The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 4 plus 8 letter word SWOT ANALYSIS
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
S
W
O
T
A
N
A
L
Y
S
I
S
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "it may help to outline future" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case it may help to outline future = swot analysis.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.