Future Ideal Retrospective

A future ideal retrospective activity “collaboratively contributes to each participant generating a practical vision for future developments based on evaluations or on statements, questions, and/or reservations concerning a certain challenge.”

1. Imagine it is [date xx years in the future], you meet someone and you are telling them: “I am very pleased how skilled and effective I have become in [fill in the topic of the workshop].” The person asks you to tell them what happened over that last [xx] years to bring you to this state
->Prepare 5 items (in large block letters on 11″ x 3″ sheets of paper; then repeat this on the small post-its).

Sometime during steps 2-5, assistant assembles post-its onto sheets and photocopies the sheets for everyone. Alternatively, assistant types up the text from the large sheets and prints out a copy for each person.

2. Silent Grouping of the items.
(Feel free to move any single item or group of items, even breaking up someone else’s group, but take time to notice the clusters that emerge—don’t rush.)

3. Naming of the clusters (together as a group).
(Avoid nouns and categories. Instead, invent a phrase that captures how the cluster moves us towards the future ideal, e.g., not “humor” or “scramble,” but “Kept humor about the scramble needed to keep things going.”)

4. Repeat 2 & 3

5. Review of a previous F.I.R. to provide guidance for step 6.
(example )

6. Individual grouping of items and naming (including discussion in pairs of initial attempts). Clusters are grouped into ever-more-inclusive clusters until there is one umbrella phrase.

7. Review of the different clusters and naming.

(Possible follow-up step, not yet implemented or evaluated:
8. Use the clusters to brainstorm about concrete actions. Establish a timetable for undertaking those actions.)