Elon University - Executive Education

Scouting the Future: A Strategic Exploration Event for Downtown Greensboro

The Elon University School of Law and the Martha & Spencer Love School of Business hosted a strategic exploration event for Greensboro's business and community leaders on Friday, October 14, 2005.

Approximately 70 participants from the Elon University and Downtown Greensboro community participated in a highly facilitated "Implications Wheel^®," a computerized strategic planning tool developed by futurist Joel Barker. Using the tool, the participants explored the impact that locating the Elon University School of Law in downtown Greensboro may have on efforts to develop new businesses and residential areas.

Prior to the event, a group including Elon University faculty and staff, leading members of the legal profession and Greensboro community and business leaders participated in a 3-day facilitator training workshop led by Joel Barker.

Click here for the results of the Scouting the Future event
Click here to read the Greensboro News & Record article on the event

Implications Wheel^® - The Implications Wheel is a strategic exploration tool that enables users to rapidly identify potential long term positive and negative implications or consequences that naturally emerge as a result of change. The tool is the result of twenty-five years of research and experimentation by renowned futurist Joel A. Barker. The process reduces future uncertainty through a process of strategic exploration which provides new insights about the possible outcomes of a new strategy, decision, or change. With a highly visual, graphic structure, the wheel provides a disciplined methodology that encourages non-linear thinking and brings together divergent points of view to optimize the results of decisions. The process allows for dialogue rather than debate or consensus.

Joel Barker - Joel Barker is an independent scholar and futurist. Because he was the first person to popularize the concept of paradigm shifts, he is known around the world as the "Paradigm Man." He began his work in 1975 and pioneered the concept of paradigm shifts to explain profound change and the importance of vision to drive change within organizations. His book, Future Edge, published in 1992, was listed as one of the most influential business books of that year by the prestigious Library Journal. His new book, Five Regions of the Future, with co-author, Dr. Scott Erickson, was released in June 2005.