Futurology

Entrepreneurs have to be futurologists. Wikipedia, the free, on-line encyclopedia, defines "futurology" as:

Futures Studies, Foresight, or Futurology is the science, art and practice of postulating possible, probable, and preferable futures and the worldviews and myths that underlie them. Futures studies (colloquially called "Futures" by many of the field's practitioners) seeks to understand what is likely to continue, what is likely to change, and what is novel. Part of the discipline thus seeks a systematic and pattern-based understanding of past and present, and to determine the likelihood of future events and trends.

You have to think what the future will be like and how you will help your customers play a play a part in that future. Society is changing very fast. Obama's victory wouldn't have been possible in 2004.

A social change is like a noxious weed called "Creeping Charlie." I shoots a vine just below the surface of the ground. Then at some point it pops up above ground and shoots other branches off of it. Left to itself it will destroy your yard by forcing out all the grass.

The point being that as soon as you see it, it's the present. You have to figure out where that vine is going so you can meet the future where it becomes apparent. In a sense, you have to know how to see what isn't there. One way to do this is read magazines and books by "futurists" and learn what might be possible. Then figure out how likely various scenarios are based on your intuition and backed up with data.

What do you think about this? Post a comment.

Entrepreneurship informs all of my professional activities. For entrepreneurial real estate, go to www.yourstopforrealestate.com./blog and for entrepreneurial writing, go to www.kearneymusicschoolmurders.blogspot.com