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URL: https://www.coursera.org/learn/futures-thinking

⇱ Professional Skills: Futures Thinking | Coursera


Professional Skills: Futures Thinking

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Professional Skills: Futures Thinking

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Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.
Beginner level

Recommended experience

4 hours to complete
Flexible schedule
Learn at your own pace

Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.
Beginner level

Recommended experience

4 hours to complete
Flexible schedule
Learn at your own pace

What you'll learn

  • Identify and challenge your mental frames to foster innovative thinking.

  • Develop and evaluate high-quality questions to uncover critical insights.

  • Harness imagination to construct compelling future scenarios and regain control over future uncertainties.

Details to know

Shareable certificate

Add to your LinkedIn profile

Recently updated!

March 2026

Assessments

4 assignments

Taught in English

Build your subject-matter expertise

This course is part of the Professional Skills: Strategic Thinking Specialization
When you enroll in this course, you'll also be enrolled in this Specialization.
  • Learn new concepts from industry experts
  • Gain a foundational understanding of a subject or tool
  • Develop job-relevant skills with hands-on projects
  • Earn a shareable career certificate

There are 5 modules in this course

Reimagine what’s possible by learning to see the future through multiple lenses. This course equips you with tools to challenge assumptions, expand imagination, and make informed, strategic decisions.

This course invites professionals to explore scenarios beyond conventional decision-making. Through thought-provoking frameworks and interactive exercises, you’ll learn how to break free from limiting perspectives and lead with clarity and imagination. Whether you're solving organizational problems or planning long-term strategy, futures thinking empowers you to question the present and shape forward-looking solutions.

This module introduces the concept of mental frames and their profound impact on how we perceive and interact with the future. You will explore the various forms these frames can take and learn practical techniques to identify and challenge your own ingrained ways of thinking. By understanding and escaping your current frame, you will unlock new perspectives and foster more innovative approaches to future challenges and opportunities.

What's included

1 assignment7 plugins

1 assignmentβ€’Total 10 minutes
  • Quiz: Imagining the future with a frameβ€’10 minutes
7 pluginsβ€’Total 48 minutes
  • Imagining the future with a frame: Causes and resourcesβ€’5 minutes
  • Imagining the future with a frame: Escaping your frame of thinkingβ€’7 minutes
  • Practice the solution: Mental exercises to open your mindβ€’10 minutes
  • Job aid: The forms a frame can takeβ€’3 minutes
  • Reflect on the solution: Imagining the future with a frameβ€’10 minutes
  • Opening your mind: Key takeawaysβ€’3 minutes
  • Apply the solution: Simplify an issueβ€’10 minutes

In this module, you will delve into the art of asking effective questions, a crucial skill for futures thinking. You will learn to evaluate questions for quality, identify potential blind spots in your core inquiries, and utilize tools like the Question Productivity Index to enhance your questioning abilities. Mastering this skill will enable you to uncover deeper insights, challenge assumptions, and gather more relevant information for future planning.

What's included

1 assignment7 plugins

1 assignmentβ€’Total 10 minutes
  • Quiz: Asking the right questionsβ€’10 minutes
7 pluginsβ€’Total 56 minutes
  • Asking the right questions: Causes and resourcesβ€’5 minutes
  • Asking the right questions: Evaluating questions for qualityβ€’5 minutes
  • Practice the solution: Blind spots in core questionsβ€’20 minutes
  • Job aid: Question Productivity Indexβ€’3 minutes
  • Reflect on the solution: Asking the right questionsβ€’10 minutes
  • Improving your questions: Key takeawaysβ€’3 minutes
  • Apply the Solution: Evaluate your questionβ€’10 minutes

This module focuses on leveraging your imagination to construct compelling and plausible future scenarios. You will learn how to build possible scenarios, engage in effective brainstorming techniques, and reflect on the process of harnessing imagination for strategic foresight. By developing these skills, you will be better equipped to anticipate various future outcomes and prepare for them proactively.

What's included

1 assignment7 plugins

1 assignmentβ€’Total 10 minutes
  • Quiz: Harnessing imagination in scenariosβ€’10 minutes
7 pluginsβ€’Total 56 minutes
  • Harnessing imagination in scenarios: Causes and resourcesβ€’5 minutes
  • Harnessing imagination in scenarios: Building a possible scenarioβ€’5 minutes
  • Practice the solution: Helpful scenariosβ€’20 minutes
  • Job Aid: Brainstormingβ€’3 minutes
  • Reflect on the solution: Harnessing imagination in scenariosβ€’10 minutes
  • Thinking of the future: Key takeawaysβ€’3 minutes
  • Apply the solution: Building a scenarioβ€’10 minutes

This module addresses the psychological aspects of futures thinking, specifically focusing on overcoming fear and regaining a sense of control over an uncertain future. You will learn strategies to manage anxieties about the future, practice controlling these fears, and utilize tools like the futures triangle to frame your understanding of future possibilities. This module aims to empower you to approach the future with confidence and agency.

What's included

1 assignment7 plugins

1 assignmentβ€’Total 10 minutes
  • Quiz: Regaining power over the futureβ€’10 minutes
7 pluginsβ€’Total 45 minutes
  • Regaining power over the future: Causes and resourcesβ€’5 minutes
  • Regaining power over the future: Controlling your fear of the futureβ€’4 minutes
  • Practice the solution: Controlling a fear of the futureβ€’10 minutes
  • Job aid: Use a futures triangleβ€’3 minutes
  • Reflect on the solution: Regaining power over the futureβ€’10 minutes
  • Don’t fear the future: Key takeawaysβ€’3 minutes
  • Apply the solution: Regaining power over the futureβ€’10 minutes

This concluding module includes an end-of-course survey to gather your feedback and acknowledges your successful completion of the program. This module serves as a final step in solidifying your understanding and preparing you to apply your newly acquired futures thinking skills.

What's included

1 reading1 plugin

1 readingβ€’Total 3 minutes
  • End of course surveyβ€’3 minutes
1 pluginβ€’Total 3 minutes
  • End of course surveyβ€’3 minutes

Earn a career certificate

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Instructor

Arizona State University
35 Coursesβ€’5,927 learners

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