Oliver W. Markley, Ph.D.

Res: 512.551-8446; Mobile: 512.964.6224; Email: oliver[at]olivermarkley[dot]com

Websites: olivermarkley.com, imaginalvisioning.com, inwardboundvisioning.com

MISSION

To help people envision and realize a better future

FORMAL BIO

Oliver Markley is Professor Emeritus and formerly Chair of the graduate program in Studies of the Future at the University of Houston-Clear Lake (UHCL).  His career began as a design engineer but quickly shifted to social psychology and policy research on possible/probable/preferable alternative futures.  His primary professional specialization is on visioning methods for futures-oriented policy research, strategic decision and effectiveness improvement.  Before UHCL, he was a principal investigator and consultant at the Stanford Research Institute (now SRI International), where.  Dr. Markley is a member of the Association of Professional Futurists and a fellow of the World Futures Studies Federation—an international forum for the stimulation, exchange, and examination of ideas, visions, and plans for alternative, long-term futures.

A consultant for dozens of organizations, both in the U.S. and abroad, Oliver is the author or co-author of more than forty publications including four books:

• Changing Images of Man (1982)
• Information and the Future: A Handbook of Sources and Strategies (1988)
• America Beyond 2001: Opposing Viewpoints (1995)
• Twenty First Century Earth: Opposing Viewpoints (1996).

He currently maintains a part-time research and consulting practice, Inward Bound, which uses Imaginal Visioning tools for sustainable well-being. His current R&D focus in which he is developing teaching and consulting materials for the promotion of proactive resilience.

PROFESSIONAL COMPETENCIES

• Enhancement of creativity and resilience
• Interactive guided visioning
• Scanning, forecasting and risk assessment
• Socio-cultural survey research
• Proactive policy analysis
• Strategic planning and team building

 ILLUSTRATIVE ORGANIZATIONAL CONTRIBUTIONS

• For the graduate program in Studies of the Future at the University of Houston-Clear Lake, I led the transformation of the program from having a merely academic orientation into an effective engine for training professional futurists, now proven by outstanding professional accomplishments of its graduates.
• For the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, I led a visioning and feasibility study, leading to the implementation of a new system for vocational forecasting and strategic planning of vocational education at the community college level.
• For the National Institute of Education, I led a study of the national infrastructure for educational R&D, determining that a formal systems-oriented governance framework that had been proposed was not feasible, leading instead to a “community-oriented” policy management style
• For the NASA Johnson Space Center, I did a culture-specific audit of strategic planning in its three main subcultures (business/administration, engineering/research and mission control) that led to a new approach, which won them an OMB award for “best practice” of strategic planning at NASA.
• For the California State Department of Benefits Payments (welfare) Planning Office, I developed an innovative trends monitoring and intelligence system that gave them early warning on challenges needing to be planned for and managed.
•  For a variety of high technology business firms in California and in Texas (e.g., Apple, Texas Instruments, Tenneco, Conoco, Amoco), I did proprietary trend analyses and executive briefings on “STEEP” threats and strategic opportunities leading to improvements in product and strategic planning [STEEP is an acronym for Social/demographic, Technological, Economic, Ecological, and Political.]
• For a variety of professional boards and community groups (e.g., Lance Armstrong Foundation, International Association for Humanistic Psychology, American Speech-Language-Hearing Association; various Presbyterian church communities; Austin Network of Spiritual Progressives), I led proactive culture surveys and facilitated team alignment retreats that led to increased focus and effectiveness.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

• 2000 – Present:  Founding Principal, Inward Bound — a research and services practice specializing in the use of interactively guided Imaginal Visioning for innovative problem solving and strategic direction.
• 2000-Present: Professor Emeritus (Ret.) of Human Sciences and former Chair, Studies of the Future, University of Houston-Clear Lake (UHCL) — a graduate program preparing students for productive careers as professional futurists.  Professor from 1989 to 2000 and Associate Professor from 1978 to 1989.  After assuming the Chair of the Studies of the Future Program in 1979, I transformed the Futures Studies curriculum to train for professional consulting, resulting in a three-fold increase in student enrollment from 15 to 45 and a strong community of alumni who are now leaders in the field of professional futures research and consulting.        
• 2005: Visiting Fellow, Precurve, LLC— an Austin TX futures research, consulting and incubation company where I co-managed a long-range strategic planning project for the Lance Armstrong Foundation.
• 2003-2004: Founding Coordinator of the Walnut Creek (CA) Integral Transformative Practice (ITP) Community—a wellness enhancement practice group.
• 1968 – 1978: Senior Policy Analyst, Principal Investigator and Consultant at the Center for Study of Social Policy, Management and Social Systems Group, Stanford Research Institute (now SRI International)—a small “think tank” for alternative futures policy research, where I developed a variety of proactive policy research and consulting tools.
• 1967-68: NIMH Postdoctoral Fellow with Carl Rogers at the Western Behavioral Sciences Institute, where I learned client-oriented methods for group dynamics facilitation and consulting.
• 1958-1964: Design engineer, computer systems programmer, and draftsman at numerous California Aerospace firms before changing career focus from design engineering to humanistic, social, and organizational psychology, futures research, consulting, and teaching.

UNIVERSITY COURSES TAUGHT

• Integral Living for Sustainable Communities
• Strategic Planning and Organization Development
• Forecasting; Technology Assessment; Applied Futures Research
• World Futures; Visionary Futures; Social change
• Meaning and Identity; Human Consciousness; Global Consciousness
• Change, Management and the Future; Media and the Future; Issues Management
• Creativity in Business; Entrepreneurship and the Future
• Your Changing Future (a personal/professional strategic planning course for non-futures majors)

EDUCATION AND CERTIFICATION

• B.S. and M.S. in design engineering, San Diego State and Stanford University (1962 and 1963)
• M.A. and Ph.D. in social psychology, Northwestern University (1966 and 1968).    Doctoral advisor: Dr. Donald T. Campbell, pioneer of experimental and quasi-experimental designs for socio-cultural research
• Registered Professional Engineer: California No. ME-13203.