A Quorum of Perspectives

8 Jul 2025 · 1 min

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In this excerpt from her book Put the Future on the Agenda, Charlotte Kemp argues that effective, lasting decision‑making requires a "quorum of perspectives" – a combination of two distinct viewpoints. The first, a global perspective, emphasizes the interconnectedness of people, environments, economies, and cultures across the planet while respecting their differences. The second, a futures perspective, is the capacity to anticipate, envision, and plan for emerging trends, challenges, and opportunities. When both perspectives are applied together, individuals and organizations can proactively shape personal and professional trajectories, seize emerging opportunities, and mitigate risks. Kemp warns that lacking these perspectives leads to short‑term, one‑sided decisions that produce obsolete products, limited career paths, and irrelevant business partnerships, ultimately exacerbating future challenges.

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I'm Charlotte Kemp, and this is an extract from my recent book, Put the Future on the Agenda. Assuming that we want to make good, long-lasting decisions, we need to ensure that we have considered what perspectives we are operating with. We need a quorum of perspectives, otherwise our decisions are going to be one-sided or irrelevant. Perspectives can only be achieved from a significant vantage point where you have the chance to see the height, breadth, and depth of a view. There are 2 perspectives we want. The first is a global perspective. It's a way of thinking about the interconnectedness of the whole planet, her people, environment, and economies, and at the same time appreciating the differences of culture, experience, and worldview. A futures perspective involves the ability to anticipate, envision, and plan for future developments, trends, and challenges. With these 2 perspectives in concert, you'll be able to be proactive in shaping your personal and professional path, leveraging emerging opportunities and mitigating risks. When these perspectives are weak, we are prone to making short-term decisions that could make the future challenges worse. Besides creating products that will soon be obsolete, we limit our own career paths and business partnerships. Avoiding redundancy, obsolescence, and irrelevance is the point of this agenda.