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| Scenario planning in the Civil Service began in MINDEF in 1991. On 1 July 1993, the Cabinet approved scenario planning as a tool for long-term policy and strategy development. In 1995, scenario planning functions were transferred to a newly-established Scenario Planning Office (SPO) within the Prime Minister’s Office. | |
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| In that same year, the Civil Service launched the PS21 movement, to instill in civil servants a mindset of Welcoming, Anticipating and Managing Change – the three pillars of PS21. Scenario planning supports the pillar of Anticipating Change. By surfacing and questioning the assumptions that underpin the ways in which we perceive the world around us, scenario planning encourages us to expect discontinuities in our environment. We learn to be forward-looking by "living in the future", while positioning ourselves to react quickly to change. | |
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| In 2003, in recognition of the increasingly complex environment, SPO broadened its scope of responsibilities to include strategic policy issues of an inter-agency nature. To reflect these additional responsibilities, SPO was rechristened Strategic Policy Office. | |
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