How many actions can you come up with?

Here’s a chance to stretch and practice creating new actions or tactics for your organization. It is about creativity. It can also be a chance to apply strategy lessons taught in earlier activities.

“First, write down a brief description of the current situation for the group, such as key objectives and potential allies. Write enough detail so that the situation could be clear to someone who doesn’t know it. That’s because after that step, we’ll pass around the paper and each person will write down an action they might do.”

That should be written up at the top, with space at the bottom of the paper. Have them write one action they are thinking about, as a start.

Then, have them pass their paper to the left. That person reads the description and writes another action. Continue until either people’s come back to them (in small groups) or after six or seven iterations, so each paper is filled with several actions.

It’s a little like a childhood game where people would collectively write a story together, but this time it’s the story of potential actions!

Afterwards, debrief with how that was for people. Anything catch you? Surprise you?

Debrief with any review of strategy elements being stressed in the workshop (for example, using action logic or tactic typology).

Daniel Hunter, Training for Change and Jethro Heiko, Action Mill

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