Rocket Science
Transformative Facilitation
Jordan Bower
Erwin Pearlman
We guide organizational systems through visionary change
We all know the backstory: global systems under stress, employees and customers with new priorities and values, remarkable technologies changing the game.
Every organization on the planet needs a different set of tools and abilities to operate against this backdrop of uncertainty and change. In fact, every leader needs these new tools and abilities. Some of these tools are “functional”—new materials, new software, new business models… And some of these tools are mental, emotional or even spiritual.
Defining, developing and incorporating these new tools into existing business systems to achieve remarkable, even visionary results—that’s Rocket Science.
Rocket Science helps you “Backcast” your most desirable future
One of the new tools we teach is called “Backcasting”.
On the surface, the concept sounds simple. Backcasting is comparable to its more familiar cousin, Forecasting. When we “forecast”, we predict future events based on how trends have been in the past. This makes it likely that we will arrive on “probable” futures; they are “probable” because they have happened before.
Consciously or not, when we forecast, we can’t help but extend current assumptions, biases, beliefs and systems into the future indefinitely.
“Backcasting” starts with the opposite concept. Forget the future that is “likely” or “probable”—instead, let’s start by asking ourselves: what is the future that is optimal?
Once we define this optimal future, we can “work backwards” to invent the steps that are necessary to get there. We arm ourselves with the psychological and emotional tools that can make this more innovative outcome possible.
To take one very practical example, pretend that you work for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory at NASA. Your mission is to build robots that can explore the solar system. By definition, everything you do has never been done before. There is no “best practice”.
How do you put a rover on Mars? You don’t start by Googling or going to Amazon—the materials you need may not even exist. Instead, you start with the desirable future: there is a rover on Mars! Then, you work backwards. What was the most difficult problem you solved? How did you solve it? Experiments happen, innovation flourishes, you get outside the box; people derive energy and purpose from their creative mission.
Sure, your business is probably not putting a rover on Mars—but chances are, you are searching for some level of innovation.
Sometimes, moving through even a simple change can feel like putting a rover on Mars. What if it didn’t? What if it was easy, even effortless?
That’s Rocket Science.
If you’re intrigued, contact us to explore collaborating.
