Innovation: scenarios of alternative futures can discover new opportunities for creativity

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to show how scenarios of the future can offer “stretch zones” for the imagination. Such scenarios provide several alternative model future worlds for consideration and exploration by teams seeking breakthrough innovation. Design/methodology/approach – Two case studies are offered to illustrate the role of scenarios in developing new opportunities for innovative and creative thinking in organizations. Findings – The paper finds that investigating the constraints and possibilities of these future worlds increases the range of “what we have experienced” and “what is relevant to our future”. Practical implications – Because scenarios offer a glimpse of what “different” futures are like, an organization's innovators can more readily imaginatively experience buying and selling products, living, commuting, under the particular constraints and opportunities of a number of possible future conditions. Originality/value – The paper shows how using scenarios to investigate the constraints and possibilities of future worlds exposes decision makers to new opportunities to be creative.