Psychological Safety - the Missing Link in Strategic Foresight

I was recently listening to futurist Amy Webb, and something she said struck me deeply:

“Decisions that get made in the next decade are going to determine the long-range fate of human civilization.”

This isn’t just a call to think ahead; it’s a call to radically rethink how we talk about the future.

Because it doesn’t matter how brilliant your foresight tools are if your team isn’t willing - or able to challenge its own assumptions. Psychological safety is the crucial, often overlooked, ingredient that makes strategic foresight matter.

Psychological Safety + Foresight

Psychological safety, as defined by Amy Edmondson, is the shared belief that it’s safe to take interpersonal risks - like voicing doubts, surfacing uncomfortable insights, or admitting “I don’t know.” Without it, conversations about the future tend to become bland, consensus-driven, or dominated by the loudest voices in the room. People stick to what feels comfortable. Challenging cherished beliefs? is highly unlikely.

But strategic foresight demands precisely the opposite. It requires us to confront inconvenient truths, imagine uncomfortable scenarios, and question what we hold dear - before reality does it for us.

As Webb puts it,

“If you don’t, you’re going to be surprised at every turn, and make the wrong decisions.”

Better to Be Surprised in a Scenario Than in Reality

The beauty of foresight exercises - scenarios, horizon scanning, speculative design - is that they give us a safe sandbox to explore what could happen. It’s far better to be surprised by an unexpected possibility during a scenario workshop than to be blindsided when the world actually shifts.

But to reap that benefit, teams need a culture where it’s okay to raise challenging questions, admit uncertainty, and speak uncomfortable truths. Without psychological safety, foresight turns into wishful thinking or a performative exercise.

The Best Tool for the Decade Ahead

Strategic foresight isn’t a crystal ball. It’s a disciplined way of challenging assumptions, exploring uncertainties, and preparing for multiple possible futures. But for it to work, we must intentionally create spaces where people feel safe enough to think differently - and even disagree.

That’s why the intersection of psychological safety and foresight is so critical: it’s not just about seeing what’s coming, but about building the courage to talk about it honestly.

As we stand on the cusp of decisions that will shape the fate of our organisations - and indeed, our civilization - this combination may be the best tool we have.