CHAPTER 5In Pursuit of the Perfect Meeting

Still Learning after All These Years

We want to make two important points here. Every variation on Future Search has worked when the principles were observed. Many people succeeded using the brief outline in Productive Work-places (Weisbord, 1987). (We define success as enabling people to do things they value after a Future Search that they could not do before.) Also be aware that every variation has failed. You ought not attempt a Future Search with lukewarm leadership, the wrong group, too vague a topic, too little time, and too much facilitator control. Time lines and mind-maps do not a Future Search make!

You may argue that ours sounds like a “one size fits all” method. You would be right in one ...

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