The Future of Leadership: Scenario Planning and the Changing Nature of Organizations and Communities

with Art Kleiner

The complexity of problems; evolving insights in cognitive science and organizational design; the growing need for partnership among the public, private and civil sector; and the increasing mistrust of authority in all spheres of life. These trends, and more, may determine the future of leadership: The types of organizations that will prevail, the types of strategies that will prevail, and the types of people who will be able to act.

In this module, we will explore the question of leadership in a rigorous fashion. Our task: To consider how societies and organizations will evolve, going forward, and the types of opportunities and challenges that will face leaders in the next few years. Our purpose: To prepare ourselves, our organizations, and our communities for more effective action. Our method: The scenario planning approach pioneered at Royal Dutch/Shell in the 1970s and 1980s, and increasingly influential in the 1990s and 2000s. Our goal: A set of stories of possible futures, 20 years hence, that makes it easier today to make decisions about our own career paths and personal lives - and to lay the groundwork for building more effective, more beneficial organizations and communities.

Art Kleiner is the editor-in-chief of strategy+business, a long-standing management writer (his books include Who Really Matters? and The Age of Heretics), a scenario planning practitioner and educator since 1991 (at New York University's Interactive Telecommunications Program and elsewhere), and the former editorial director of The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook series.

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Getting to Maybe: The Art and Practice of Leading Social Innovation with Brenda Zimmerman
Cultivating Authentic Leadership Presence with Toke Moeller, Barbara Bash & Bob Wing
Mapping & Leveraging Social Networks with Karen Stephenson
The Future of Leadership: Scenario Planning and the Changing Nature of Organizations and Communities with Art Kleiner