Futurecasting Canvas

version 1.5
 The Foossa Futurecasting Canvas (FFC) is a tool for

teams and organizations to model, rehearse, and

Let’s design a prepare for the future as part of their core strategic

better future. planning and innovation practices. This document

provides a brief introduction to the FFC. We offer

Together. custom trainings and curricula to help you make the

most of the future. Let’s talk: hello@foossa.com.

 Futurecasting Canvas / Preliminary Worksheet

Weak Signals: Driving Forces:

Identify weak signals, early adopter

behaviors, outlier innovations, novelties,

and other “proto-trends” related to your

industry or interests.

What would the world look like if these

weak signals scaled up and became

mainstream?
 Futurecasting Canvas / Preliminary Worksheet

Weak Signals: Driving Forces:

Identify driving forces and uncertainties

that affect your work. Driving forces are

technological, cultural, economic, and

social phenomena, trends, and

transformations.

Map key driving forces on a spectrum:

i.e. low/high inflation, fast/slow

technological innovation, population

decline/growth, etc.
 Futurecasting Canvas / Scenario Grid

Fast Tech Innovation, Fast Tech Innovation,

Innovation
Population Decline Population Growth

Population Growth

Technological
Slow Tech Innovation,
Slow Tech Innovation,
Population Decline
Population Growth

Wildcards:
Massive World Wide Data Hack

Disaster Triggers Migration Crisis

Etc.
 Futurecasting Canvas / Scenario Summary

Title: Logline:
Give your scenario a name.

Implications: Actions:

Indicators: Questions:
 Futurecasting Canvas / Scenario Summary

Title: Logline:
Summarize the scenario in 2-3 sentences

Implications: Actions:

Indicators: Questions:
 Futurecasting Canvas / Scenario Summary

Title: Logline:

Implications: Actions:

What are some of the social, cultural, and

economic implications of this scenario?

What changes? What is disrupted? What

stays the same? What norms are rewritten?

Who are the winners and losers?

Indicators: Questions:
 Futurecasting Canvas / Scenario Summary

Title: Logline:

Implications: Actions:
What actions should we take in the future

to respond to the implications of this

scenario? What actions can we take NOW

to prepare? What must we do to make a

preferred scenario a reality? What must we

do to prevent an undesirable future?

Indicators: Questions:
 Futurecasting Canvas / Scenario Summary

Title: Logline:

Implications: Actions:

Indicators: Questions:
What metrics and milestones would tell us

that this scenario is becoming a reality?

 Futurecasting Canvas / Scenario Summary

Title: Logline:

Implications: Actions:

Indicators: Questions:
What are kinds of questions or concerns does this

scenario spark? What additional research questions

can we explore to refine and test this scenario?

 Futurecasting Canvas / Scenario Sketch

Sketch Title:

Make your scenario come to life in the form of an

immersive story. Make it feel real and immediate for

us using the medium and technique(s) of your

choice: storyboard, moodboard, live action role play

(LARP), video, VR, etc. We encourage you to sketch

out your scenarios beyond the confines of this page.

 Futurecasting Canvas / Origin Stories

Scenario Prequel: Prequel to the Prequel:

Using the indicators from the main canvas

as guides, formulate a prequel to your

future scenario sketch. What happened

before your future story takes place? How

did we get here? What’s the origin story?

 Futurecasting Canvas / Origin Stories

Scenario Prequel: Prequel to the Prequel:

What happened before the prequel? Set

this part of the story closer to our present

day to understand how our current reality

could evolve into the imagined future.

 Futurecasting Canvas / Cheat Sheet

1. Identify trends and weak signals of interest. 8. Start thinking through potential implications and

2. Identify driving forces behind the trends and indicators of the scenario based on the driving

weak signals. forces at play.

3. Prioritize 2-3 driving forces to start. 9. Respond with potential actions in response to

4. Map the driving force as a spectrum or the scenario.

continuum: i.e. low to high unemployment, slow 10. Bring the scenario to life with an immersive

to fast technological innovation. storytelling sketch.

5. Plot the top two driving force spectrums on the 11.Give the scenario a title and logline summary.

scenario grid. 12. Pose questions for further discussion and

6. Optional: Mix in additional “Wild Card” or investigation.

“Black Swan” scenarios 13. Craft a prequel and pre-prequel origin stories to

7. Build out scenarios from each grid quadrant each scenario to understand how they might

(and wildcard) using the FFC. come to pass.

 Futurecasting Canvas / Preliminary Worksheet

Weak Signals: Driving Forces:

Scenario Grid: Futurecasting Canvas / Scenario Grid

Wildcards:
 Futurecasting Canvas / Scenario Summary

Title: Logline:

Implications: Actions:

Indicators: Questions:
 Futurecasting Canvas / Scenario Sketch

Sketch Title:
 Futurecasting Canvas / Origin Stories

Scenario Prequel: Prequel to the Prequel: