Proceedings of the 3rd European Conference on Intellectual Capital

Katja Pook and Campbell Warden
<strong>the</strong> challenges <strong>of</strong> leadership and decision-making. The goal is to achieve ‘buy-in’ to <strong>the</strong> “outputs” and
“outcomes” <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> process by creating a shared sense <strong>of</strong> ownership and parenthood.
7.2 Why is <strong>the</strong>re a greater need for foresight and ICM now?
There is an increasing need to support <strong>the</strong> possibility <strong>of</strong> integrating multiple perspectives to deal with
today’s complexity. A greater appreciation <strong>of</strong> this justifies leaving <strong>the</strong> "comfort zone" <strong>of</strong> traditional
policy analysis and development and experimenting with contextual approaches that are more
relevant; "relevant factors and dynamics can be used to identify fundamental and transformational
driving forces" (Schneider, 2007).
In a world that is dominated by short-term success races, <strong>the</strong>re is a growing need to consider longterm
developments in business environments, markets and society to ensure corporate sustainability
and TF and ICM contribute to communication among different disciplines and perspectives by
supporting <strong>the</strong> process <strong>of</strong> socially shared cognition; always focussing on possible futures. Boles
criticized back in 1999 that socially shared cognition has mostly been used in organisations at team
levels and not for creating reality in larger entities.
Future oriented exercises can also support thorough and realistic impact assessments, e.g. <strong>of</strong> large
infrastructures or new technology plants.
7.3 What are <strong>the</strong> limitations <strong>of</strong> foresight and ICM?
Foresight and ICM cannot substitute for decision-making processes. They can provide valuable
information for decisions about future action and investments, but <strong>the</strong>y should not form part <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>
decision making process itself. The division <strong>of</strong> topic-related knowledge exchange and creation on <strong>the</strong>
one hand, and decision-making on <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r, helps to avoid spoiling experts by political decisionmaking.
However it should be borne in mind that <strong>the</strong> described methods cannot, on <strong>the</strong>ir own, change an
organisation’s culture or overhaul its strategy. However <strong>the</strong>y do influence culture, communication,
personal relationships and decision-making.
Care has to be taken when introducing participatory approaches into strong hierarchical power
structures as a forced consensus and avoidance <strong>of</strong> conflict can destroy <strong>the</strong> fruitful consideration <strong>of</strong>
multiple perspectives and possibly incompatible opinions. So although a consensus can be reached,
this does not have to be <strong>the</strong> outcome. Striking <strong>the</strong> right balance between <strong>the</strong> old and new is important
to get <strong>the</strong> process going.
8. Critical success factors
Some <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> critical success factors when adopting participatory approaches for sustainable
management are here formulated as recommendations:
Draw a heterogeneous sample <strong>of</strong> perspectives relevant for <strong>the</strong> topics <strong>of</strong> interest;
Assure that participants are willing and capable <strong>of</strong> open innovative thinking and communication;
Assure that <strong>the</strong> sample used is representative <strong>of</strong> all relevant perspectives;
Minimise biases caused by implicit “orders” or interests, work with experts instead <strong>of</strong> “delegates”
<strong>of</strong> a certain interest group;
Have pr<strong>of</strong>essional mediation and facilitation experts present to guide <strong>the</strong> process;
Determine roles and responsibilities and communicate <strong>the</strong>m clearly;
Balance long-term and short term views;
Make methods understandable for <strong>the</strong> participants;
Connect all knowledge to a strategic direction (at <strong>the</strong> end);
Draw realistic conclusions that are transformable into concrete actions;
Simplify complex information / avoid information overload;
Take time for discussion;
Use media and visualisations to edit and simplify information and outcomes;
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