No one can see the future, yet we all must make guesses about it in order to make decisions and be better prepared for what comes our way. The guesses that we make aren’t based on seeing the future, but on our knowledge and past experiences, with a little bit of insight mixed in. Here’s how you can get better at thinking ahead.
- Determine what you want to plan or prepare for.
- Use your intuition
- Consider what you already know
- Detect your own bias
- Invent hypothetical situations related to your objective.
- Consider the worst-case scenario.
- Consider the best-case scenario.
- Think of possible actions to take.
- Evaluate those actions, based on your experience and knowledge.
- Prepare.
- Try it.
- Adjust.
Tips
- The best- and worst-case scenarios help you establish a range of likely possibilities and make plans and decisions accordingly.
- Practice. Even when you’re not the one planning or forecasting, make predictions and watch what happens. This process will help you refine your predictions.
- Brainstorm together with others. Thinking ahead need not be done solo, and you will have the insights and ideas of everybody you consult. Also, ideas often feed other ideas.
- Skilled planners are in demand throughout the business world. If you get good at thinking ahead, consider making a career of it.
- Inaction is a possible response in many situations, but evaluate its merits and risks, too. It can have benefits (more information may come later or somebody’s involvement could harm his or her reputation), but it can also have risks (missed deadlines or opportunities). An in-between approach might be to wait for a little while, perhaps just long enough to learn more.
- Be honest with yourself. No amount of wishful thinking is going to stop the next natural disaster, but the realistic admission that one might happen could lead you to prepare appropriately.
- Statistics and probability are mathematical ways of analyzing track records. Use them if you need numerical information about how likely an outcome is.
Warnings
- Don’t get so caught up in thinking ahead that you fail to act. Often, the best thing to do is to try something based on your best guess and see whether it works.
- Treat your guesses and plans as just that. No one can foresee every eventuality.
(taken from WikiHow)
