Imagining the Future
Imagining the Future is a one-hour individual visioning sequence run in a group: a breathing exercise, a metaphorical story heard with eyes closed, seven minutes of freewriting, a more deliberate second draft and a closing guided visualisation. It was written by Hendrik de With for the Transition Makers Toolbox and uses Peter Elbow's freewriting technique to get past the first, habitual answers about the future. Each person leaves with their own written or sketched vision, which can then feed a shared visioning or strategy process.
Facilitation script
- 1
Set the scene: devices away, explain the three phases, make closing the eyes optional and state that the freewriting stays private.
10 min - 2
Lead the breathing exercise at a slow reading pace, with soft music if it helps.
10 min - 3
Read the metaphorical story while eyes stay closed, leave a short silence, then hand over to writing.
8 min - 4
Run seven minutes of freewriting with a visible timer. Remind people once that the pen keeps moving, then stay silent.
7 min - 5
Individual review: people reread their text, mark surprises and recurring themes, then write or sketch ideas, visions and plans on a new sheet.
15 min - 6
Read the visualisation script: eyes closed, picture a scene in which those ideas are real. Close with an optional exchange in small groups.
10 min
Tips
Tell people before they write that the freewriting stays private.
That promise is what makes the seven minutes honest, so do not break it later by asking for texts to be handed in.
Rehearse the story and the scripts aloud beforehand, because reading too fast is the most common reason the exercise falls flat.
Pick a story that is open enough to carry different futures; one with an obvious moral steers everyone to the same picture.
Common pitfalls
Reading the story and scripts at normal speaking pace. People cannot build an inner picture that fast, and the freewriting that follows stays on the surface
Asking people to read out or hand in their freewriting. Once writers expect an audience they start editing, and the unfiltered material the method depends on disappears
Making closed eyes compulsory. Some participants feel exposed or unsafe, withdraw from the exercise and take nothing into the writing
Cutting the freewriting short because the room looks stuck. The useful material usually arrives after the first few minutes of obvious sentences
Ending after the visualisation with no link to the rest of the process. The visions stay in notebooks and the following sessions carry on as if the hour had not happened
Variations
Alone: the sequence works as a solo exercise with a recorded story and script. Online: cameras optional, participants write on paper rather than in a shared document, and the facilitator reads into a quiet channel. Shorter: shorten the breathing exercise to five minutes and skip the small-group exchange for a 40 to 45 minute version. Collective follow-up: after the session, have people post one element of their vision on a wall and cluster the notes to move from individual pictures to a shared one. The source provides its own breathing exercise, story and visualisation script as handouts; you can also write your own to fit the topic.
Where it fits
When to use it
A visioning process is about to start and you want each person to arrive with their own picture before the group negotiates a shared one
Earlier future discussions produced only small extensions of the present and the group needs a different route into the question
Participants are analytical and talk easily, and you want material that has not been filtered through debate
A course or programme on sustainability or transitions needs an exercise that connects the topic to personal motivation
You have a quiet room and a full, uninterrupted hour
When not to use it
The group needs a jointly owned vision by the end of the session. This method produces individual visions; use Future Workshop or Cover Story for a shared result
The room is open-plan, noisy or interrupted. Closed-eye listening does not survive disturbances, so use Headlines from the Future, which works in any setting
Participants are in acute stress or distress about the topic. Guided visualisation and unfiltered writing can bring up strong feelings that a one-hour group slot cannot hold
You need a concrete plan with steps and owners. Follow a visioning exercise with Backcasting rather than expecting this method to deliver it
The group is openly sceptical of contemplative exercises and there is no time to explain the reasoning. A written format such as Letter from the Future meets less resistance
Related methods
Frequently asked questions
What is Imagining the Future?▾
Imagining the Future is a 60-minute visioning exercise in which each participant develops a personal picture of a desirable future. The group goes through a breathing exercise, listens to a metaphorical story with eyes closed, freewrites for seven minutes, reworks the text into ideas and plans, and ends with a guided visualisation. It was written by Hendrik de With for the Transition Makers Toolbox.
What is freewriting and why is it part of the method?▾
Freewriting is a technique described by Peter Elbow in which you write continuously for a set time without stopping, rereading or correcting. Because there is no time to judge each sentence, thoughts reach the page that would normally be filtered out. In this method it is used straight after the story, so that the images the story triggered are captured before analysis takes over.
How many people can take part?▾
The source describes it for groups of up to 40, and it also works for one person alone. The work is individual, so group size mainly affects the room: everyone needs a place to write and enough quiet to listen with eyes closed. With large groups, keep the closing exchange in threes or fours rather than in plenary.
Do I need the original story and scripts?▾
No. The Transition Makers Toolbox offers a breathing exercise, a story and a visualisation script as handouts, but you can write your own. The story should be metaphorical and open rather than a description of the workshop topic, and the visualisation script should ask for one concrete scene, not a list of goals.
How do you get from individual visions to a shared one?▾
The method stops at the individual vision, so plan a second step. A common approach is to ask each person to write one or two elements of their vision on sticky notes, cluster them on a wall and discuss what the clusters have in common. Formats such as Future Workshop or Backcasting can then build on that shared picture.
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Try it freeMethod descriptions on Workshop Weaver are original content written by our team, based on established facilitation practices. This method was inspired by work from Hendrik de With, Transition Makers Toolbox (freewriting after Peter Elbow).