InnovacióN

MICHEL GODET

Appropriation

Preface by Joseph F. COATES

E3 E C O N O M I C A

Second Edition

PREFACE

A second edition is always a cause for celebration. For the publisher, it confirms his hope t h a t the product he sponsored would continue to be successful economically. For the author, the implications

are even more delicious. His message has been understood, studied,

and used. One could rarely ask for more from a professional thinker

and a proponent ofbetter ways to think. To me the most striking m a r k

of success is t h a t the software indispensable to the tools and techniques which Godet describes, explains, and advocates has been downloaded from the Internet over 7000 times, at no cost. While a number

of futures works in the English speaking world are accompanied by

software packages in the form of CDs, the Godet approach - make it

free with the help of the Entrepreneurs of the Future Circle — is far

more socially valuable.

The second advantage I see in this new edition is pulling some of

the good ideas out of chapter three to integrate into other chapters,

and then creating an entirely new chapter three. He h u n t s down a particularly subversive form of thinking, or more properly, failure to

think, in the form of six clusters of cliches. Other minor changes

throughout sharpen, clarify, or expand on details.

If clarity is a virtue, Michel Godet is a saint. Two features of Professor Godet's career show through clearly in his new tour de force.

First, as a university professor, he admires and practices clarity, consistency, and intellectual integrity. As a consultant practitioner - one

of the most eminent in France - he brings to his treatment ofscenario

planning as a strategic management tool, a degree ofpracticality and

flexibility which is admirable. His attitude and precepts if adopted

would greatly benefit all ofthose who could be successful in the use of

scenarios as a planning tool and in strategic management....