 well as provide the company with intelligence that helps to defuse negative situations while maximizing the benefit from positive ones.
Along with businesses, non-profit organizations are also likely to engage in the process of scenario planning. Employing the basics of futures studies can help the organization be prepared to continue operations and provide services even in the event of an economic downturn or loss of a major contributor. The ability to accurately identify and address possible future events that stem from one decision can often make the difference between the survival of the non-profit and its failure.
@ceilingcat - You're right that people can't anticipate every future event. Still, I feel like in a lot of instances, you can definitely anticipate enough to make a solid plan.
For example, say a store has too much stock of a product that isn't selling. They decide to put it on sale at a deep discount to get rid of it and not restock that product.
A few things could happen: they could sell all the product, or not sell very much of it. In that event, they would have to decide what to do with the remaining stock.
Yes, the store could burn down, or a flood could happen. But those two things aren't as likely as the other two things I mentioned. I feel like scenario planning is still valid even if you can't plan for every single possible outcome.
I think scenario planning must be very difficult. I don't see how you could possibly anticipate all the things that might happen in the future with a certain situation, you know?
Even if you could decide on a few possible outcomes for a situation, it's always possible something really unforeseen could happen and throw everything off!
I mean, I think it makes sense to try to plan for the future but people should definitely take into consideration that it might not always be an accurate plan!
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