dive or a participatory scenario process with 100+ stakeholders.

Some of our tools include:

• Our ACT Foresight Framework

• Our Megatrends and Megatrends PRISM Analysis

• Horizon Scanning & Trend Radars

• Uncertainty and Risk Mapping

• Scenario Planning

• Futures Design and Design Thinking

• Futures Prototyping

• Visioning & Wind Tunneling

We work across sectors—public and private, global and local—with one goal: to make futures thinking actionable. Not abstract theory, but practical, visual, and collaborative methods that stick.

Learning to Use Foresight Yourself

We also train people and teams. Through our ANTICIPATE Academy, we offer:

• Executive foresight programs

• Team trainings & capability building

• Self-paced online courses (coming soon)

• Custom toolkits and 1-2-1 coaching

We believe foresight should be accessible, hands-on, and rooted in real-world challenges. That’s why our trainings are immersive, visual, and tailored to your context.

You don’t need to become a professional futurist to use foresight. Anyone can learn to think more long-term, creatively, and systematically. And that makes a difference.

Final Thoughts for the Futures

If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s this: most people want to think long-term and out-of-the-box. But they’re rarely given the space or tools to do so. Foresight is a necessity for leadership in today’s world, not a luxury.

With foresight, we look to do what Pierre Wack called reperception. We reframe our understanding of potential futures ahead to reperceive what we should do today.

If you’re new to this, congrats! This will be a super exciting rabbit hole for you to dive into and as I always say, you might never be the same. My biggest recommendation is to start small. Learn the basics. Use the Futures Cone. Read a signal. Ask “what if?” questions. Look for the non-obvious and for patterns. Talk to someone outside your domain or that you disagree with. Play the devil’s advocate. The more you stretch your mind (forward), the better we get at anticipating from the present.

And if you want to go deeper, we’ve made something just for you:

Explore more in our free beginner’s guide:
The Futurist’s Guide to Foresight