
What is it?
An activity that helps a group of people achieve consensus and a common understanding around a new vision of the future.
Why is it useful?
- Teams often disagree on direction and destination.
- This activity surfaces those differences early while opinions are still flexible.
- Aligning views at the start saves time, reduces conflict, and builds commitment.
Objective
To build a shared vision of the future that everyone who participates can agree on and support.
Resources Required
- An empty room with wall space (no tables or chairs needed).
- Large paper (about 2m x 1m).
- Marker pens.
- Lots of coloured Post-its.
Process
1. Prepare the chart
- Before participants arrive, put the paper on the wall.
- Draw a cross to create four quadrants.
- Label them: Thinking, Feeling, Saying, Doing.
2. Set the context
- Explain that the activity will help define what the future will look and feel like.
- Emphasise the goal: to agree where the team is heading.
3. Silent brainstorm
- Ask the question:
“What will we all be Thinking, Feeling, Saying and Doing differently x months from now?” - x should be a realistic timeframe (6–12 months).
- Give 10 minutes for silent brainstorming.
- Each idea goes on one Post-it.
4. Share and add
- Participants place their Post-its in the relevant quadrant.
- Encourage discussion and new Post-its as ideas emerge.
5. Group into themes
- Ask participants to cluster similar Post-its into themes.
- Label themes with a marker.
6. Prioritise themes
- If more than 10 themes emerge, split them into:
- Must Have
- Nice to Have
7. Write the vision statement
- As a group, draft a vision statement that captures the key themes.
- Keep it visible for ongoing reference.
8. Close
- Thank participants.
- Explain that their work today forms the foundation for the next phase.
Secret Sauce
- Keep the future horizon realistic: 6–12 months.
- Allow time for challenge and debate—this builds consensus.
- Let participants do the writing, clustering and naming to build ownership.
- If the group is large, split into smaller teams of 4 to draft statements and then merge into one shared version.
