Challenge: Creating a vision 2020 for an NGO.

This assignment to create a vision 2020 for an NGO (Non-Government Organization) that supports  Education of underprivileged children in India in the city of Bengaluru.

This organization came together ten years back when a couple of members of a family founded  the NGO and were joined by interested friends who decided to come together for a noble cause.  They decided they will stay small, manage about 50 children and provide funding for their  education. There was no formal structure or vision and mission. Today, ten years hence, the  organization has grown and has about 15 volunteers, about 50 individual sponsors, the number of  children has grown from 50 to 80, besides funding the school fee, the NGO has adopted a couple  of village schools to support with infrastructure and teachers. They have also launched a  behavioral skills program for children focused on personality and confidence building,  communication and public speaking skills.

The challenge is now to set a clear vision and direction for the NGO for the year 2020 so all  volunteers are aligned to a common vision and their efforts channelized to create maximum impact  for the children.

Selection: I was given the task of helping the team come together and create a common vision for  2020. Since the group of 15 volunteers is quite diverse in educational qualifications, experience,  age, skill sets, it was important for me to help the group arrive at a common vision by being  involved in the co-creation of the vision 2020 instead of passing it down to what the founders  (family members) thought it should be.

I decided to use two design tools for this process

1. Mind Mapping  2. Visualization

The rationale for Mind Mapping was to capture what each volunteer has in their minds, what they  value and what’s the driving factor for them to continue to volunteer. It would also give insights on  common themes and patterns that will help to evolve a best possible shared vision for the group  collectively. This way the group feels fully engaged in the activity having been part of building the  vision. This also ensures greater ownership for the vision and therefore ensuring that volunteers  continue to stay engaged motivated and their efforts are guided towards a common higher  purpose. The visualization technique was used at different stages of workout session, to show  some of the best in class organizations and their vision statements, it was also used when  participants started to build their charts for a common vision.

Application: As Marian Moore described in her video when talking about Mind Mapping - the  analogy of holding a yard sale, I used the same concept.

Workout session: I decided to invite all participants to a half a day workout session.  After explaining the objectives and outcomes, I gave them exercises to capture the  individual thinking (what is and what if) on Current state and Vision 2020 for NGO.

Engagement: Then I grouped them into three groups and asked them to first share and  then draw their collective picture of NGO in its Current state (what is) on a large chart  paper pasted on the wall and also draw out Future state as they imagine it to be (what

if). They could draw, write, paste pictures, use data. Some of the questions they referred  to while building their charts were

1. What have we accomplished?  2. Who benefits?  3. Our most inspiring purpose?  4. What problems are we solving?  5. What do we actually do? And want to do?  6. What do want to be known for?

The group really engaged and enjoyed this building of the mind map.

Gallery Walk: Once they were done building their charts. I requested the group to do a  gallery walk and see all the charts on the wall. Look for what stands out, what resonates  and what are some common themes and patterns emerging.

Capture Insights: The group was then asked to present their respective charts and  participants listening were asked to look for and note down common themes and  patterns, what resonated with them etc. By the end of this activity we could tell clearly  the themes emerging, things that were meaningful to the entire group, qualities we  wanted to be known for etc and a direction started to emerge for NGO’s Vision 2020.  Some examples of common words and themes were as follows:

Common words: Quality, transformation, Build Brides, Creating Opportunities

Common themes: Educate India, Build Bridges, Transform Lives, Holistic Development.

Insight: The use of Mind Mapping as a design thinking technique really helped in understanding  what’s out there, what’s going on in the minds of volunteers and crystalizing their thinking into  some common themes that will determine NGO’s vision 2020.  Visualization technique was fun,  action oriented, got all volunteers to get very involved and contributing to the discussion. The idea  of having each group present their thought also helped in taking ownership for what they were  committing to as a team.

Approach: Next time, I when using the mind mapping technique, I would use some more thought  provoking, challenging, open ended questions to help people broaden their view and deliberate  more on the issue at hand. In visualization technique, I can use more tools for visualization like get  participants to build what their idea will look like using props like Lego toys, color sticky notes. I will  also take this approach and apply it to my next open workshop on Leading with Emotional  Intelligence and building resilience.

The next steps for this NGO is to present the outcome of this workout session and key  themes to an annual event where all stakeholders will be present (Children, their Parents,  Donors and Sponsors and Volunteers).

While there are clear themes, the group will need a follow up meeting to crystalize all insights into  a definite Vision 2020 statement.

