When I am facilitating futures, the first 20 minutes of a session tells me how the session might go without careful facilitation.
The opening exercises and activities aren’t simply ice-breakers, as many participants think, but an opportunity for me to observe the group. I observe who speaks first, whose uncertainty is welcomed, who is hesitant, who seems open to sharing ideas but is dismissed, who talks over people and who is talked over, and, if it arises, whether disagreement is handled with curiosity or subtle shutdown.
I then know how much time we need to explore the need for safety and bravery, what these two things might look like, and how to practice it.
Without this, it’s likely that the futures that arise from the session with be flat, familiar, and unlikely to lead to anything useful.