Blue Skies, Meet Bright Eyes

In The Change Element #1 “Blue Skies Ahead”, we talked about the Blue-Sky method of thinking and how to extract your thoughts, ideas and dreams to map a path toward transformation. This edition speaks on how to engage and enroll others in the exercise.

A Shared Vision

To amplify the effect of the Blue-Sky thinking method, ask key partners and associates (people invested in solving the same problem) to do the same blue-sky exercise, in parallel, without discussing.  Each should first capture their thoughts independently before sharing.  In the initial phase, let the ideas flow independently and completely to not accidentally stomp on the seedling of an outstanding idea before it has time to grow and become strong. 

Zoom Out

Once everyone has had a chance to complete the initial brainstorm, you should now have a pretty good framework of the destination vision and some ideas on the pathways to get there.  It’s time to refine the ideas and put it on one page so that it can be easily shared with others. If you are a visual thinker, a mind map could be a way to capture the ideas; however, a simple sorting of the ideas into piles would be sufficient to move forward.  Just as you would with dirty laundry, pile up the ideas in one place, then begin to sort them into piles of like with like.  Don’t overthink what to call the piles, or how many you’ll need, just quickly move ideas to list with similar concepts.  Then take a step back and place a title on each subgroup. Keep it simple, a few words at most to describe each subgroup.

Next imagine telling a story about what the ideas represent.  Is there a simple story that describes how to journey through? This may inform the naming of the subgroups.  When the Blue-Sky ideas are summarized on one page, you’re ready to share.

Enrolling Others

Look for opportunities to share with others: in one-on-one meetings, team meetings, department meetings, wherever folks are gathered that might have an interest in the topic, you can harvest valuable insights.  With the vision written down, you can now share it in a way where it is ‘an idea’ rather than ‘my idea’ or ‘your idea’. 

As you share the current thinking, look for Bright Eyes; folks who get excited and expand, add detail, or further illustrate your ideas.  This could come from unexpected sources.  People who do not enjoy the blue-sky method may be more comfortable engaging at this point.  As you share current thinking, challenge yourself to also share the current challenges that need to be worked out; enroll others in sharing their thoughts on the subject.  Feedback may bubble up in many forms.  Look for it and listen openly to the ideas, as they may come from unexpected places.  Maybe it’s a relative stranger in the crowded room who heard your presentation and it sparked excitement and insights they want to share.  Maybe someone close to the problem, upon hearing it shared in a new context, has a spark of clarity that helps to unravel the challenges.  Regardless, look for bright eyes, those who are engaged and interested in continuing the conversation.  You will know the Bright Eyes because they will often show themselves through visual cues such as eye contact, nodding, and gestures. You can see the spark ignite and the gears turning in their minds!  When you know who they are, make sure to follow up, share and listen to what they have to say.

An Open Door

Leave an open invitation when concluding a sharing session.  Make sure anyone you share the vision with knows that as they have thoughts and insights, you would love to hear them.  Thank them for taking the time to listen, share and invest in the formulation stage of big things to come.    You can decide later if the product of these conversations is part of the future you are creating, or another project. Thank them even if you don’t know what to do with the ideas. Imagine that it all may be part of the same project and any seemingly odd pieces that don’t seem to fit may be puzzle pieces for a portion you are yet to discover.  A simple ‘thanks for thinking with me’ can go a long way to encourage others to bring forth ideas that continue to strengthen the vision. Together, Blue Skies and Bright Eyes are a pathway to transformational change.