Temporalizing Internal Consistency: Using the Futures Triangle as an Organizing Device for the Emplotment of Anticipatory Narrative Ecosystems

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to propose the application of the futures triangle as an organizing device for emplotting future-oriented narrative ecosystems and that the plausibility of a particular future can be explicitly reframed through a storytelling lens as the internal consistency of the story about the future. The paper draws on research on futures and storytelling, as well as the application of the futures triangle in academic and organizational settings beyond the traditional mapping phase of the six pillars. The paper then provides examples of applications of the futures triangle in three case study vignettes, as a method for surveying assumptions of change in narrative systems, audience reception in experiential futures stories or “sparks” and transition design stakeholder persona creation. The paper concludes by arguing that re-employing the futures triangle as an organizing device for contested story systems can support richer and more nuanced narratives about the future to emerge that are both plausible and challenge audiences and stakeholders by maintaining internal consistency.