Anticipatory Governance™ Framework- Preview

ANTICIPATORY GOVERNANCE

GLOBAL CHALLENGES

ACCOUNTABILITY

Anticipatory Governance Framework VISIONARY LEADERSHIP BRIEFING

™

When Governance meets Foresight

Key words: Governance> foresight> future planning> anticipation> co-operation> accelerating sustainability> co-creation> complexity theory> forward planning> strategic planning> risk

management> conflict resolution> international relations> imagination> creativity> emerging paradigms> smart globalisation> business model innovation.

2 GOLD MERCURY INTERNATIONAL white paper: Anticipatory Governance Framework

Governments, corporations and civil society face growing challenges while lacking the necessary decision making capacity to tackle them effectively.

Consensus is growing that the existing mechanisms for governing (decision making) and understanding the future (anticipating) are no longer adequate to address the extended range of strategic challenges and complexities.

There is a need for a radical new way of thinking, framing issues and making decisions; there is a need to find a new way of envisioning the future. Existing methods and tools to comprehend and ‘act’ on the future seem obsolete in the face of rapidly evolving challenges.

“Governance” refers to “the designation of players and their roles, and the process of defining the formal prerogatives of the role-players, as well as prescribing the communication patterns and decision rights among these players.” 1

1 and 2. IBM Center for Business of Government

“Anticipatory Governance” refers to “transforming shortterm oriented decision making practices to long-term policies and agendas with vision and foresight. Decisions are made based on informed trends and evidence, bringing about a future that is co-designed and co-created by professionals and citizens.” 2

3 GOLD MERCURY INTERNATIONAL white paper: Anticipatory Governance Framework

Strategic Planning: The need for long term vision The main objective of strategic planning (also called long-term planning) is to develop a shared vision and a set of common goals over a number of years into the future.

Today, however, most strategic planning initiatives focus more on the ‘planning’ side rather than the ‘strategic’ side. This is because they do not use or include Anticipatory Governance™ mindsets, practices and tools. The consequence is an action plan with a timeline but with a detrimental strategic short-sightedness. The nature and uses of foresight vision in strategic planning are currently undervalued and yet they form a crucial part of governance.

We propose Anticipatory Governance™ as a new framework to define foresight vision and sustainable decision-making. This framework and mindset can dramatically improve governance and sustainability for the 21st Century.

Anticipatory Governance™ requires: - A forward looking attitude and perspective on governance.

- Accountability of the actors in understanding that they are creating the future.

- An understanding of the future as a complex process.

- The creation of a preferable future or shared vision (we created Corporate Vision® as a strategic process to incorporate Anticipatory Governance™) co-designed and co-created together with key stakeholders.

- Forward looking activities that bring about a critical understanding of complex change, emerging paradigms and trends, in order to facilitate evidence-based decisions.

- A new way of structuring visionary thought based on co-operative dynamics.

Leonardo Da Vinci Italy, 1452 – 1519.

Drawings of flying machines.