Core tool
Backcasting
start from the future, work back
what it is
Start from the future, work back
Most planning starts from now and pushes forward — which tends to give you more of the present. Backcasting flips it: picture the resilient organisation you want to be in two years, then work backwards to find what has to be true along the way, and what to start now.
Work backwards from the future to find the first steps you can take this week.
how to use it
Work it backwards
Picture the future
Two years out, what does resilient look like for us? Be specific — describe it as if it's already true.
18–24 months
For that to be real then, what must be in place by 18–24 months?
6–12 months
And for that, what needs to be underway within 6–12 months?
3–6 months
What are the first moves in the next 3–6 months?
Now — pick 3–5
Choose three to five things to start now. Concrete, ownable, this-quarter things.
reflect
Questions to sit with
What does resilient look like for us in two years — in plain, specific terms?
What must be true 18–24 months out for that future to be reachable?
What's the gap between that and where we are today?
What are the three to five things we could start now?
resilience
Why this matters
Backcasting pairs naturally with Three Horizons: it turns the preferred future (H3) into the transition steps (H2) and the moves you make now.
A distant goal is easy to defer. Backcasting turns it into next week's to-do list — which is the only version of a plan that actually changes anything.