Futures Thinking and Library Leadership

No one can predict the future but having a futures thinking framework is an important tool in any leader's toolbox. Futuring is a systematic process for envisioning plausible outcomes and scenarios based on what we know today. Some trends on the horizon will become more prominent while others will recede and giving the possibilities consideration helps us understand why we do what we do. Leaders capable of futures thinking are better equipped to handle the incredible rate of change that is taking place around us, including both predictable and unpredictable drivers of change. This article presents several futuring methods and discusses their implications for library leadership.