Twenty-odd years ago the Center for Futures Research (CFR) at the University of Southern California folded. The reason was lack of interest in the future on the part of the business community. Since the CFR was supported entirely by donations and grants rather than the university’s endowment, that was the end of the line. The almost universal mantra of senior executives in American corporations at that time—and since—was to keep one’s eyes firmly focused on the next quarter. Worry about ten or twenty years from now? Ridiculous!
How times have changed.