I recently completed a three-month course on innovation in organisations and, for me at least, one of the biggest revelations came about when I was asked to depict a part of my business in a series of eight hastily scrawled sketches.
It was a visualisation tool known as the Crazy 8s, and it’s championed by Google (where they almost certainly refer to it as a ‘core design sprint method‘’ or something). It’s inelegant, but it’s fast and it works perfectly. And you don’t even need to be able to draw.
First, take a sheet of paper and fold it in half lengthways, then open it up and refold it widthways, then widthways again. Open it back up and mush it flat with your hands.
You now have eight identical boxes in which to capture your business operation in less time than it takes to enjoy a coffee, and you should do it right now. Use those eight boxes to map out your customer journey, or establish what it takes to convert a lead, or simply to capture the value that your business presents to a potential client.
First, clear your mind. Then set the timer on your phone for one minute and press go. You now have those sixty seconds to create a drawing in the first box. Remember, you’re only aiming to convey the process. This is Pictionary, not Picasso. Although the end result may resemble the latter.
Then reset the timer for 55 seconds and repeat. Then reset again for 50 seconds and repeat, until you’ve completed all boxes with five seconds fewer to complete your scribble each time. No wasted time, no elevator pitches waxing lyrical about human behaviour; just the facts m’am, plain and simple.
It’s a good task to do with others from your organisation, partly to invite comparison and also to act as invigilators.
Now review it, and what you should have in front of you is a business laid bare. These are the things that you are telling yourself your business cannot operate without. Stick a nose in a textbook, or listen to a compelling video by a business app developer and you’ll see your business through the world in which they operate. But this is you explaining your business and your role to yourself, no filter.
If you find that all you’re drawing is blanks, then perhaps you aren’t as clear about your proposition as you thought you were.
And if you’re working on something unrelated to one of the pictures in your Crazy 8, then ask yourself why.
These sort of design sprint exercises are a great way to help formulate ideas, or to generate a high volume of diverse ideas in a very short amount of time. But remember that the effectiveness of this one lies in its ability to force creative thinking, bypass overthinking, and encourage a varied approach to problem-solving.
Go on, give it a go. You might surprise yourself.
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