Kate Downing Khaled | Founder & CEO
It felt just like being in a snow globe.
I’m talking about our in-person Imagine Deliver staff retreat, which we hosted in a home near Lake Minnetonka in early January.
During a particularly picturesque snowfall, it was a magical experience to be ensconced in our own little world, dreaming about community-driven design.
But no matter the season or weather in your region, you don’t need a snowfall to host a successful brainstorming session.
Open-ended questions encourage your team to dream big — which is a crucial catalyst to accomplish unprecedented, audacious, and innovative goals.
To build a bold roadmap for the future, invite leadership from all corners of your organization to dream… and watch the momentum build!
An official staff retreat isn’t a make-or-break strategy, but we found this intentional time helpful to set the scene for out-of-the-box thinking.
During that January retreat, we used an activity inspired by World Cafe — it’s a simple, flexible format to bring out individual ideas and turn them into a cohesive message.
Here’s what we focused on:
“What dreaming, scheming, and planning must we do in 2023 to prepare for radical nationwide systems transformation?”
Talk about a big question!
To tackle it, we began by breaking into small groups. We cranked up the music and passed out lots of bright markers and post-it notes.
Everyone on the team was encouraged to either write or draw and illustrate their ideas — there were no method restrictions.
Using tools that were so different the same old rotation of Zoom, Google Docs, and Monday.com built a creative and fun backdrop for us to bring our brightest ideas.
Here’s just a taste of what Imagine Deliver is beginning to implement in 2023, and beyond:
- Publishing content in multiple languages.
- Sharing our data as an open-source resource.
- Moving beyond our consulting model to build a larger design movement.
And guess what? All of these ideas began as sparks during our retreat!
It’s March, but the team building and creativity we cultivated within our January snow globe still carry our team forward.
We’re building a movement and you, the person reading this blog post, are an important part of it.
Help community-centered design continue to grow, and share this post with a friend or colleague you love collaborating with!
