Moustapha Santi	
   	
   Challenge	
   I	
   am	
   a	
   manager	
   at	
   a	
   university	
   of	
   applied	
   sciences.	
   Our	
   institute	
   of	
   technology	
   has	
   5	
   different	
   departments,	
   with	
   5	
   department	
   heads.	
   Together	
   with	
   the	
   director	
   of	
   the	
   institute,	
  the	
  financial	
  controller,	
  a	
  policy	
  adviser	
  and	
  a	
  HRM	
  policy	
  adviser	
  we	
  form	
  the	
   management	
  team	
  of	
  the	
  institute.	
  	
   	
   Our	
  challenge	
  was	
  to	
  establish	
  a	
  common	
  vision	
  and	
  ambition	
  for	
  our	
  new	
  long-­‐term	
   plan	
  for	
  the	
  institute.	
  We	
  also	
  wanted	
  to	
  become	
  a	
  stronger	
  team.	
  There	
  had	
  been	
  many	
   changes	
  in	
  the	
  management	
  team	
  and	
  most	
  of	
  the	
  time	
  we	
  do	
  our	
  job	
  independent	
  from	
   each	
   other.	
   We	
   have	
   a	
   two-­‐week	
   schedule	
   for	
   our	
   management	
   meetings.	
   Building	
   a	
   stronger	
  team	
  and	
  establishing	
  a	
  common	
  ambition	
  was	
  quit	
  a	
  challenge.	
  We	
  had	
  several	
   sessions	
  under	
  guidance	
  of	
  an	
  external	
  consultant.	
   	
   Selection	
  	
  	
   We	
   used	
   a	
   kind	
   of	
   visualization	
   tool	
   as	
   described	
   in	
   module	
   1.	
   To	
   avoid	
   endless	
   discussions,	
  we	
  were	
  looking	
  for	
  a	
  good	
  way	
  to	
  exchange	
  ideas	
  and	
  to	
  come	
  up	
  with	
  new	
   ideas	
   and	
   concrete	
   plans	
   quickly.	
   We	
   organised	
   a	
   few	
   management	
   meetings	
   and	
   we	
   decided	
  to	
  make	
  drawings	
  and	
  schemes	
  independent	
  from	
  each	
  other.	
  In	
  this	
  way	
  we	
   were	
   all	
   very	
   active	
   during	
   the	
   one-­‐day	
   sessions.	
   It	
   was	
   a	
   good	
   way	
   to	
   exchange	
   our	
   ideas	
  and	
  ambitions	
  and	
  was	
  very	
  helpful	
  to	
  understand	
  each	
  other.	
   	
   Application	
   We	
  used	
  large	
  white	
  sheets	
  of	
  paper	
  to	
  draw	
  on	
  and	
  express	
  our	
  personal	
  ideas.	
   We	
   started	
  with	
  making	
  a	
  drawing	
  of	
  our	
  own	
  private	
  and	
  family	
  life,	
  our	
  hobbies,	
  sports,	
   etc.	
   The	
   next	
   sheet	
   was	
   used	
   to	
   identify	
   the	
   strengths	
   within	
   the	
   team,	
   the	
   external	
   stakeholders,	
  etc.	
  Other	
  sheets	
  were	
  used	
  to	
  draw	
  the	
  ambition	
  for	
  our	
  own	
  department	
   and	
  the	
  institute.	
  In	
  these	
  sheets	
  we	
  expressed	
  our	
  ideas	
  for	
  the	
  future	
  and	
  how	
  we	
  want	
   to	
   offer	
   the	
   best	
   educational	
   programs	
   and	
   courses	
   and	
   attract	
   more	
   students	
   to	
   our	
   institute.	
   	
   In	
   each	
   round	
   we	
   presented	
   our	
   ideas	
   and	
   ambitions	
   to	
   the	
   rest	
   of	
   the	
   team.	
   During	
   these	
   sessions	
   we	
   started	
   to	
   know	
   each	
   other	
   better	
   and	
   got	
   a	
   better	
   idea	
   of	
   the	
   ambitions	
   each	
   of	
   us	
   had	
   for	
   his/her	
   department	
   and	
   for	
   the	
   institute.	
   During	
   the	
   sessions	
  a	
  kind	
  of	
  mutual	
  ambition	
  started	
  to	
  develop.	
   	
   Finally	
  a	
  sheet	
  was	
  used	
  to	
  write	
  down	
  common	
  problems,	
  themes,	
  challenges,	
  etc.	
  and	
   we	
  used	
  sticky	
  notes	
  to	
  vote	
  and	
  exchange	
  our	
  ideas	
  on	
  these	
  subjects.	
  	
   	
   The	
  external	
  mentor	
  photographed	
  all	
  sheets.	
  The	
  photos	
  were	
  collected	
  and	
  compiled	
   into	
  visual	
  records	
  of	
  the	
  meetings.	
  One	
  of	
  the	
  results	
  of	
  these	
  meetings	
  was	
  a	
  common	
   vision	
  and	
  ambition	
  for	
  our	
  institute.	
  A	
  white	
  board	
  animation	
  was	
  made	
  to	
  present	
  this	
   collective	
   ambition	
   to	
   the	
   other	
   staff,	
   colleagues	
   within	
   our	
   university	
   and	
   external	
   stakeholders.	
   	
   Insight	
  and	
  approach	
   During	
  the	
  years	
  I	
  have	
  made	
  a	
  few	
  long-­‐term	
  policy	
  plans.	
  The	
  result	
  of	
  this	
  session	
  was	
   better	
  and	
  took	
  less	
  time	
  then	
  other	
  sessions.

I	
  had	
  never	
  had	
  a	
  management	
  meeting	
  in	
  which	
  we	
  made	
  so	
  many	
  drawings	
  and	
  the	
   report	
   consisted	
   only	
   of	
   a	
   few	
   series	
   of	
   photographs.	
   Making	
   the	
   drawings	
   and	
   presenting	
  them	
  to	
  each	
  other	
  was	
  real	
  fun.	
  This	
  was	
  also	
  good	
  for	
  team	
  building.	
  	
   	
   Everybody	
  was	
  busy	
  during	
  these	
  sessions	
  and	
  it	
  was	
  an	
  effective	
  way	
  of	
  exchanging	
   ideas	
   and	
   developing	
   a	
   common	
   vision.	
   During	
   the	
   sessions	
   new	
   ideas	
   emerged.	
   The	
   visual	
  records	
  of	
  the	
  meetings	
  make	
  it	
  very	
  easy	
  to	
  look	
  over	
  the	
  results	
  again.	
  The	
  white	
   board	
  animation	
  was	
  a	
  great	
  success	
  and	
  I	
  have	
  been	
  using	
  it	
  many	
  times	
  to	
  explain	
  our	
   ideas	
  about	
  the	
  future	
  of	
  our	
  institute.	
  	
   	
   For	
   the	
   next	
   meeting	
   with	
   my	
   own	
   staff	
   and	
   team	
   I	
   am	
   planning	
   to	
   use	
   the	
   same	
   technique	
  again.	
  We	
  have	
  the	
  same	
  kind	
  of	
  questions	
  and	
  challenges	
  as	
  described	
  above.	
   In	
  my	
  own	
  team	
  we	
  have	
  had	
  a	
  few	
  changes	
  and	
  I	
  want	
  to	
  use	
  the	
  new	
  expertise	
  in	
  my	
   team	
  to	
  generate	
  some	
  new	
  ideas.	
  	
   	
   What	
  I	
  have	
  learned	
  is	
  that	
  the	
  visualization	
  tool	
  is	
  very	
  good	
  for	
  these	
  kind	
  of	
  sessions.	
   In	
   my	
   opinion	
   the	
   number	
   of	
   participants	
   has	
   to	
   be	
   limited;	
   if	
   there	
   are	
   too	
   many	
   participants	
  it	
  will	
  take	
  too	
  long	
  and	
  people	
  will	
  loose	
  attention.	
  The	
  next	
  time	
  I	
  will	
  ask	
   the	
   participants	
   to	
   prepare	
   themselves	
   more	
   and	
   make	
   them	
   more	
   aware	
   of	
   the	
   technique	
  that	
  will	
  be	
  used	
  during	
  the	
  session.	
  I	
  think	
  when	
  the	
  participants	
  are	
  more	
   prepared	
  and	
  familiar	
  with	
  the	
  tool,	
  it	
  can	
  be	
  even	
  more	
  effective.	
   	
   In	
  the	
  future	
  I	
  want	
  to	
  use	
  other	
  techniques	
  as	
  well,	
  but	
  for	
  now	
  this	
  tool	
  seems	
  to	
  be	
   most	
  suitable.

