Future Pacing and the Problem-Outcome Frame

Covering Assessment Criterion 1.4 of 5CO02 Evidence-based Practice, this video focuses on two specific decision-making approaches drawn from the unit's indicative content: Future Pacing and the Problem-Outcome Frame. Both originate from distinct intellectual traditions — Future Pacing has its roots in neuro-linguistic programming — and the video examines how each redirects the way decision-makers engage with options, timeframes and desired results. The discussion situates these techniques within the broader range of decision-making processes that Level 5 learners are expected to be able to explain.

Future Pacing is explored as a structured process involving the deliberate mental projection of decisions across defined timeframes, with the video distinguishing how the appropriate horizon varies depending on the nature of the decision — contrasting, for instance, recruitment choices with large-scale organisational restructures. The technique is examined in relation to a recognised tendency in human decision-making to prioritise immediate concerns over longer-term consequences, and a hybrid working policy scenario is used to illustrate the kinds of considerations — including team cohesion, line manager adaptation and unintended consequences — that the approach is designed to surface.

The Problem-Outcome Frame receives equal attention, with the video drawing an explicit contrast between the questions associated with a problem-focused orientation and those associated with an outcome-focused one. Particular attention is given to the formulation of outcome statements in positive, specific and measurable terms, with staff turnover used as a concrete example to distinguish problem-framed language from outcome-framed language. Together, the two techniques are treated as complementary contributions to the range of decision-making processes AC 1.4 requires learners to explain, sitting alongside approaches such as De Bono's Six Thinking Hats, best fit and action learning that appear elsewhere in the unit.