The Futures wheel is an instrument for graphical visualisation

Visualization (graphic)

Visualization is any technique for creating images, diagrams, or animations to communicate a message. Visualization through visual imagery has been an effective way to communicate both abstract and concrete ideas since the dawn of man...

 of direct and indirect future

Future

The future is the indefinite time period after the present. Its arrival is considered inevitable due to the existence of time and the laws of physics. Due to the nature of the reality and the unavoidability of the future, everything that currently exists and will exist is temporary and will come...

 consequences of a particular change or development. It was invented by Jerome C. Glenn

Jerome C. Glenn

Jerome C. Glenn is co-founder and Director of The Millennium Project a non-profit 501 corporation with 40 Nodes around the world. He is known for inventing of the Futures wheel technique, TransInstitutions, tele-nations, conscious-technology, CARINET, and is cited as an expert on Future studies...

 in 1971, when he was a student

Student

A student is a learner, or someone who attends an educational institution. In some nations, the English term is reserved for those who attend university, while a schoolchild under the age of eighteen is called a pupil in English...

 at the Antioch Graduate School of Education (now Antioch University New England

Antioch University New England

Antioch University New England is a private graduate school located in Keene, New Hampshire. It is part of the Antioch University system that includes campuses in Seattle, Washington; Los Angeles, California; Santa Barbara, California; and Yellow Springs, Ohio.- History :In 1964, Antioch College...

).

The Futures Wheel is a way of organizing thinking and questioning about the future – a kind of structured brainstorming. (Jerome C. Glenn (1994) The Futures Wheel)

Description

To start a Futures wheel the central term

Terminology

Terminology is the study of terms and their use. Terms are words and compound words that in specific contexts are given specific meanings, meanings that may deviate from the meaning the same words have in other contexts and in everyday language. The discipline Terminology studies among other...

 describing the change to evaluate is positioned in the center of the page (or drawing area). Then, events or consequences following directly from that development are positioned around it. Next, the (indirect) consequences of the direct consequences are positioned around the first level consequences. The terms may be connected as nodes in a tree (or even a web). The levels will often be marked by concentric circles.

Usage

The Futures wheel is usually used to organize thought

Thought

"Thought" generally refers to any mental or intellectual activity involving an individual's subjective consciousness. It can refer either to the act of thinking or the resulting ideas or arrangements of ideas. Similar concepts include cognition, sentience, consciousness, and imagination...

s about a future development or trend. With it, possible impacts can be collected and put down in a structured way. The use of interconnecting lines makes it possible to visualize interrelationships of the causes and resulting changes. Thus, Futures wheels can assist in developing multi-concepts about possible future development by offering a futures-conscious perspective and aiding in group brainstorming

Brainstorming

Brainstorming is a group creativity technique by which a group tries to find a solution for a specific problem by gathering a list of ideas spontaneously contributed by its members...

.

Literature

• Glenn, Jerome C. "Futurizing Teaching vs Futures Course," Social Science Record, Syracuse University, Volume IX, No. 3 Spring 1972.
• Snyder, David Pearce. Monograph: "The Futures Wheel: A Strategic Thinking Exercise," The Snyder Family Enterprise, Bethesda, Maryland 1993.
• Glenn, Jerome C. "Futures Wheel," Futures Research Methodology Version 3.0, The Millennium Project, Washington, D.C. 2009.

Internet

• Learning, Teaching and Assessment Guide Glossary at Tasmania's Department of Education's homepage.
• Downloadable template of a Futures wheel at the Australia
  Australia
  Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
  
  n Global Education website.
• Futures Wheel, Futures Research Methodology Version 3.0, The Millennium Project, Washington, DC 2009 http://millennium-project.org/millennium/FRM-V3.html