IN THE 1930s, THE MOUNTAINEERS CLUB DEVELOPED A LIST they called the 10 essentials, for people who want to explore in backcountry or wilderness areas. These are the things you want to be sure you have anytime you go into the backcountry. They include matches, blanket, flashlight, and so on. The point of the 10 essentials is to have a checklist of the items you'll need to be self-sufficient as you explore unknown territory.
We're entering a new age of discovery where we are exploring a world of information. Like the explorers of the past, we often have only a vague sense of what we are looking for and are not sure what we will find when we get there. Based on our collective experience, we have compiled a list of the 10 essentials for gamestorming. It's not an exhaustive list by any means, but rather a solid, dependable, basic toolkit. It's a list of tried-and-true methods: the 20% of the toolkit that you'll use 80% of the time.
These are the methods we employ most often in our work, and they are also the things you will find most useful if you find yourself in a difficult meeting. If you practice and become comfortable with these 10 things, you will be able to work your way through nearly any challenge.
We've already discussed the importance of opening and closing, but this concept is so important for managing energy and flow that it belongs on the essentials list. Opening and closing is the way you orchestrate your gamestorming activities. Like breathing, it underlies every activity, giving it rhythm and life.
Think about the opening and closing arguments in a court trial. The purpose of the opening is to establish a frame of reference, set the context, and lay out the themes that will be explored in the trial. The closing argument precedes and prepares the way for the jury or judge to make a decision.
Opening is just what it sounds like—it's a beginning. To open is to get people thinking and spark their imaginations. To open you need to create a comfortable environment where people feel invited and welcome so that they will open their minds and explore possibilities they may not have considered before. Closing is about bringing things to a conclusion, moving from thinking mode into doing mode. Closing is about making choices and decisions. Break out/report back is a form of opening and closing: you open or break out to find divergent ideas and perspectives, and you close or report back to share ideas and realign with the group.
Here are some risks to be aware of:
- Don't open and close at the same time.
You can't be creative and critical simultaneously. People's minds just don't work that way. When you are exploring creative possibilities you need to shut down the critical part of your mind, and when you are making difficult choices, you should not try to be creative. Keep them separate and do them in order.
- Close everything you open.
If you open something you must close it, or you will risk losing the energy of the group. Opening can feel overwhelming. If you open and don't close, people may feel as if you have opened Pandora's box: there are too many opportunities and no plan to tackle them. If people do work in a breakout session, they will be disappointed if they don't have a chance to share it with others and you may miss an important learning opportunity.
Note
Sometimes closing can be as simple as saying, "This thread doesn't seem to be taking us anywhere, so let's not waste anymore time on it."