Official future

The Official Future Is Dead! Long Live the Official Future! by Nils Gilman

For any human group, be it a family, a corporation, or country, there exists a set of (usually unstated) shared assumptions about what is going to happen in the future.

Although they are closely related, I wouldn’t call these assumptions official futures but Future Imaginaries. The difference is that for me, an official future is usually stated. Like when an automotive company proposes a timeline and a [[ flatpack future ]] vision video for autonomous vehicles. It might not be what people and management at the company believe. Still, it is what they are willing to put on record to please shareholders, customers, and the public or to influence public expectations in their favor.

An unwillingness to challenge the assumptions of the Official Future can lead to strategic blindnesses.

The problems begin when the lines between the official future and the assumed future start to blur, and one is mistaken for the other.