Masters' Insights

"Masters' Insights" provides a theoretical basis for the students of Futures Studies and Strategic Foresight to grab common issues in the Futures field in a structured and constructive manner.

In learning about the futures profession, there is no substitute for having professionals' insights. This report gives you an opportunity to discover the remarkable insights of the best professional futurists of our time to understand the field from their perspective and to learn about the skills needed to be a successful futurist.













"Masters' Insights" is the tangible result of following process. First, I concentrated on a number of leading futurists' works (books, articles and completed questionnaires) to gather my study material. Bell, Miles, Cornish, Slaughter, Inayatullah, Gary, Bishop, Hines and Jackson are my favorite futurists and I’ve been always inspired by their perspectives in my academic studies.

I scanned a number of books, articles and journal reports to find their different perspectives on the Futures Field. Secondly, following each scan, I extracted their insights to clarify my desired points and objectives. And finally, I summarized their views to shape "Masters' Insights".

This report addresses the most important lessons we can learn from their perspectives regarding:

(a) The benefit of professional networking;
The greatest benefit of professional networking is becoming familiar with leading futurists and becoming informed of their studies, researches and activities.

(b) The practice of futurists;
The leading futurists have similar points of view on the practice of futurism, but some of them clearly affirm the practical roles that the futurists could and should play in their societies. More attention is devoted to futurists’ functions in their professional communities.

(c) Their unique perspectives on the field;
The leading futurists have unique perspectives on the field. The differentiating factor is a combination of their world views, mindsets and values they define for themselves and their societies.

(d) Their counsel about getting into the field.
They have general recommendations in this regard (usually found in journal articles), but those futurists who have teaching backgrounds offer more useful suggestions.

I offer my sincere thanks to all of aforementioned futurists for their constructive views and their great roles in advancing my favorite field of study: Strategic Foresight.

The report can be downloaded at: http://www.futuresdiscovery.com/Newsletter/MastersInsights.pdf

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Alireza Hejazi is a freelance futurist. He is the founder and developer of “FuturesDiscovery.com” and the author of e-books: “Futures Discovery”, “ATLAS of futures links”, and “Top 10 Cases of Futures Studies Syllabus”. Hejazi is an MA student of Strategic Foresight at Regent University School of Global Leadership & Entrepreneurship. His most recent e-book “Writing for the Future” is available at: http://www.futuresdiscovery.com.