Institute for the Future
Futures Thinking Specialization
Institute for the Future

Futures Thinking Specialization

Ready Yourself for a Changing World. Learn the skills and mindsets of the world’s top futurists, so you can forecast what’s coming, imagine new possibilities, and seize control of your own future.

Jane McGonigal

Instructor: Jane McGonigal

Access provided by New York State Department of Labor

28,731 already enrolled

Get in-depth knowledge of a subject
4.9

(1,528 reviews)

Beginner level

Recommended experience

2 months
at 10 hours a week
Flexible schedule
Learn at your own pace
Get in-depth knowledge of a subject
4.9

(1,528 reviews)

Beginner level

Recommended experience

2 months
at 10 hours a week
Flexible schedule
Learn at your own pace

What you'll learn

  • Build your future forecasting skills.

  • Learn how to use Institute for the Future’s most powerful foresight tools, designed to help you spot new opportunities for innovation and invention.

  • Gain insight into the most important new technologies, global events and big ideas that are already shaping the future.

  • Think more creatively and optimistically about what’s possible in the future.

Details to know

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Taught in English

Advance your subject-matter expertise

  • Learn in-demand skills from university and industry experts
  • Master a subject or tool with hands-on projects
  • Develop a deep understanding of key concepts
  • Earn a career certificate from Institute for the Future
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Specialization - 5 course series

Ready, Set, Future! Introduction to Futures Thinking

Course 111 hours4.8 (1,267 ratings)

What you'll learn

  • Define futures thinking and give examples of futures projects

  • Collect and analyze signals of change

  • Identify historical change in the past to predict new changes in the future

  • Learn how to avoid future shock - and help others avoid it, too!

Skills you'll gain

Category: Creativity
Category: Forecasting
Category: Creative Thinking
Category: Collaboration
Category: Strategic Thinking
Category: Analysis
Category: Optimism
Category: Trend Analysis
Category: Innovation
Category: Adaptability
Category: Professional Development
Category: Independent Thinking
Category: Ideation
Category: Systems Thinking
Category: Proactivity

Forecasting Skills: See the Future Before it Happens

Course 213 hours4.9 (490 ratings)

What you'll learn

  • Collect and Analyze SIGNALS OF CHANGE

  • Identify and Analyze GLOBAL DRIVERS OF CHANGE

  • Combine Signals and Drivers into FUTURE FORECASTS

  • Write SCENARIOS that tell a story about your FUTURE FORECAST

Skills you'll gain

Category: Forecasting
Category: Adaptability
Category: Trend Analysis
Category: Storytelling
Category: Creative Thinking
Category: Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
Category: Visionary
Category: Dealing With Ambiguity
Category: Market Trend
Category: Strategic Thinking

Simulation Skills: This is Your Brain on the Future

Course 313 hours4.8 (410 ratings)

What you'll learn

Skills you'll gain

Category: Empathy
Category: Strategic Thinking
Category: Creative Thinking
Category: Augmented and Virtual Reality (AR/VR)
Category: Experience Design
Category: Simulations
Category: Train The Trainer
Category: Decision Making
Category: Innovation
Category: Proactivity
Category: Storytelling
Category: Personal Development
Category: Adaptability
Category: Visionary

Collaborative Foresight: How to Game the Future

Course 414 hours4.9 (280 ratings)

What you'll learn

  • Design and run a multiplayer forecasting game

  • Game out hard-to-predict consequences in any future scenario

  • Anticipate long-term harms of new technologies and how to prevent them

  • Create diverse, inclusive futures thinking communities

Skills you'll gain

Category: Forecasting
Category: Communication
Category: Ethical Standards And Conduct
Category: Systems Thinking
Category: Collaboration
Category: Game Theory
Category: Creative Thinking
Category: Business Ethics
Category: Innovation
Category: Interviewing Skills
Category: Brainstorming
Category: Empathy
Category: Strategic Thinking

Urgent Optimism: How to Turn Foresight into Action

Course 510 hours4.8 (262 ratings)

What you'll learn

  • Describe your preferred future

  • Create artifacts from the future

  • Build an action roadmap to change the future

  • Organize a community to change the future

Skills you'll gain

Category: Optimism
Category: Creative Thinking
Category: Planning
Category: Goal Setting
Category: Creativity
Category: Action Oriented
Category: Systems Thinking
Category: Visionary
Category: Persuasive Communication
Category: Storytelling
Category: Strategic Thinking
Category: Community Organizing
Category: Discussion Facilitation
Category: Culture
Category: Critical Thinking and Problem Solving

Instructor

Jane McGonigal
Institute for the Future
6 Courses69,410 learners

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