Taking a Stand, Making a Difference. Managing a Future Search Training: Philadelphia

FUTURE SEARCH - THE WHOLE SYSTEM TRANSFORMATION PROCESS

Philadelphia Nov 17-19, 2025

A Message from Sandra Janoff and Michael Donnelly (Co-Directors of Future Search Network)

Here's what we are experiencing, the world doesn't feel safe right now, there is a lot of language of crises, ominous clouds looming, rise of authoritarianism, democracy under threat, growing inequality, mental health stress and we could go on. We won't and that is what we want to come to.

Making a difference in the midst of this means doing something different. Bringing diverse groups together around an important issue is different. Involving people who don't normally meet decision makers is different. Having dialogue based on real experiences is different. Moving from talk to action is different. Today, despite all the progress, nearly all of our processes of decision making, strategizing, problem solving, and development are fragmented and completed only in parts. In society and in organisations the consequences are clear. We still are a long way from achieving Marv's paradigm of "Everybody Improving Whole Systems".

So here's our dilemma. We have a solution, one that we know transforms lives, grows capacity to solve problems, celebrates difference while not squashing anyone's identity. And we have a need, or thousands of them; potential applications all over the world where Future Search can make a real difference, right now, today. We need to grow. We want to amplify.

One of our best routes to growing is to have people trained on Future Search, who will then go on to champion this way of working in their communities, issues, organisations or practices.

This year in particular we have decided we want to really supercharge that effort and in November (17th to 19th) we will be in Philadelphia to offer a training on Managing a Future Search on a non-profit model. While we have never made cost be a barrier to getting trained, we are going further this year by making the price much more affordable. We know this is in contrast to typical models of training at this level. We don't care. It's too important. 

So for this training we have cut costs back to the bone! For our full spectrum three day Managing a Future Search course we have dropped the price to only $900. Beyond that we are promising to do our best to get people there for even less than that. We just want to cover costs! Write to us directly at mdonnelly@futuresearch.net or sjanoff@futuresearch.net and we will get you registered.

Here's our ask. Sign up, join us. Share this with your colleagues who need to know this work. Join Sandra and Michael on LinkedIn where you can add your voice and commentary to amplify this way of working. Act now so that we can grow our impact across the world!

Thank you.

What is Future Search?

Future Search is a unique strategic planning method used world-wide by hundreds of communities and organizations. The method, developed by Marv Weisbord and Sandra Janoff, enables large diverse groups to (1) discover a shared agenda, (2) take responsibility for action, and (3) develop commitment to implementation. The method is especially useful in uncertain, fast-changing situations when it is important that everyone have the same large picture in order to act responsibly. Because it is largely culture free, Future Search is used in North and South America, Asia, Africa, Oceania, Europe, and India to create an umbrella for social, technological and economic planning.

How Future Search Works

Future Search follows tested principles derived from six decades of research and experimentation with what it takes to enable people to act cooperatively without having to defend or sell their own agendas or give up cherished values. The first principle involves "getting the whole system in the room." The second involves putting the focal issue in global perspective. The third requires seeking common ground and desirable futures, while treating problems and conflicts as information, not action items. The fourth asks people to manage their own small groups and take responsibility for acting on what they learn.

The Managing a Future Search Workshop

Participants in the “Managing a Future Search” Workshop will acquire the tools needed to plan, design and manage Future Search meetings with integrity in any sector or culture. Over the past years more than 6,000 people from across the world have attended this workshop and applied Future Search Principles to their practice. Facilitators and leaders learn deeply all the reasons why bringing the whole system together is the most powerful way to work on complex issues in today’s world.

What you learn:

• How to manage a meeting in which the target of change is a whole system's capability for action now and in the future
• Key issues in matching conference task and stakeholders
• A theory and practice of facilitating large, diverse groups
• How to keep critical choices in the hands of participants
• How freeing yourself from diagnosing and fixing enables diverse groups to come together faster
• Principles and techniques that can be used to design many other meetings

Workshop Agenda:

• Theory, history and dynamics of Future Search
• Conditions for success.
• Conference planning and implementation
• Output and follow-up
• Facilitation skills and techniques
• World-wide applications and strategies

Who is this Course For:

• People working for systems change
• People with strategic planning responsibilities
• Anyone who is organising and leading meetings
• Facilitators and consultants
• Process designers and change managers