When it comes to business strategy, most executives think in terms of financial projections, market growth, or annual goals. But what would happen if we decided to lead from the future? What if we started by imagining what the company will be like in five, ten or twenty years, to guide all the decisions of the present?
This is precisely what design fiction offers. Originating from the world of design and foresight, design fiction consists of creating plausible scenarios of the future, often embodied in the form of prototypes, stories or simulations. It is not a question of predicting the future, but of exploring it, anticipating disruptions and guiding strategic choices with a more daring and creative vision.
What is design fiction?
Design fiction was popularized by researchers and designers like Julian Bleecker and Bruce Sterling. The central idea is simple: create tangible stories of the future to test hypotheses, imagine uses and question existing models.
In practice, this can take several forms:
- Futuristic prototypes of products or services that do not yet exist.
- Narrative scenarios that describe the daily lives of your customers or employees in five to ten years.
- Interactive simulations that show the impact of new technologies, regulations or market changes.
The goal is not to predict the future down to the last minute, but to create a playground for innovation and strategic thinking.
Why design fiction is relevant for businesses
Most businesses plan for the future in the short term, based on current trends and past performance. But this approach has its limits: it assumes that the world will remain stable and predictable. However, we live in an environment where technologies, consumer behavior and regulations are evolving rapidly.
Design fiction makes it possible to anticipate disruptions (by imagining different futures, the company prepares for sudden and unexpected changes), to test strategic hypotheses (each future scenario acts as a laboratory to evaluate the relevance of current decisions), to inspire and mobilize teams (stories of the future are often more motivating and engaging than abstract financial projections) and to reduce uncertainty (by exploring several possible futures, the company gains flexibility and agility)
Leading from the future therefore means transforming uncertainty into strategic leverage, rather than enduring it.
How to apply design fiction to your business?
Applying design fiction to a business does not require turning into a science fiction author. This involves adopting a structured approach, combining imagination and strategic rigor. Here are some concrete steps:
1/ Identify trends and potential disruptions
Start by observing the world around you: new technologies, emerging behaviors, regulatory developments, societal transformations. List the trends that could have a major impact on your business in the next five to ten years.
2/ Create plausible futures
Imagine several possible futures, not just the most likely. For example: a future where your customers are hyperconnected and ultra-demanding, a future where your main competitors disappear, or a future where a technology radically changes your sector. These scenarios must be coherent and tangible.
3/ Prototype the future
Transform your scenarios into concrete elements: models, stories, videos or interactive simulations. These prototypes allow the team to experience the future, rather than just visualizing it.
4/ Test current decisions
Submit your current decisions to the imagined scenarios. How would your product, organization or business model withstand each of these futures? What adaptations would be necessary?
5/ Inspire action today
Design fiction is not an end in itself: it must fuel strategic decisions, guide investments and inspire teams. The imagined future becomes a compass for the present.
Concrete benefits for managers
There are tangible benefits to implementing it:
- Bolder and informed decisions: Leaders dare to experiment and invest in risky projects because they have mentally tested their impact on different futures.
- Increased organizational agility: teams become accustomed to exploring different scenarios, making them more flexible and responsive to unforeseen events.
- Mobilization of talents: working on futuristic scenarios stimulates the creativity and commitment of employees.
- Reduction of cognitive biases: by confronting decisions with imaginary worlds, we limit the tunnel effect and take into account risks and opportunities that we would otherwise have ignored.
Common mistakes to avoid
For design fiction to have a real impact, certain pitfalls must be avoided:
- Limit yourself to speculation: design fiction must remain connected to real decisions and strategic issues. Imagining a future unrelated to the current company does not produce any concrete leverage.
- Neglecting adaptation: copying a future scenario without adjusting it to your market and your resources limits its effectiveness.
- Ignoring the team: Design fiction works best when it involves multiple levels of the company, not just management. Inclusion promotes ownership and creativity.
- See the future as a prediction: it is not a question of saying “it will be like this”, but of testing and exploring different futures to make better decisions today.
Integrate design fiction into corporate culture
To take full advantage of design fiction, it is necessary to integrate it into the organizational culture. Anti-fragile and innovative companies adopt a posture where the future is a constant source of inspiration, and where teams are encouraged to explore, prototype and question existing models.
This involves regular workshops where different future scenarios are explored, the creation of prototypes and visual stories to make the future tangible, the inclusion of all levels of the company to enrich perspectives as well as the integration of lessons learned into the strategy (each imagined future feeds into planning and decision-making)
Leading from the future
The true power of design fiction lies in the ability to lead from the future. Rather than simply reacting to trends in the present, leaders can steer their business toward desirable and plausible futures by making bold but informed decisions.
It’s a position that radically changes the way we think about strategy:
- We anticipate rather than react.
- We test rather than presume.
- We inspire rather than constrain.
Leading from the future is not an act of magic: it is a pragmatic tool for reducing uncertainty and turning imagination into strategic advantage.
