Abstract
Purpose - Institute for the Future has collaborated with the Rockefeller Foundation and its Searchlight function to create a framework for broad engagement in strategic thinking about ways to catalyze change in the lives of poor or vulnerable communities.Design/methodology/approach - Starting from the top-down horizon scan of the foundation's Searchlight partners, IFTF created a public database of signals of innovation and disruption in the domain of poverty and social change. This signals database was used to build a visual map of Catalysts for Change, creating a hierarchy of four catalyst types, each containing four action zones and a pivotal challenge. This map provided the language and framework for engaging a global community in a serious game to extend the vision of the Searchlight function and capture novel ideas for innovations that could improve the lives of those in marginalized communities. Findings - With an estimated global reach of 160,000 views and 1,600 game players from 79 countries, the game produced more than 18,000 ideas about catalysts for change. Originality/value - This framework of Foresight (the signals database) to Insight (the visual map of catalysts for change) to Action (the global strategic game) demonstrates a way to integrate top-down expert foresight with bottom-up strategic ideation on a global scale.
Purpose - Institute for the Future has collaborated with the Rockefeller Foundation and its Searchlight function to create a framework for broad engagement in strategic thinking about ways to catalyze change in the lives of poor or vulnerable communities.Design/methodology/approach - Starting from the top-down horizon scan of the foundation's Searchlight partners, IFTF created a public database of signals of innovation and disruption in the domain of poverty and social change. This signals database was used to build a visual map of Catalysts for Change, creating a hierarchy of four catalyst types, each containing four action zones and a pivotal challenge. This map provided the language and framework for engaging a global community in a serious game to extend the vision of the Searchlight function and capture novel ideas for innovations that could improve the lives of those in marginalized communities. Findings - With an estimated global reach of 160,000 views and 1,600 game players from 79 countries, the game produced more than 18,000 ideas about catalysts for change. Originality/value - This framework of Foresight (the signals database) to Insight (the visual map of catalysts for change) to Action (the global strategic game) demonstrates a way to integrate top-down expert foresight with bottom-up strategic ideation on a global scale.
