The scissors and glue were stacked on top of the poster board, the furtive glances around the table showed an attitude of disbelief. Sitting in coats and ties, proper business attire, the assignment seemed curiously odd.

“Working in teams of three, you have two months to prepare a visual display and make a five minute presentation of what this company will look like in the marketplace five years from now. You are encouraged to lift articles from magazines, the internet, draw diagrams, take pictures, and create graphs. Those who use music in their presentation will be eligible for extra credit.”

During the past two annual planning meetings, we had struggled to extend our discussions beyond a 12 month time frame. There had always been lip service to the future, but no grit to the conversation.

Two months later, three stand-up poster board presentations were made that explored the probabilities of the industry, trends occurring with competitors and the influence of world economies. This was just the start of the dialogue, but we had managed over the hump of time travel and truly made it into the future. The leverage point was dramatizing the ideas.

Does your team get stuck in their own logic, unable to break out? Dramatize your ideas. It may be the turning point. -TF

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