Farm Odyssey – Use of Visualization Tools to Design a New Life on the Farm

Challenge

Growing up on a farm in Iowa 30 plus years ago, I never would have imagined taking an online course to  learn design concepts and tools that could be applied to reimagine the family farm, but here we are! The  presenting challenge is an aging father who is very set in his ways, and with good reason – he has done  extremely well with past farm methods and still loves his work at age 78. In fact, he feels that 114 years  on the farm is not out of reach. And being his only son, seeing him do these risky activities (like climbing  a grain bin and driving heavy equipment to town) with poor hearing and limited mobility has made me  realize it is time to design a new way of managing the farm.

Selection

To imagine this new way, I have decided to use visualization tools to help us see alternative paths  forward. During this Coursera course I came upon a book titled ‘Design Your Life’ by Dave Evans – a  Design instructor at Stanford University. In it he provides a wonderful visualization tool called the  Odyssey Planning Worksheet, along with some powerful questions for reflection. Both my dad and I are  very visual thinkers and enjoy exploring alternative options. As described in week 1 of the course,  visualization engages the right brain and can create a creative approach to imagining new opportunities

Application

The worksheets have yet to be reviewed with my father, but it is my goal to sit down with him after the  busy harvest season and visualize the opportunities. I have completed a draft version to confirm the tool  is appropriate for use, and identified the following process: The Odyssey Planning Worksheet will allow  us to visualize 3 different options to pursue: 1) continue the (very manual) current process of farming; 2)  collaborate with my cousin to contract some of the planting and harvesting activities; 3) rent the land  and sell the farm equipment.

With each alternative plan, the worksheet includes visual gauges to determine resources, likability,  confidence and coherence of the plan. The full link to the Odyssey Planning Worksheet can be found  here: http://designingyour.life/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/DYL-Odyssey-Planning-Worksheet-v21.

Insight & Approach

What I have learned from visual exercises in the past, and anticipate with this discussion, is that when  people have the ability to draw or see things in a worksheet they engage their creative side and become  less defensive about current thoughts or processes. I’ve seen this work time and again with project  teams at work and am excited to work together with my father on designing a new way forward - one  that limits his risk as an aging farmer and opens up new ideas for future investment and farm  management.

What I really appreciate about the Odyssey Planning Worksheet is that it combines an opportunity to  explore a few options and then visualize how confident we are with certain plans. It also provides a  rough draft timeline for key events that will need to happen along the way for each plan. It literally  places people ‘on the same page’ working collaboratively, generating a new future.

Design thinking can be applied to so many challenges, or ‘problemtunities’ as we have called them at  work. In this case, design thinking can be used to reimagine life on the farm but I also see now that  visualization is lacking in my life – I need more of it! At work as a project manager, I have realized  visualization tools can be used to facilitate many different team processes (timeline discussions, task  prioritization, team roles & responsibilities, etc). As a next action of this course I plan to expand on the  power of visualization by attending Dan Roam’s Napkin Academy. Who knows, maybe my future self  involves being a Black Belt Master of Visual Presentations consultant while working remotely from the  farm in Iowa!

