The sense of possibility - Futures Literacy for Leaders

The sense of possibility

We live in a paradoxical moment: never has the future mattered more — and never have we spoken about it less. Instead of imagining what lies ahead, we manage the permanent crisis of the present. Climate, war, inflation, polarization, AI shock: everything is now. Everything is urgent.

Cultural theorists call this condition presentism: a society trapped in an endless present. The future appears either as a threat or as an abstract void — but rarely as a space of possibility we can actively shape.

And this is where the challenge begins for leaders, brands, and organizations:
If we can no longer think in futures, we can no longer provide orientation. Communication turns into reaction, innovation into adaptation, and sustainability into exhaustion.Many people—especially leaders—feel uncomfortable in these spaces of possibility. Yet without a well-developed sense of possibility, things always turn out differently than expected. I like to think of these spaces of possibility as a training camp for an action-oriented engagement with the future: at first, you stumble and lose your bearings, but over time you begin to move with greater ease. And the reward for the effort? Instead of bluntly extending threatening realities, we can write hope-inspiring possibilities into our present—and thus allow them to become a new reality.

Continuity as a Risk

Ironically, continuity — once one of Germany’s most cherished ideals — has become one of the greatest risks for our economy. In interviews across industries, executives confirm what we increasingly observe: imagination has become one of the most important leadership tasks.
A difficult demand, because the front of change is precisely where no one fully knows the way.

In a volatile society, leadership requires what UNESCO calls Futures Literacy: the ability to “read” the future. Futures Literacy does not mean predicting what will happen. It means using uncertainty as a space for reflection — and turning possibilities into direction.

The Paradox: We Demand the Right Decisions, But Forbid Vision

Across politics and business, leaders are expected to make the “right” future-proof decisions. Yet imagining different scenarios often feels suspicious. The old Helmut Schmidt logic (German famous chancellor) still echoes:
“Anyone who has visions should see a doctor.”

But futures are not fantasies. They are possibility spaces — invitations to explore what could be, before it becomes real.

The Sense of Possibility

The writer Robert Musil described this capacity in The Man Without Qualities as the sense of possibility — in contrast to the sense of reality.

For a long time, leadership culture rewarded the sense of reality: facts, rationality, objectivity. But today, this is no longer enough. What we need now is the ability to cultivate the sense of possibility:
to dare thinking what else could be. This “what if…” mode allows organizations to sketch desirable futures together — and to use them as orientation for decisions in the present.

Several leaders told us that during the pandemic, they used shared documents to collectively write and update possible future stories. In doing so, they led their teams “from the future” — rather than simply extending the past.Because: What brought us here won’t get us there.
In the face of today’s complex tensions, we need creativity and courage to mentally explore alternative paths.

Possibility Spaces as Training Grounds

Many people — especially leaders — feel uncomfortable in possibility spaces. They seem unstable, unfamiliar, hard to control. Yet without a cultivated sense of possibility, the future will arrive anyway — just in ways we did not shape. I like to think of these spaces as training grounds for dealing with uncertainty: at first you stumble, you lose orientation. But over time, you move more fluidly.

And the reward is profound: Instead of mechanically reproducing threatening realities, we can begin to write hopeful possibilities into our time — until they become the new reality.

From Possibility to Practice

This is exactly where we at STURMundDRANG come in. We see futures not as abstract speculation, but as a continuous strategic practice.