
32 MIT Sloan Management Review
Capability Building
STRATEGIC
FORESIGHT
favored immediate implementations of large infrastruc-
ture projects, but the scenarios led them toward exible
approaches, such as allocating funds to specic regions
and strategically staging some big projects.
The basic idea behind options thinking is to pay a
small amount upfront to get in the game, wait until some
key uncertainties become clearer, and then decide which
options to commit to more fully or pull out of. This real-
options perspective, in contrast to market-based nancial
options, underpins adaptive strategies for investments
that are not market ...