Dear Futurist,
Change rarely happens all at once. It builds over time, shaped by present trends, our collective visions, and history that holds certain patterns in place. Understanding how these forces interact is key to anticipating what’s coming next and acting on it with clarity.
What you will find inside today’s issue:
The Tool: discover the Futures Triangle, a foresight method that helps map the forces shaping change, so we can spot both hidden tensions and strategic opportunities.
Step Into the Future: see how the Futures Triangle can be applied to the beauty and wellness sector through one of many possible configurations.
Back to the Present: reflect on the insights this tool offers, and how brands today can build resilience, relevance, and better visions of the future.
Let’s jump right in.
THE TOOL
✦ What Are We Talking About? ✦
The Futures Triangle was developed by Dr Sohail Inayatullah, renowned futurist and UNESCO Chair in Futures Studies. You might remember him from the last newsletter on Causal Layered Analysis, another one of his key contributions to the field.
The Futures Triangle is a simple yet powerful tool for mapping possible futures. It helps us visualise the push and pull of change, while revealing the deeper forces that might be holding us back. In short, it’s a lens for spotting both opportunities and obstacles on the path ahead.
✦ How It Works ✦
The Futures Triangle explores three dynamic forces that shape how the future unfolds:
Pull of the Future: this is the vision or image of the future that draws us forward. It reflects what we aspire to.
Push of the Present: these are the visible, measurable trends, technologies, policies, and decisions shaping change right now. They are the forces actively moving us forward, drivers that can often be tracked, quantified, or observed in action.
Weight of the Past: these are the deep-rooted structures (social, political, economic, or cultural) that can be obstacles or opportunities for change.
Mapping these three forces reveals the tensions, frictions, and drivers that shape possible futures. While it's not essential to use a single theme or thread across all three corners of the triangle, doing so can help clarify how different forces interact. It allows us to trace how the past, present, and future pull against or reinforce each other, revealing deeper patterns of change and opportunity.
✦ Why It Matters ✦
The Futures Triangle gives us a clear framework to explore how change happens and where we can shape it. It helps us:
Identify the visions and aspirations pulling us toward certain futures
Recognise the trends and forces actively shaping change in the present
Uncover the historical structures and systems that resist transformation
Understand the tensions between these forces
Spot where strategic action can shift the trajectory toward more desirable outcomes
STEP INTO THE FUTURE
To explore how the Futures Triangle works in practice, I’ve applied it to the beauty and wellness sector, an industry constantly shaped by evolving ideals, technological breakthroughs, and deeply rooted cultural narratives.
This is just one possible configuration among many, but it offers a compelling lens into how competing forces can stretch, strain, and shape the futures we’re moving toward.
Let’s break down each of these forces in more detail to better understand the dynamics at play.