Developed by Sohail Inayatullah (Six Pillars: Futures Thinking for Transforming, 2008).
Maps three forces on a future-facing issue (the weight of history, the push of the present, and the pull of the future) to show which force is winning.
When to reach for it
At the start of a strategy or foresight session, when an issue's future feels stuck and no one has named what holds it in place.
How it runs
- State the issue as a question about the future.
- List what pulls it back: habits, sunk assets, rules, memory.
- List what pushes it now: technology, demographics, money.
- List the hoped-for or feared futures that pull it forward.
- Judge which force dominates and what would shift the balance.
Where it sits in SOLVE eX
Go to the source
- Six Pillars: Futures Thinking for Transforming, Foresight 10(1), 2008