As a founder and managing director of Global Business Network, James Ogilvy helped develop the technique of scenario planning, which has become an integral part of strategic thinking in both business and government. Now Ogilvy shows how we can use this cutting-edge method for social change in our own neighborhoods. In Creating Better Futures, Ogilvy presents a profound new vision of how the world is changing--and how it can be changed for the better. Ogilvy argues that self-defined communities, rather than individuals or governments, have become the primary agents for social change. Towns, professional associations, and interest groups of all kinds help shape the future in all the ways that matter most, from schools and hospitals to urban development. The key to improvement is scenario planning--a process that draws on groups of people, both lay and expert, to draft narratives that spell out possible futures, some to avoid, some inspiring hope. Scenario planning has revolutionized both public and private planning, leading to everything from the diverse product lines that have revived the auto industry, to a timely decision by the state of Colorado to avoid pouring millions into an oil-shale industry that never materialized. But never before has anyone proposed that it be taken up by society as a whole. Drawing on years of experience in both academia and the private sector, where he developed both a keen sense of how businesses work best and an abiding passion for changing the world, James Ogilvy provides the tools we need to create better communities: better health, better education, better lives.

As a founder and managing director of Global Business Network, James Ogilvy helped develop the technique of scenario planning, which has become an integral part of strategic thinking in both business and government. Now Ogilvy shows how we can use this cutting-edge method for social change in our own neighborhoods. In Creating Better Futures, Ogilvy presents a profound new vision of how the world is changing--and how it can be changed for the better. Ogilvy argues that self-defined communities, rather than individuals or governments, have become the primary agents for social change. Towns, professional associations, and interest groups of all kinds help shape the future in all the ways that matter most, from schools and hospitals to urban development. The key to improvement is scenario planning--a process that draws on groups of people, both lay and expert, to draft narratives that spell out possible futures, some to avoid, some inspiring hope. Scenario planning has revolutionized both public and private planning, leading to everything from the diverse product lines that have revived the auto industry, to a timely decision by the state of Colorado to avoid pouring millions into an oil-shale industry that never materialized. But never before has anyone proposed that it be taken up by society as a whole. Drawing on years of experience in both academia and the private sector, where he developed both a keen sense of how businesses work best and an abiding passion for changing the world, James Ogilvy provides the tools we need to create better communities: better health, better education, better lives.

Presents a vision of how the world is changing, and how it can be changed for the better. Argues that self-defined communities, rather than individuals or governments, have become the primary agents for social change. Shows how to apply scenario planning to create better communities: better health, better education, better lives.

This book explains how citizens, working together in communities of similar interests, can use the widely respected process of scenario planning to map out ways of improving our society.

Designing better futures is a book that confronts the greatest question of our times and arguably the greatest question facing humanity; "how can cities and organizations, some with growing populations and all with aspirational ideals, navigate the turbulence and live within the constraints of the planet, while at the same time creating futures that are demonstrably better than what exists now?" What makes this book interesting is not just the challenge it poses but the roadmap it provides to help build appropriate solutions and more coherent actions than would otherwise have been the case." Designing better futures is for corporate leaders, policy makers and intelligent readers who understand that yesterday's successes are a poor guide for the profoundly reshaped global markets and patterns of consumer behaviour in the 21st century. It explores: why and how we need to think differently; the revolution in strategy and design now underway; the changes new technologies will usher in over the next two decades; what will make change successful in a world of compound impacts; the leadership skills we will all need to make this new reality happen at the speed required. Designing better futures draws together in a highly readable way, that is both simultaneously profound and simple, a rich and thoughtful body of emerging writing about the challenges and meaning of the 21st century.