[notes about participatory methods in solution identification]
expand solution identification tools to incorporate community participation in the analytical process
reflect on which tools will be most effective given your context and/or particular facilitation style
facilitation notes forthcoming
facilitation notes forthcoming
facilitation notes forthcoming
Vision Creation
A compelling vision is the foundation of any long-term, high-impact solution. Visualization has been proven to activate the same neural pathways in your brain as actual performance.
In this activity, your group imagines and shares visualisations of how the future would look like for different personas in your community with your solution successfully implemented.
Use this activity to get your team on the same page by painting a picture of the future your work is building. This activity will inspire and motivate your team while you take the first step towards a robust strategy to actually achieve your solution.
INSTRUCTIONS
Set the Scene
Select a writing surface (e.g., whiteboard, chalkboard, shared digital document, etc).
Write this vision question on your writing surface for all to see:
It is [period in the future] and [we have achieved our goal]. What does it look like?
Example: It is 2035 and everyone in the community has climate-resilient livelihoods. What does it look like?
To find the right time horizon, consider the degree of impact you want to have or the complexity of your goal. For a community-level goal, you might focus within one to three years for normal impact, or five years for larger complexity.
On the same board, create a table with a column for each persona in your community who will be affected by your solution. Add a few examples for each persona before starting the activity with your team.
Example persona: Stay-at-home mother of three children
Example visualisation: With a baby in one arm, a bucket in the other, and two five-year-old twins at her sides, a mother leaves the house to fetch some water for cooking. The path ahead of her is clean and safe - she giggles as her children recount a story from school that morning.
On a separate board, list these thought-starters to inspire your group's visualisations:
Sense: touch, hearing, sight, smell, taste
Context: perspective, emotion, environment, task, timing
Start Specific
Explain to your group that, through this activity, you really want to understand the potential unique value proposition of your work. You want to create empathy with the community members whom your solution will help.
Painting a vivid vision of your goal is your brain’s mental practice for success. The more vivid you can be, the better.
But at the same time, no ideas are wrong! Similarly, the feasibility of a vision isn't as important as its vivacity. Your group shouldn't be afraid to dream big. How to get there is a question for another activity.
With these aims and instructions in mind, give your group 10-15 minutes to silently think of and write down visions of the personas in their community with your solution's success.
They don't have to imagine visions for every persona - quality over quantity.
Encourage group members to really visualise the future for these personas before starting to write down their descriptions.
Put Ideas on the Board
Have all team members put their written visualisations on the shared board.
Ask each team member to speak to their thinking behind one of the ideas they put on the board.
Close with Reflection
Ask your group for reactions to the activity.
Some potential discussion questions to pose to your group include:
Was it easy or difficult to visualise the future?
Is the vision you all created together cohesive? Were there any common elements to the group's visualisations?
Were there any personas where group members contributed wildly different visualisation? (This may be a sign of a need for further vision alignment)
In your shared vision, does everyone benefit from your solution?
Are there any interesting potential side effects of your solution (good or bad)?
Outline any relevant next steps and how they will be informed by this activity.
Adapted from Atlassian
15% Solutions
A few actions in the right direction, however small, can create momentum. Enough momentum headed in the same direction can build and make a big difference.
By helping individuals and the group see what is within their discretion to change, this activity shows that there is no reason for a group to wait or feel powerless when addressing challenges. With a very simple question, you can focus on what can be done and find solutions to big problems that are often distributed widely in places not known in advance.
Shifting a few grains of sand can trigger a landslide and change the whole landscape.
INSTRUCTIONS
Arrange the Room
Arrange the group into small groups of 2-4 people (no table required).
Make sure each person has a piece of paper and writing utensil.
Define your Group's Big Challenge
What Big Challenge is your group focusing on with this activity?
This challenge should ideally be one of the challenges identified during Module 2: Problem Analysis.
Start Thinking About 15% Solutions
Ask your group:
What is your 15% contribution towards addressing [challenge]? Where do you have discretion and freedom to act? What can you do without more resources or authority?
List 15% Solutions
Each person individually generates a list of 15% Solutions they can undertake towards addressing the group's Big Challenge.
Share with Small Groups
Individuals share their list within their small groups.
After each individuals present their list, the other group members provide consultation to them, asking clarifying questions and offering advice.
Share with Entire Group
Ask each small group to select three of their 15% Solutions to share with the entire group. Ask each small group to assign someone from their group to present these three solutions.
Have each assigned group liaison briefly present their group's three 15% Solutions.
After each group's short presentation, other members of the entire group can ask clarifying questions and offer advice.
Adapted from Liberating Structures
