How do you develop a vision using storytelling? On this page we describe a fun workshop that we often use ourselves. The purpose of the exercise is to visualize how the world in which you create your products and services will develop. After all, it is only when you know this that you can develop a good vision.
NO STRATEGY NEEDED
If you have read the cyan LSD book, you know an organization does not need a detailed strategy at all. In the network organization, the strategic choices are up to the self-managing teams. At the organizational level, there is only one vision, a mission and a roadmap that describes the course in outline.
THE NEWS OF THE FUTURE
What will the market for your product or service look like in five years? What new technological inventions are there that you can apply? You don’t know the answer to these questions, but you can dream about it. You do that in this workshop. The visual story is central in the workshop.
EQUIPMENT
– a large stack of magazines
– blank A3 or A2 sheets
– pencils, markers, pens
– scissors and glue
INSTRUCTION
- Divide the group into groups of 3-4 people
- Ask them to design the cover of a magazine or newspaper about their field, including name, catchy headlines, fun texts and lots of images. The cover contains product ideas, market developments, basically anything that will interest the reader.
- Give the teams at least half an hour for this workshop. It is often nice to cut up the workshop, so that the teams can work on their magazine from time to time during the day.
- The teams will of course present their cover. The winner can be chosen by measuring the applause (this can be done with the applaud-o-meter app).
- A nice prize could be that the winning team is given the opportunity to actually implement one of their ideas.
- Collect all useful ideas from the different designs, as input for the team or organizational vision.
