Shaping Tomorrow has introduced a visual Futures Wheel. A radar-style analysis designed to make the primary, secondary, and tertiary consequences of a topic or emerging signal immediately visible.
Rather than listing impacts in isolation, the Futures Wheel places a signal, trend, or decision at the centre and maps consequences outward in expanding rings. This allows users to see how effects propagate through systems, across domains, and over time.
Organisations often recognise signals early, but underestimate their downstream implications. The Futures Wheel addresses this by:
Making cascading impacts visible at a glance
The radial structure shows how first-order effects trigger second - and third-order consequences that are easy to miss in linear analysis.
Supporting systems-level thinking
By visualising interactions across economic, social, technological, environmental, and political dimensions, the tool highlights feedback loops and unintended effects.
Challenging early judgement
Seeing implications unfold visually helps teams suspend premature relevance filtering and explore what follows, not just what fits today's priorities.
Creating shared understanding
A common visual language enables faster alignment across strategy, risk, innovation, and policy teams.
The Futures Wheel transforms foresight from a list of observations into a living visual map of consequences, helping leaders anticipate where pressure will emerge, where opportunities may compound, and where strategic options could narrow.
It is particularly valuable for organisations operating in complex, interconnected environments where indirect effects matter as much as direct ones.