The COVID-19 pandemic has disturbed the day-to-day activities of businesses around the world in ways few had foreseen. Despite its various economic and social impacts, however, the pandemic has catalyzed a wave of entrepreneurship that will give birth to a cohort of market disruptions. Although industry leaders are aware that they must innovate to defend themselves against disruption, their behaviours are constrained by cognitive traps that make them path-dependent, ignorant to novelty, and inflexible to change.

The literature on innovation suggests that practicing strategic foresight can help firms break away from path dependency by enabling them to think creatively about the future and imagine how they might be disrupted by their competitors and non-competitors. However, previous research in this domain leaves gaps that may hinder firms’ ability to execute foresight in their organizations. First, it places a relatively high focus on scanning for signals without offering guidance on how to evaluate and act on them. Second, it assumes that foresight is strictly the responsibility of upper management and disregards the role that people at the bottom of the organizational hierarchy could play in the process.

This report offers an exploration into a possible solution to help firms leverage strategic foresight so that they can break away from path dependency and manage the threat of post-pandemic disruption. It culminates with the presentation of a proof of concept for a game designed specifically for business professionals to develop their strategic foresight capabilities and realize the possibilities for disruption. This work includes further secondary research to inform the proof of concept, followed by a user testing session to evaluate its design and performance in addressing the research goals. This research contributes to the business community by providing an engaging and enlightening approach for anyone within an enterprise—not just executives—to think about the future and plan for disruption, even long after the end of the pandemic.