Indicative Scenario Planning Projects

Project Descriptions

Part Two: Public Sector Projects

The U.S. Coast Guard: Project Evergreen II. In 2006, the Futures Strategy Group was awarded the contract for the second cycle of Project Evergreen (Evergreen II), under USCG Commandant Thad Allen. Evergreen II is a four-year strategy and planning cycle, which is envisioned both as a tool for developing long-range enterprise strategies and as a process for instilling strategic intent throughout the Coast Guard. Under Evergreen II, an entirely new set of future operating scenarios was developed by FSG and the USCG project core team. An initial set of Evergreen II strategy workshops explored common or “robust” implementation considerations for the new Coast Guard strategies, building on the experiences of junior officers and enlisted, civilian, and Coast Guard Auxiliary personnel. This was followed by a four-day offsite workshop with senior officers and enlisted personnel and civilian leaders, leading to the formation of a new set of draft long-term strategies. In April 2008, FSG engaged the perspectives of the Coast Guard's entire senior leadership at their semi-annual Flag Conference. Later in 2008, FSG will direct a scenario planning training session at the USCG’s Chief Petty Officer Academy in Petaluma, CA, as part of the ongoing effort to “institutionalize” strategic thinking à la Project Evergreen throughout the USCG organization.

The Chief of Staff of the U.S. Coast Guard launched “Project Evergreen” in the fall of 2003 to create a new set of strategies for the USCG in the post-9/11 operating environment, in which the Service is now part of the Department of Homeland Security. FSG was awarded the contract to direct a long-term strategy development exercise. As with “Project Long View,” the Coast Guard embraced a scenario planning approach to more critically and comprehensively evaluate a range of plausible operating conditions that the Service would encounter over the next two decades. FSG facilitated a weeklong workshop for senior operators and a select group of Flag Officers. Workshop outputs were analyzed and further refined to identify common or “robust” elements. Ultimately, a set of 12 strategies were identified and detailed. A majority of these strategies were eventually integrated into USCG plans and programs.

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