Rogue Waves: Future-Proof Your Business to Survive and Profit from Radical Change

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G: Generate Your Futures

Build scenarios that explore the full range of likely futures—not just the future you want.

I used to live on a decommissioned Navy base. I’d walk around the old Pacific Command building where much of the American effort in World War II was planned. The warehouse where I had my office was one of the largest clear span hangars in the world when it was built.

On the far side of the island were bizarre steel structures that cut into the sky. They looked as if someone had assembled the inside of an aircraft carrier but forgotten to build the hull (Figure 5.1). And that’s essentially what they were. This was the Navy’s fire school. They lit the building on fire, every morning, so that generations of kids in asbestos suits ...