Keeping a network of foresight experts alive over time
NéolisInvented name
In a large energy group, a network of researchers spots the technologies that could change everything. Its mission was being redefined. We have been working with it session after session: first so it could respond to the new roadmap rather than just accept it, then so the network could design its own gatherings.
- Sector
- Energy, international group
- Size
- A network of some twenty experts, in a very large group
- Format
- Remote sessions, then day-and-a-half gatherings
- In the room
- Some twenty experts and researchers from several R&D units, many of whom do more than foresight, and delegates based in several countries.
Context
- The network spots emerging technologies and tests innovations against the reality of operations.
- Its mission is being redefined: new priorities, delegates joining from abroad, a redesign of its publications and of its watch tool.
- The group’s R&D is being reorganised at the same time. Some fear that sharing information will run into silos.
- Members are spread over several time zones and rarely meet in person.
The challenge
Get the network to respond to a new direction without experiencing it as imposed, then keep alive a group that rarely meets and works at a distance.
The design
Key ideas
Six hats to respond without digging in
The new direction goes through the six thinking hats, in threes: emotions, creativity, risks, optimism, pragmatism. Each trio reports back in two minutes, with a timer on screen. Criticism has its own hat, and so its own place.
Sponsors from among the members
At the end of each session, volunteers become sponsors of the next one. They choose the topics with us and review the invitation text. Then new members join the preparation team.
Rituals of recognition
A tribute to a member who is leaving, with a motto saying you stay part of the network. Public thanks to the youngest members. The network sees itself as a community, not a committee.
Gatherings that allow for distance
An in-person gathering starts early in the afternoon so that those travelling can make it. Dinner is designed as a moment of its own. The next morning, an early video call lets the teams in Asia take part.
How the time was used
- Open
- Explore
- Decide
- Celebrate
A remote session
Open
Network news
The new direction on one page: mission, organisation, timeline.
Explore
The six hats
In threes, the same direction seen from six angles.
Explore
Two minutes per trio
Timed report-backs, then discussion.
Decide
What next
A volunteer sponsor to co-prepare the next gathering.
Celebrate
Tribute
A departure honoured, public thanks.
A day-and-a-half gathering
Day 1 · early afternoonOpen
The watch tool
What works, the priorities to reach, and how to celebrate when they are reached.
Explore
Disruption risks
Including the risk of not developing, or not watching, a technology.
EveningCelebrate
Dinner by the water
A moment chosen with the sponsors.
Day 2 · earlyExplore
Video call with Asia
Delegates in other time zones join the room.
Explore
You teach, I take
Technical input from one member to the others.
Decide
Publications
What we keep, what we merge, what we stop.
The seminar in miniature
News from the network
The network’s mission is being revised: new priorities, international delegates, an overhaul of the publications and the watch tool. Rather than a long presentation, the new direction fits on one page (mission, organisation, timeline), shared with the twenty or so experts before they respond to it.
Six hats
In threes, each wearing a thinking hat, the same direction is examined from six angles. Criticism has its own hat, and so its own place, without taking over the room. Each trio reports back in two minutes, with a timer on screen, then everyone discusses.
The watch tool
The in-person gathering starts early in the afternoon, so that those travelling can make it. Around the table, the network takes stock of the watch tool: what already works, the priorities to reach, and how it will celebrate when it gets there.
Disruption risks
In small groups, the experts review the technologies that could change everything. Not only the ones to watch: also the risk of not developing, or not monitoring, a technology that should not be allowed to slip by.
Dinner by the water
Dinner is designed as a moment of its own, chosen with the sponsors, the volunteer members who co-prepare the gathering. For a network that rarely meets in person, this is where ties are renewed.
Video call with Asia
Early in the morning, a video call links the room with delegates based in other time zones. The timing is chosen for them: the teams in Asia take part live instead of reading a report afterwards.
You teach, I take
Members each run a station and share a technical input from their field, while the others move from one to the next. The network learns from itself. Then come decisions on the publications: what to keep, what to merge, what to stop.
Tribute
A departing member is honoured by the whole network, with a motto saying you remain part of it. The youngest members are thanked publicly. Then volunteers become sponsors of the next session: the network sees itself as a community, not a committee.
The materials, redrawn
Six hats, one trio each
A network that prepares its own meetings
The network prepares its own meetings
-
The session
Remote or in person
-
Sponsors
Volunteers for the next one
-
Co-preparation
Topics chosen, invitation reviewed
-
New organisers
Brought in by the sponsors
Deliverables and follow-up
- After each session, a synthesis of the sticky notes turned into concrete proposals for the network’s coordination team.
- Proposals that came out of the hats: speak of evolution rather than revolution, never add a publication without removing one, bring the outputs together into a single short regular issue.
- A preparation team that grows from one gathering to the next.
What we take away
- Giving criticism a hat gives it a place without letting it take over the room.
- A network that rarely meets holds together through its rituals and the people who prepare it. The more members design the gatherings themselves, the more the gatherings feel like theirs.
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