What If...? Exploring Cause And Effect In Business

Scenario planning improves decision making and strategic thinking. Denis Burn describes the process.

Some people liken scenario planning to 'rehearsing the future'. Others talk about the 'entrepreneurial power of creative foresight'. In less flowery terms, scenario planning helps businesses to spot good opportunities and to make decisions that will be more resilient in uncertain times.

Scenario planning was pioneered by Shell in the 1960s but since then – a time of rapid change, increasing complexity and rising levels of uncertainty – the technique has been widely adopted.

Offering a number of benefits, it now underpins the plans and decisions of many businesses. Benefits include the following.