Thinking Futures works with people in organisations to enhance their long term thinking capacity and to use that thinking to build stronger strategy. I work with organisations to think about possible futures today by:
- building and enhancing environmental scanning to expand the horizons scanned for the intelligence and data needed for strategic decision making - I help you bring the outside into your organisation,
- running strategic thinking processes that start with a focus on the long term view rather than short term urgency - I use scenario planning to help you understand the shape of preferred futures so that your decisions today are robust, and
- documenting your strategy in clear, concise and useful strategic plans that inform short-term decision making by your people - I work with your people to make your plans meaningful 'on the ground' in your organisation, and a key tool in your strategy excution process.
A key differentiatior of my work is that I am committed to working with you to build a sustainable long term thinking capacity to inform your decision making today - this means knowledge transfer during projects is a primary driver so that you are able to continue to embed a futures approach in your strategy processes on a continuing basis.
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About the Thinking Futures Logo
Developed by Evolution 7, the Thinking Futures logo is about challening perspective and perception. The dual cube illusion 'pops' in and out, symbolising the need to recognise there are often many perspectives to an issue, and that we need to take the time to stop and consider how those perspectives drive our thinking.
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Following the successful launch of my University Futures website in 2006, I established Thinking Futures in 2007 to work with people to develop their capacity for long term thinking, and to translate that thinking into stronger strategy processes. I work mainly with educational, non-profit and professional organisations.
Until 2007, I held management positions in universities and TAFE (Technical and Further Education) institutes in Australia for more than 25 years, starting my career as a Graduate Clerk in a faculty at Griffith University in Brisbane. I then worked at La Trobe University, Footscray College of TAFE (as it was then), Chisholm Institute of Technology and then Monash University (following a merger), Swinburne University of Technology and finally Victoria University. Swinburne and Victoria are dual sector universities, and have vocational and further education and higher education sectors in the same institution. During that career, I managed large faculties and planning units, and spent a fair bit of time in central governance and student administration units. I designed and led major change processes including organisational restructuring, process and functional reviews, developed and managed planning and quality frameworks, and worked with staff to develop positive and supportive work cultures.
My career has given me significant experience and expertise in not only how educational organisations work, but also in how to develop effective strategy that works for them. Based on many years of immersion in their processes (some of which I helped to design, review and improve), I have a healthy respect for academic work and culture, and a commitment to ensuring participative and focused strategy development and implementation processes. Further details of my resume, publications and conference presentations are available.
I discovered futures work in 1999, when I was lucky enough to be asked by my then Vice-Chancellor to set up an internal planning unit that was to integrate futures approaches into the University's planning framework. Knowing nothing about futures work then, I have completed the Graduate Diploma in Strategic Foresight at Swinburne University of Technology and am contributing to the futures conversation globally, in particular through my involvement in the Shaping Tomorrow Foresight Network.
My expertise centres around scenario planning and environmental scanning, both of which I use to strengthen the quality and depth of strategic thinking in organisations.
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