Day 13: What If You Do Nothing (Different)?
Divide the page into 2 columns. In the 1st (headed Current Situation): Jot down characteristics of the current state of things (around your situation/challenge from day 12). What's good? What's bad? What are the problems and challenges that are making this a situation you're interested in navigating and shifting? In the 2nd column (headed Default Future Situation): jot down what is likely, if you (your team/org/etc.) do nothing different (the default)? What's good, that likely remains true? What does inertia and entropy and trends suggest is likely? You might notice, if you are familiar with Jabe Bloom’s Ideal Present Canvas, that we are doing the top row of the canvas:
Template: Ideal Present Canvas by Jabe Bloom
Optional if you have time and want to do more: move to the Ideal Future quadrant, before the Ideal Present Quadrant
As usual, reserve some time to step back and reflect on insights and questions that are emerging.
“Knowing what to keep is just as important as knowing what to change.”
— Esther Derby
“We have also come to realize that no problem ever exists in complete isolation. Every problem interacts with other problems and is therefore part of a set of interrelated problems, a system of problems“ “English does not contain a suitable word for "system of problems. Therefore, have had to coin one. I choose to call such a system a mess.” '
— Russell L. Ackoff, Redesigning the future, 1974