Creating the Future from The Future is much more effective & long lasting than the traditional approach of creating the future from the past/present.

1. Creating the Future from
the Future
Implementing
Breakthrough
Strategic Planning
Association for
Strategic Planning
April 10, 2012
Ivan Rosenberg Daniel Feiman
Frontier Associates Build It Backwards
4/10/12 (c) 2012 Frontier Associates, Inc. & Build It Backwards 1

2. A high-functioning organization =
people inspired by the same future.
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3. Creating that future is
leadership’s job.
Leadership is creating the
possibility of a future that
wasn’t going to happen
anyhow
AND
enrolling others into taking
action to fulfill that future
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4. Today most planning is from
the Past/Present
Best Case
A Plan
Worst Case
Past Now
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5. Planning from the Past is
based on the Past.
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6. Getting buy in is tougher when
Planning from the Past
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7. Horizon is typically 3-5 years
when Planning from the Past
If you are a whale oil producer, you
won’t see the electric bulb coming.
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8. Instead, we suggest Creating
the Future from the Future.
Vision
How we
achieved
the Vision
Past Now
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9. Produces inspiration and a
future of breakthroughs
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10. Workforce buy in is
automatic.
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11. Horizon is typically decades.
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12. Creating the Future From the
Future yields exceptional results
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13. Tactical Strategic
Planning Planning
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14. #1: The Importance of
Commitment
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15. The first stonecutter was in action
cutting stone.
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16. The second stonecutter had a goal of
cutting two stones a day.
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17. The third stonecutter had a commitment to
honor God by building a cathedral.
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18. Are Your People Working
Toward…
 Actions: movement, something that is
happening (I’m cutting stones).
 Goals: a condition that someone
intends to be true by a specific time
in the future (I cut two stones/day).
 Commitments: a state of being
emotionally impelled (I’m building a
cathedral to honor God).
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19. The Fundamental Commitment
of Human Beings
 To survive
– Physically
– To leave a legacy
“To make a difference with my life.”
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20. The Purpose of Organizations
The one and only purpose of an
organization is to give people the
opportunity to experience making a
bigger difference than they could as
individuals.
– The difference an organization was
created to make (is committed to
making) is called its vision.
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21. Building a Very Successful
Organization
In Built to Last, Collins and Porras assert a
key step in building a very successful
organization is to articulate a core
ideology, i.e.,
– A Purpose: the organization’s fundamental
reasons for existence.
• The difference it was created to make (Vision)
• How it will make this difference (Mission)
– Core Values: a small set of guiding
principles, guidelines on behavior, not to be
ever compromised.
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22. Building a Very Successful
Organization*
Human Commitment to make a difference
Organizations provide an opportunity to make a big
difference
Very successful organizations are clear about the
difference they were created to make (vision) and
how they will do that (mission and strategic plan)
Very successful organizations are clear about
necessary guidelines on behavior to accomplish
their mission (core values)
* For more on this, refer to Chapter S: Strategic Planning, in THE
Book on Business from A to Z
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23. #2: Create an Inspiring Vision
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24. If you want to build a ship, don’t gather
your people and ask them to provide
wood, prepare tools, assign tasks…
Just call them together and raise in
their minds the longing for the endless
sea.
- Antoine de Saint-Exupery
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25. Organizational Visions
(Commitments)
 The W.M. Keck Observatory is committed
to creating a world in which all humankind is
inspired and united by the pursuit of
knowledge of the infinite variety and
richness of the Universe.
 A world in which everyone has a stable and
enriched quality of life.
 A world in which space enhances the human
experience for all.
 A safe and clean environment for all
generations.
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26. Literature Support
“Companies that have risen to global
leadership..invariably began with
ambitions that were out of all
proportions to their resources and
capabilities.”
- Gary Hamel and C.K. Prahalad, “Strategic
Intent,” Harvard Business Review
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27. #3: Create Vision by
Thinking Out of the Box
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28. Exercise: 9 Dots Puzzle
Connect all nine dots, drawing only four
straight lines without lifting your writing
instrument from the paper (tracing counts as a
line). If you know how to do it with four lines,
take the challenge of doing it with three, two,
one or zero lines.
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29. Use the Michelangelo Approach to
support thinking out of the box.
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30. #4: Include Influencers
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31. #5: Acknowledge the Past
and Present
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32. #6: Use Consensus
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33. Four Conditions for Consensus
1. The leader trusts the group.
2. All participants prefer that the group
reaches a new result rather than
remaining with the status quo.
3. The group has experience with
consensus before the major decisions.
4. The facilitator is committed to
consensus.
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34. #7: Establish a Structure of
Support
A structure, external to
people’s memories or good
intentions, that supports
the accomplishment of a
commitment, goal, or
promise.
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35. A Process for Creating the
Future from the Future
Vision
Missing
Strategic Possibility
Goals
Mission Obstacle
Belief
Core &
Goal How we achieved
Values
the Vision
Past Now
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36. W.M. Keck Observatory
 Vision: A world in which all humankind is inspired
and united by the pursuit of knowledge of the
infinite variety and richness of the Universe.
 Obstacle Belief: Astronomical discoveries are
irrelevant to a typical person’s daily life, and
thus aren’t really important.
 Missing Possibility: The possibility that scientific
discoveries can enrich every person’s life.
 Mission: We advance the frontiers of astronomy
and share our discoveries to inspire the
imagination of all.
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37. W.M. Keck Observatory
Core Values
 Safety: We hold as paramount the safety and health of
Observatory personnel and equipment and that of our natural
environment.
 Integrity: We, as individuals and as an organization, make
promises carefully and keep them unequivocally.
 Respect: We respect all human beings and treat them with
dignity. We respect the unique natural and cultural environment
that is Hawai'i.
 Discovery: We honor and nurture discovery scientific, technical
and personal. Discovery lies at the very heart of our mission.
 Service: We proudly serve each other, our community and those
who use the Keck telescopes, assuring that telescopes and
instruments are fully operational for every night's observing.
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38. Nominated for Global eBook of the Year
http://goo.gl/Gjmz8
More can be found in “S”:
“Strategy”
Amazon
(http://goo.gl/GTV04)
or
Kindle
(http://goo.gl/9XWO6)
Nominated for Global
eBook of the Year
(http://goo.gl/Gjmz8)
4/10/12 (c) 2012 Frontier Associates, Inc. & Build It Backwards 38

39. Creating the Future from
the Future
Ivan Rosenberg
Frontier Associates 818-505-9915
www.frontier-assoc.com
irosenberg@frontier-assoc.com
Daniel Feiman
Build It Backwards 310-540-6717
www.BuildItBackwards.com
dsfeiman@BuildItBackwards.com
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