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From a feature interview with futurist Gary Marxx:

“Issue Management is very, very important because, unless we are constantly identifying the issues that we face in our communities, then those issues will sort of creep up on us and we will find out that the issue is managing us and we are not managing the issue. We end up in damage control – firefighting whatever you want to call it.

“Howard Chase was the father of Issues Management and the issues eventually lead to trends. And if indeed we want to be seen as leaders, we need to be sure that we understand trends and issues. When you think about it, what do people say about you, if indeed you understand trends and issues? They say you are “in-touch.” What do they say about you if you don’t understand trends and issues? They say just the opposite; they say you are “out-of-touch.”

“The process for issue identification and sorting is not terribly complex, but it’s one that I think everyone ought to consider using. Regularly, we ought to get people in our education system or other organization together, dedicate time—it doesn’t have to be a lot—to simply brainstorming the issues that we see affecting our community or affecting society, maybe affecting our schools or our classrooms. And then, after we identify those issues, we need to as a group ask, ‘What's the probability that this will become a major issue for us?’ A 10% probability? A 50% a 90%? If it’s already a major issue—maybe it’s a 100%. And then we ask, ‘What's the impact going to be? If this becomes a major issue for us, will it be high impact, medium impact, low impact?’

“If you have issues that are high impact, high probability, then you would better pay attention to them. They will become drivers for the organization and those are examples of the types of issues that, if you don’t manage them, they will manage you.

“You have some issues that might be high impact but low probability and you ask, ‘Should we even pay attention to it?’ Well, if it’s the low impact, what's the likelihood that this will happen in our school system or other organization? You say, ‘Pretty slim.’

“But what if it does happen? And you say, ‘Katy - bar the door!’ If it does happen, we have got a huge problem.

“So, it’s a way of getting a handle on issues and it’s an essential part of leadership as we look to the future. Issue Management is extremely important.”

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