Look back to look forward: three great tools to get 2023 ready

Hello! How are you? Good I hope.

This is my first LinkedIn newsletter, a little experiment, as I'm always encouraging others to do.

I've been sending newsletters (highly irregularly) for the past decade from Now Go Create . We always try to be informative and practical in relation to all things creative thinking and problem solving with helpful tips, tools and case studies. I know these things are not for everyone so please do let me know if you like it/hate it/want something else! And no hard-feelings if you just want to opt out ;-)

The theme of this month’s newsletter is about looking back to look forward...bear with me.

I had a big birthday at the weekend, and as these things are want to do, I’ve found myself looking back on my life, the highs and lows, personal and professional (and what I can remember!) of the past five decades.?

I was drawn to revisit Steve Job’s commencement speech for Stanford University where he famously said:

“You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something – your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.”?

When I was studying a few years ago, one of the practices we had to learn was the art of reflection. I came to it kicking and screaming, and honestly it took me a good year of study before it clicked and I finally ‘got it’ and found it helpful rather than a chore. Self-awareness and growth comes with reflection and so it is something I try to practice regularly still.

Even if it’s as simple as a quick?stop, start, continue?below- which is exactly as it says on the tin.

So given that we’re in November I thought I’d share three of my favourite ways to look back to look forward and join those dots.?

We have just 2 open courses left this year (details below) if you’d like to join us. Otherwise I look forward to sharing our new courses and workshops for 2023 next month. If you have anything you’d like us to be doing or need help with that we’re not then please yodel and let me know!?

Until next time (I hope), be well, Claire?Bridges, Founder, Now Go Create

1/ Exercise: stop, start, continue

We all have a limited range of time, energy and resources. You might have come across the stop, start, continue model which is a simple framework to manage change, which I think is useful in a range of situations. In relation to your personal creative progress or project ask yourself these three simple questions – that can then lead to further exploration.

1.?????What should I start doing?

2.?????What are some things I should stop doing?

3.?????What should I continue doing?

Canva.com has an easy-to-use editable template for this process for groups and individuals that you can swipe here.

2/?Exercise:?look back to look forward?

This is a tool from the?Institute for the Future. As they say, it can be really intimidating to start thinking about what you want or need in the future - so many options, predictions and opinions. But when you're looking back to the past, that's something that everybody's an expert on. It’s a really easy way for people to start thinking about how change happens without having to go out on a limb and express an opinion or take any risk.?

Well, this is a perfect tool for beginning any sort of exploration of the future (like your 2023 planning). Anytime you want to think about what's possible in the future, it's always great to think about how change has happened in the past. To get started pick your topic, pick a timescale (say Jan-Dec 2022) and write down the key moments of change around your subject:

• What made this change possible?
• What effort did it require?
• How long did it take to happen?
• How quickly did things change after?
• What ripple effects did that change have in unexpected ways?

3/?Exercise:?sail away, sail away, sail away?

The MIRO whiteboard?Sailboat Retrospective ?is a fun and easy way to boost the communication of what went well and what slowed the team down. Based on the topics addressed during the retrospective, the team agrees on the improvement activities needed for future projects. It’s often used for Agile Sprints but can be adapted to any project and team:?

1. The tropical island represents the set project goal you're aiming at.
2. The wind represents everything helping you (or that might help) to achieve the project goal, pushing the team's sails boat to go even faster.
3. The sun represents all the things making you feel good and happy during work. As a retrospective is a time for team celebration this is an opportunity to bring forward kudos to your team friends.
4. The anchor on the sailing boat represents everything that is slowing you down and holding you back on the journey towards the goal.
5. The reef represents potential risks ahead that might jeopardise future project work.

The free online template is here useful for hybrid, online or face to face meetings.

I hope you find these three great project retrospective exercises helpful to get you thinking about what's next creatively, strategically and personally for you and your business in 2023.

Fun fact: did you know that in ancient Roman religion, Janus is the god of beginnings, gates, transitions, time, duality, doorways, passages, frames, and endings? He is usually depicted as having two faces, one looking ahead, one behind (like the bearded fellow above), and the month of January is named for Janus. Being able to look in two different directions and hold contrasting ideas is your head is called Janusian thinking.

These are the sorts of useful tools we share in our workshops. Join one of our last two public creative training webinars of 2022 – How To Be A Creative Ninja one 6th December and How To Be A Strategy Ninja on 29th December, with 9:30-11:30.

It's doing as much as training - bring your project and workshop it in the session.

Please do let me know what you think of the newsletter! Until next time (I hope), Claire

Email [email protected] if you have any comments or queries