FutureHacking™ is a strategic foresight methodology created by Braden Kelley with a suite of 20+ simple but powerful tools that enable organizations and leaders to be their own futurist.
FutureHacking™ is designed to make strategic foresight and futurology accessible to the average business professional — empowering cross-functional leadership teams to visually prototype the future and collaboratively create the roadmap for manifesting their preferred, possible future.
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Why Strategic Foresight Matters for Your Organization
Every stakeholder-responsible organization is compelled to realize its vision, execute its strategy, and achieve its goals — indefinitely. But the future is uncertain. What made your organization successful this year will not automatically make it successful in future years.
Responsible organizations must invest in understanding possible futures and actively working to realize their preferable future. FutureHacking™ makes this investment much easier, cheaper, and faster — helping you get to the future first before your competitors do.
A Quick Strategic Foresight & Futurology Primer
Before diving into the FutureHacking™ methodology, it helps to understand the foundations of strategic foresight and futurology that underpin it.
Strategic Foresight
Combining methods of futures work with those of strategic management — understanding upcoming external changes in relation to internal capabilities and drivers, and using that understanding to shape organizational strategy.
Source: Aalto University
Market Foresight
The consideration of possible and probable futures in the organization’s relevant business environment, and the identification of new opportunities in that space before competitors recognize them.
Source: Aalto University
Futurology (Futures Studies)
The systematic, interdisciplinary, and holistic study of social and technological advancement and environmental trends — often for the purpose of exploring how people will live and work in the future. Contemporary futurists emphasize systematically exploring alternatives rather than making single-point predictions.
Source: Wikipedia
Four Simple But Powerful FutureHacking™ Steps
The FutureHacking™ methodology guides organizations through four sequential steps to move from sensing weak signals to actively shaping their preferred future:
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STEP ONE: Picking the Signals That Matter
Use the FutureHacking Signal Picker to identify the emerging trends and weak signals most relevant to your industry, organization, and strategic context. Not all signals are equal — this step filters the noise and focuses your foresight energy where it counts. -
STEP TWO: Mapping Signal Evolution
Use FutureSignals™ tools to map how your selected signals are likely to evolve over time — identifying inflection points, acceleration triggers, and the interdependencies between signals that could amplify their impact on your organization. -
STEP THREE: Choosing the Possible, Probable, and Preferable Future
Use NowBuilder™ and FutureCanvas™ tools to construct multiple alternate futures based on your signal analysis — then choose which future you want to pursue and build the case for your organization to align behind it. -
STEP FOUR: Making Your Preferable Future a Reality
Translate your chosen future into concrete roadmaps, guideposts, and near-term actions. This is where FutureHacking™ connects to execution — turning foresight into strategy, and strategy into action.
Three Types of FutureHacking™ Tools
The 20+ tools in the FutureHacking™ methodology are organized into three categories, each addressing a distinct phase of the strategic foresight process:
🔌 FutureSignals™ Tools
Tools for scanning, filtering, and analyzing weak signals and emerging trends across technology, society, environment, economics, and politics. Helps organizations spot what’s coming before competitors do.
🏗 NowBuilder™ Tools
Tools for mapping the current state of your organization and market — understanding the present deeply enough to identify where signals will have the greatest impact and where strategic opportunities are emerging.
🌟 FutureCanvas™ Tools
Visual tools for constructing and comparing alternate futures — including your possible, probable, and preferable future scenarios — and building the shared vision and roadmap needed to pursue your preferred future.
🔌 Try the Free FutureHacking Signal Picker
Put the FutureHacking Signal Picker to work today. Input your industry parameters, download your custom Emerging Trends Report, and take the first step toward making your preferable future a reality.
“The most effective way to predict the future is to design the signals that influence it.”
Download the FutureHacking™ Flipbook
Get a quick visual summary of the 4 Simple Steps to Becoming Your Own Futurist in this free downloadable flipbook:
4 Simple Steps to Becoming Your Own Futurist
This free flipbook captures the core of the FutureHacking™ methodology in a concise, visual format — perfect for sharing with your leadership team or using as a primer before a FutureHacking™ workshop or training session.
Two Ways to Join the FutureHacking™ Ecosystem
FutureHacking™ is growing — here are the two paths to becoming part of the ecosystem:
Partner organizations that provide data and trend research inputs into the FutureSignals™ component of the methodology — creating new service offerings and reaching new audiences through the FutureHacking™ platform.
Futurists, consulting partners, and technology providers (interactive whiteboarding tools, etc.) who become FutureHacking™ certified and profit from delivering FutureSignals™, NowBuilder™, and FutureCanvas™ services to clients.
Contact Braden to Discuss Partnership →
FutureHacking™ Training & Workshops
Learn how to use the full suite of 20+ FutureHacking™ tools with Braden in a live training class or private off-site workshop:
🏫 Private FutureHacking™ Workshop
A custom FutureHacking™ workshop or off-site facilitated by Braden Kelley for your leadership team — in-person or virtual. Work through all four steps with your actual strategic context and come away with a concrete future roadmap.
📅 FutureHacking™ Training Class
Join the waiting list for the next FutureHacking™ training class — a structured program where you’ll learn to use all 20+ tools and become your own futurist.
🎤 FutureHacking™ Keynote
Book Braden to deliver a FutureHacking™ keynote at your next conference or corporate event — introducing your audience to strategic foresight and what it means to get to the future first.
🔭 Free Signal Picker Tool
Start hacking the future right now. The free FutureHacking Signal Picker generates a custom Emerging Trends Report for your industry in minutes.
Related Innovation & Change Tools
🛠 Human-Centered Change™
Once you know where the future is heading, you need to manage the change to get there. The Human-Centered Change™ methodology gives you 70+ visual tools for making organizational change stick.
📊 Free Innovation Maturity Assessment
Before hacking the future, understand where your organization stands today. The free 50-question Innovation Maturity Assessment gives you a baseline and identifies your biggest innovation barriers.
🆕 Nine Innovation Roles
Building a future-ready organization requires the right people in the right roles. The Nine Innovation Roles framework helps you identify and deploy the innovation talent already inside your organization.
📚 Charting Change
The book that introduced the Human-Centered Change™ methodology — and the essential companion to FutureHacking™ for organizations serious about getting to the future first and making change stick once they get there.
Frequently Asked Questions About FutureHacking™
What is FutureHacking™?
FutureHacking™ is a strategic foresight methodology developed by Braden Kelley that empowers organizations and leaders to be their own futurist. It provides a structured, four-step approach — from scanning weak signals to prototyping and pursuing a preferred future — supported by a toolkit of 20+ visual, collaborative tools organized into FutureSignals™, NowBuilder™, and FutureCanvas™ categories.
What is strategic foresight?
Strategic foresight is the practice of combining futures research methods with strategic management to understand upcoming external changes in relation to an organization’s internal capabilities and direction. It goes beyond forecasting by systematically exploring multiple possible and probable futures — and actively working to realize the most preferable one.
How is FutureHacking™ different from traditional strategic planning?
Traditional strategic planning extrapolates from the past and present to predicts a single most-likely future. FutureHacking™ scans weak signals and emerging trends to construct multiple possible futures, then helps organizations choose and actively shape their preferred future. It is visual, collaborative, and designed to be used by cross-functional leadership teams — not just strategy specialists.
What is the FutureHacking Signal Picker?
The FutureHacking Signal Picker is a free tool that allows you to input your industry parameters and generate a custom Emerging Trends Report — completing the first of the Four FutureHacking™ Steps. It is available free at the Signal Picker page.
What are the three types of FutureHacking™ tools?
The 20+ FutureHacking™ tools are organized into three categories: FutureSignals™ tools for scanning and analyzing emerging trends; NowBuilder™ tools for mapping the current state of your organization and market; and FutureCanvas™ tools for constructing and comparing alternate future scenarios and building a roadmap toward your preferred future.
How can I learn to use the FutureHacking™ methodology?
There are several ways: join the waiting list for the next FutureHacking™ training class, book a private workshop or off-site with Braden Kelley, or start immediately with the free Signal Picker tool and flipbook. Contact Braden via the contact page to discuss training and workshop options.
How does FutureHacking™ relate to Human-Centered Change™?
FutureHacking™ and Human-Centered Change™ are complementary methodologies from Braden Kelley. FutureHacking™ helps organizations identify where they need to go — scanning signals, choosing a preferred future, and building a roadmap. Human-Centered Change™ then helps organizations get there — managing the change process in a visual, human-centered way that maximizes adoption and minimizes failure. Together they provide an end-to-end innovation and transformation capability.
About Braden Kelley
Braden Kelley is the creator of the FutureHacking™ methodology, the Human-Centered Change™ methodology, and the Change Planning Canvas™. A bestselling author, LinkedIn Top Voice, innovation keynote speaker, and futurist, he helps organizations around the world get to the future first and build sustainable innovation cultures. Named by Harvard Business Review as a next-generation innovation thought leader worth watching.