The Futures Wheel is a visual foresight and brainstorming tool invented by American futurist Jerome C. Glenn in 1971, designed to graphically map the primary, secondary, and tertiary consequences of a specific event, trend, or change using a circular diagram with concentric rings radiating from a central hub.
The method works by placing a central change or issue at the core of the diagram — for example, a new policy, a social trend, or a strategic decision — and then working outward in layers. The first ring captures direct, first-order consequences; from each of those, a second ring of second-order consequences is generated, and so on — surfacing implications beyond the immediate and obvious, and helping develop an understanding of causality through ripple effects.
Lack of vision by local and national politicians
institutional
Governance incumbency
TML5
medium
medium
flexible
no
local/district administration, local politicians, city administration, city politicians
shared knowledge generation, shared communication of narratives
english
