Our advice: It's easier to get IT people to support what they create themselves, and nowadays buy-in to a new vision is virtually unattainable unless a whole range of internal and external stakeholders are given a piece of the action.

With this in mind, the "Future Search" approach is arguably the most-effective way to accomplish it. This transition methodology has been successfully practiced worldwide for nearly 50 years, and in a wide range of contexts ranging from corporate environments to government, general and higher education, health care, human services, and even entire communities.

Future Search
Future Search derives from well-researched theories on the conditions under which diverse groups will cooperate. It's a conference structure and series of meetings that that make it possible for a business (or any kind of social system) and its stakeholders to radically improve their ability to act and to take responsibility for mutual work aimed directly at a common vision and future goals. Meetings are task-focused, typically bringing together 60 to 80 people and alternating between one room and break-out groups. In as short a time as 16 hours spread across three days, a diverse collection of people are able to commit to:

• A clear picture of a future they want for their organization;
  
  
• Specific steps to move them toward it;
  
  
• A dedication of all key players to make it happen which was unthinkable a few days before.

What makes it so effective? The trouble with meetings is that people typically focus 80% of their efforts on the 20% of the agenda where they disagree. Future Search enables people to treat differences as information rather than action items, and put all their energy into moving fast in areas where they already agree. This greatly increases commitment, gets vital tasks done, and shortens time in future meetings. It also creates a framework for powerful communications between people who might not otherwise have the opportunity to talk, but need to. For example, at a Future Search conference, you might find yourself sitting in a group with a vice president, production worker, sales manager, customer-service representative, IT worker, key client, and member of an affiliated professional organization or alliance. The Future Search methodology is unique not in its separate elements, but in their combination.

What is it used for? Business and public-sector organizations worldwide use Future Search for planning, alignment, and fast action:

• Creating a vision and strategic direction or long-range plan;
  
  
• Building organizational unity after a merger or re-structuring;
  
  
• Improving performance of the whole;
  
  
• Supporting quality, productivity, and safety plans;
  
  
• Creating key partnerships and alliances;
  
  
• Developing community partnerships;
  
  
• Assuring commitment of all key stakeholders; and
  
  
• Accelerating existing plans and strategies.

What actually happens at a Future Search conference? Topics focus on a wide range of purposes, but the title is always "The Future of ...". There are no prepared outcomes; instead, the conference has a set structure of time and tasks. There are no problem-solving activities, no speakers or lecturers invited, and no education or training moments. Each conference is entirely self-managed; however, it's mandatory that skilled outside experts are used in the pre-conference planning phase that forges the rules and structure.

The conference is a structured sequence of five activities: (1, 2) examining the "past" and "present" of the organization (or a relationship); (3) proposing a series of alternative scenarios of the future visions participants themselves are willing to make happen; (4) the whole conference choosing a set of consensus goals and methods from the collection of scenarios; and (5) the entire group generating and committing to action steps.

Participating in a Future Search persuades people that their hope for the future can actually come to pass, and results in much higher level contributions of their energy and resolve to the buy-in and follow-up.

• A compelling issue that almost always involves a turning point of some kind;
  
  
• Leadership support, the more personal the better;
  
  
• The right people in the room: a collection of people who know the history of events, who are knowledgeable about both day-to-day activities and big-picture trends, who have wisdom and perspective, and who are committed to making change happen.

In Future Search conferences, people are routinely surprised at how much they agree with each other and how many values they hold in common. Organizations discover capabilities they never knew they had, and they take actions they didn't believe possible. It all combines to be pretty powerful stuff.

-- David Foote