Résumé : Both policy implementation and administrative reforms have increasingly come to rely on "instrumental" management methods that fail to treat adequately cognitive biases, bureaucratic ritualism, co-ordination issues and political sensitivities. This paper explores the potential of exploratory, participative foresight as an alternative to instrumental methods, based on a research carried out in the Belgian penal justice system. The results illustrate possible contributions to policy coordination, organizational learning, strategic exploration and leadership.