A Foresight Literacy Instrument
FUTURES
THINKING
CARDS
Build the muscle of futures literacy. Scan signals. Imagine alternatives. Stress-test strategies. Cultivate foresight mindsets.
About the Deck
Futures
Literacy
The Futures Thinking Cards are a structured foresight instrument designed for experienced strategists, innovation leaders, and foresight professionals. Drawing on proven methodologies from the world's leading futurists — Amy Webb, Ray Kurzweil, Tony Seba, Daniel Burrus, Kevin Kelly, and many others — this deck builds your capacity to think systematically about the future.
Unlike traditional strategic planning tools that seek a single "correct" forecast, these cards develop futures literacy — the ability to use the future in the present. Each card contains inquiry prompts, practitioner notes, and references to specific frameworks, enabling deep engagement with the forces shaping tomorrow.
Scanning
9 cards
Imagining
9 cards
Stress-Testing
6 cards
Foresight Mindsets
11 cards
The Deck
Four Phases of Foresight
How to Play
Using the
Deck
The Futures Thinking Cards can be used individually for personal reflection, in pairs for strategic dialogue, or in groups for facilitated foresight workshops. The deck is designed to be nonlinear — enter at any phase, follow the prompts, and let the inquiry guide you.
Select a phase that matches your current need
Read the front of each card for context and framing
Flip to engage with inquiry prompts and frameworks
Use sensemaking cards to synthesize your insights
Practitioner Guidelines
Embrace multiple futures
The goal is not to predict the one "right" future. Effective foresight holds multiple plausible futures simultaneously, using them as lenses to sharpen present-day decisions.
Distinguish signal from noise
Not every headline is a trend, and not every trend is a megatrend. Use the frameworks on each card to develop rigorous filtering — separating the consequential from the ephemeral.
Challenge your assumptions
The most dangerous blind spots are the ones you don't know you have. Use the inquiry prompts to surface and interrogate the assumptions embedded in your current worldview.
Think in systems, not silos
Futures emerge from the interaction of multiple forces. Map connections between signals, trends, and drivers across domains — the most transformative changes happen at intersections.
Document your journey
Use the sensemaking cards at the end of each phase to capture emerging patterns, unresolved tensions, and questions worth carrying forward into the next cycle.
Suggested Process
The Foresight Cycle
1
Scanning
Begin by reading the present with fresh eyes. Surface weak signals, identify trends and megatrends, map drivers of change, and excavate the deep structures beneath the surface noise.
2
Imagining
Construct multiple alternative futures using proven scenario methodologies. Move beyond prediction into the disciplined art of imagining what could be, what might be, and what should be.
3
Stress-Testing
Wind-tunnel your strategies against the futures you have imagined. Identify vulnerabilities, discover robust options, and build the resilience to thrive across multiple possible worlds.
4
Iterate
Foresight is a practice, not a project. Return to Scanning with sharpened perception, updated assumptions, and deeper futures literacy. The cycle strengthens with each revolution.
The cycle is iterative — each revolution deepens your futures literacy
Methodology Sources
Standing on
Giants
This deck synthesizes proven foresight methodologies from the world's leading futurists, researchers, and strategic thinkers. Each card references specific frameworks and their originators.
The Futures Thinking Cards are designed as a pluralist synthesis — weaving together complementary approaches from technology disruption analysis, scenario planning, causal layered analysis, existential risk assessment, and humanist futures ethics.