Day 3: Ideate
This is part three of a five part series. If you’d like to catch up, start here: Day 1: Empathize, Day 2: Define.
Ideate begins with the Resource Inventory, another framework that can be a valuable exercise to do independent of the sprint. For a Resource Inventory, we’re going to brainstorm every asset at our disposal. An asset can be skills related to your profession (engineering, coding, project management), related to a hobby (knitting, bicycle maintenance, painting), technology (3D printer, computer, Adobe Illustrator), and connections (mentors, friends, work colleagues). For each connection, make a note of what skills they have expertise in. The Resource Inventory is great to keep on hand as a reminder of all the value you bring as an individual, as well as recalling what value your connections can provide.
With the resource inventory complete, it’s time to jump back to our prioritized objectives from the end of Day 2. Momentum was built up throughout Day 2 and concluded in the selection of a single objective. But now that you’ve had a day to step back from the work and reflect, it’s a good opportunity to confirm the choice. To help do this, align all of the relevant resources captured from the Resource Inventory to each of the goals in the final prioritization matrix from Day 2. With this new understanding of what is available to you to help achieve each of your prioritized objectives, how does that influence or change your choice for a single objective to prioritize? Do you feel as though you have all of the resources you need to support your pursuit of the objective? Are you better equipped to tackle a different objective? Take some time to think through this and when you’re ready, make your final selection.
Ideate is a relatively easy day compared to the other five. When doing the full sprint, on top of a normal workday, it’s a good break that conveniently occurs at the halfway point. Embrace the break because Day 4 includes a bit more intense of a framework and a fair amount of planning. But at the end you’ll have defined actionable steps to take towards achieving your objective.
As always if you’re interested in a more in depth review of different aspects of the sprint, sign up to receive the newsletter by clicking here: Sign me up!
PERSONAL DESIGN SPRINT
INSTRUCTIONS: Ideate
TOTAL TIME: 50 Minutes
Step 1: (30 minutes) Brainstorm every available resource at your disposal. Examples of resources to include are: Skills (professional and personal interest), hobbies, languages, technology (computers, 3D printer, software, etc.), connections (and associated skills of those connections).
Step 2: (20 minutes) Align your resources to the objectives laid out in your Day 2 final prioritization matrix. Any resources you have that would help in the execution of achieving your objective should be listed with each. Review and consider if your prioritization changes at all. Do you have sufficient resources to achieve the objective you chose on Day 2? Confirm your choice from yesterday or choose a new objective.
