Preparation
01 · Assemble the planning group
- Form a diverse planning group of 6–10 people representing different stakeholder groups. This group designs the conference, not just logistics.
- Key question: Who needs to be in the room for decisions made here to stick? Work backward from that list.
02 · Invite the whole system
- Future Search requires representatives from every stakeholder group that has a stake in the system's future: users, providers, funders, regulators, critics, community members, frontline workers, leaders.
- The diversity of the room is the method. A conference of only leaders produces leader-shaped solutions.
- Aim for 40–80 participants organized in tables of 8, each table a mix of all stakeholder groups.
03 · Prepare the space
- Round tables of 8, a large open wall for timeline work, flip charts per table, and enough wall space for all groups to display their work simultaneously.
- The physical arrangement signals equality: no stage, no podium, no front of the room.
Step-by-step instructions
1
Day 1 — Focus: THE PAST (4–5 hours)
- Global context timeline: The whole group together builds a shared timeline on the wall — major world events, local events, and personal life events side by side, going back 30–40 years. Each person adds their milestones. The timeline becomes a shared artifact of collective memory.
- Stakeholder group histories: People gather in their stakeholder groups (all health workers together, all students together, etc.) and add their group's milestones to the timeline. They identify the key trends that have shaped their group's experience.
- Patterns and themes: The whole group identifies the significant patterns across all the timelines. What forces have most shaped this system?
2
Day 1 afternoon — Focus: THE PRESENT — External trends (3–4 hours)
- Mind map of external forces: Mixed tables map the major external trends currently affecting the system: technological, demographic, economic, political, environmental, social.
- Each table shares their map. Facilitator records themes visible to all.
- "Proud and sorry": Stakeholder groups report what they are proud of and sorry about regarding their group's response to these trends. This is the only moment of honest self-assessment in the conference — and it is done by group, not individually.
3
Day 2 morning — Focus: THE PRESENT — Current reality (3 hours)
- Mixed tables examine what is happening right now in the system — what's working, what's stuck, what the key tensions are.
- Output: a shared, visible picture of the system as it currently operates, held in common by everyone in the room.
4
Day 2 afternoon — Focus: THE FUTURE — Ideal scenarios (4–5 hours)
- Scenario creation: Mixed tables imagine it is some years in the future and the system has become everything it could be. They describe this future in concrete terms: what do people experience? What structures exist? What has changed?
- Tables present their future scenarios to the whole group — often using creative formats: role plays, newspaper headlines, songs, drawings.
- Common ground identification: The whole group identifies the themes that appear across all scenarios. These become the seeds of the shared future.
5
Day 3 — Focus: ACTION PLANNING (4–5 hours)
- Confirm the common ground: The whole group confirms the shared future themes and converts them into commitments.
- Self-organizing action groups: Participants self-select into action groups around the themes they care most about. Each group designs a concrete action plan: what will we do, who will do it, by when, with what resources?
- Public commitments: Each action group presents their plan to the whole conference. Commitments are made publicly, in front of peers.
- Next steps: A follow-up mechanism is established — date of next check-in, coordination structure, communication channels.
Materials
Large conference space with round tables of 8
Long wall space for the shared timeline (at least 10–15 meters)
Flip chart paper, markers, sticky notes in multiple colors
Masking tape for the timeline
Index cards for personal milestones
Optional: creative materials for scenario presentations (props, paper, colors)
Practical recommendations
The whole-system principle is non-negotiable. A Future Search with only leaders present is a different (and weaker) process. Fight for diverse representation at the invitation stage.
Conflict is not suppressed — it is acknowledged and then deliberately set aside. The facilitator's role is to keep the group focused on common ground without pretending disagreements don't exist.
The three days cannot be compressed into one. The overnight periods between sessions are structurally important: participants process what they've experienced, informal conversations happen, and the shared reality of Day 1 and 2 incubates the futures of Day 3.
Follow-through is everything. A Future Search that produces public commitments but no follow-up mechanism within 30–90 days will dissipate. Build the accountability structure into Day 3.
Virtual adaptation is possible but demanding: the timeline work and simultaneous display of all groups' output are the hardest elements to replicate digitally. Plan extra facilitation support for virtual versions.
Inspiration
Application examples by context:
- Municipal planning: A city brings together residents, businesses, NGOs, schools, and government departments to build a 10-year development plan — replacing the consultant-drafted plan with one the whole system has built.
- Healthcare system reform: A regional health authority convenes patients, clinicians, administrators, and community organizations to redesign care pathways — producing commitments that cross institutional boundaries.
- Education transformation: A school district invites students, families, teachers, administrators, and community employers to co-design the future of learning in their region.
- Community development: A neighborhood with deep divisions uses Future Search to find the common ground that exists beneath conflict — discovering shared aspirations that become the basis for joint action.
- Search Conference (Emery & Trist): The predecessor to Future Search, with a more systems-theory orientation. Used extensively in Australia and Scandinavia for community and organizational planning.
- Whole Scale Change: Similar large-group methodology for organizational transformation, developed by Dannemiller Tyson Associates.
- Open Space Technology: A complementary method — Future Search identifies common ground, Open Space acts on it through self-organized working sessions.
Consulted sources
- Weisbord, M. & Janoff, S. (2010). Future Search: Getting the Whole System in the Room for Vision, Commitment, and Action (3rd ed.). Berrett-Koehler.
- Weisbord, M. (1992). Discovering Common Ground. Berrett-Koehler.
- Emery, M. & Purser, R. E. (1996). The Search Conference: A Powerful Method for Planning Organizational Change and Community Action. Jossey-Bass.
- Bunker, B. B. & Alban, B. T. (1997). Large Group Interventions: Engaging the Whole System for Rapid Change. Jossey-Bass.
