Those of us who work with forward, upward and out-of-the-box thinking on a daily basis sometimes forget how difficult it can be to get visions and ideas rolling. But that’s actually the case for the vast majority of people we meet out there. The vision, dream and idea muscles need to be warmed up before performing in a workshop or design sprint, for example. And this little tool is perfect for that.
The tool is a small poster where you complete a sentence leaving some blanks.
How to use the tool:
- Brainstorm ‘Imagine if…’ statements
Based on what you’re working on, ask all participants to brainstorm dreams for the future. Ask them to write between 5-10 sentences on their own post-it note, all starting with “Imagine that…” - Choose the ones that ‘tickles’
In the group or team you’re working in, lay out all the notes and decide together which (3-5) phrases inspire you the most. What you choose might be funny, it might be exciting, realistic, wild… The criteria your decision is based on is not that important, but it needs to ‘ignite a spark’ in your mind. - Create a vision for each statement
For each statement, fill in a vision poster. Here it’s ok to delegate so that a smaller group or a single person takes a vision each. Instruct the group to hold on to what excited them about the statement and unfold that potential. - Present your visions or discuss what the shared vision could be
Based on your vision posters, you may be able to draw out some principles or criteria to help guide your work. Consider what longings/dreams (“Imagine if…” part), value creation (“…it would mean that…” part) and actions (“What we need to do is…” part) can be concluded from your collective work.In any case, the group is well warmed up now to work on visions.
