C-PHASE PART THREE // 10-11-2020

Carlijn and I have had two sessions so far. In the first session, we focused on the Brand Identity and we went deeper into the mission, vision, values ​​, and strategy of Carlijn and The Impact Expedition. In the second session, we went deeper into the Brand Identity, but we mainly focused on the target group and the value-fit that can arise when the values ​​of the organization match the values ​​of the target group.

As I described in my last blog, Carlijn thought about a new brand name: Reconnect. However, the name Reconnect was not available as a domain name anymore on the internet. In the previous blog I mentioned that Carlijn doubted whether this is the right name. However, two weeks have passed and the name Reconnect still appeals to Carlijn. There is a good chance that this will be the name that Carlijn will build on.

C-PHASE II - EXPERIENCE DESIGN THEME DAY

This theme day was about the C-phase. In recent weeks we have focused on the brand identity, so more on the vision of the organization. This theme day was focused on the concept. By creating a vision you put the emphasis on the WHY, in the concept you go one step down the visionary ladder and emphasize the HOW. The concept provides a much clearer approach inspired by the vision. Concepts work towards the envisioned image and deal with getting people to become active. Concepts represent a more concrete formula, working principle, or approach. It is often formulated in such an appealing narrative way, like a one-liner, that stakeholders feel attracted to it. 

During the theme day of the C-phase II, the Impact Expedition was central. The second expedition was of course supposed to take place in Nepal, but the world had different plans for us. This detour comes with some (valuable) new challenges and we were beyond excited to collaborate with the students joining the theme day and explore the infinite possibilities for the future of The Impact Expedition. Because in the first two sessions Carlijn and I already focused on the vision, mission, values, strategy, and target group of the Impact Expedition, Carlijn was now able to share this with the group so that they could take this into account when creating a concept. I did share the vision, mission, values, and strategy already in the previous blog. The post materialists mentality group was the outcome from our last session, the target group Carlijn felt good about. She created a persona based on our last session and incorporated the two mentality groups that most appeal to her.

BRAINSTORM SESSION

Time to (re)shape the story! In the morning the students gathered the necessary theory to put this into practice in the afternoon. Angelica came up with the assignments for the brainstorm session in advance and I agreed with facilitating the brainstorm session. I made sure that all the necessities were present for the afternoon program (in addition to the photos that Angelica would bring). We created three groups of five people by means of a ‘putting shoes together’ way. The content of the brainstorm session was as follows:

Every group got three pictures. They could not decide which pictures to get, but they could decide which category they wanted to get the pictures. The categories were location, nature, entertainment, themes, and object. The assignment that the students had to do with these photos was called visual linking. They didn't get the three photos all at once, but one after the other. They had to put the picture in the middle of a big, white paper. For each photo, they had (only) three minutes to associate on the picture and write down everything they could think of. These were things that they could actually see in the image, but I also challenged them to think deeper about, for example, values ​​and metaphors. This assignment was about quantity: there was no right or wrong, everything that came to mind could be written down. During this first assignment, diverging was central. This assignment is the summary of the A-phase, which they could take with them to the B and C phase. After this first assignment, I asked the groups to turn clockwise to the table next to them. It was time to underline the most important words. I did not give them a maximum of words to underline; I just asked them to underline the words they thought could be valuable to bring to the B and C phase. After this, the groups turned one more time, clockwise, to the table next to them. Now it was time to make a top five of the most important underlined words. These are the best conclusions and/or golden nuggets. 

Eventually, the groups ended up with their original papers. The groups have decided for each other what are the most important words, the golden nuggets. Both the results of the brainstorm session, the information that Carlijn had given, and the theory that Angelica discussed in the morning, could be used to create the concept. We mentioned that it would be interesting if a one-liner could be created and maybe even a molecule model. I also handed out some magazines for inspiration and to create a mood board. Ultimately, the intention was that each group would pitch its concept briefly.

The content of the session was already set, but I added a few factors myself. I decided it would be interesting if the groups would switch tables. In this way, the groups would determine for each other the most important words that were written down. Once you have written down many words, it can be difficult to determine which ones are the most important. When others look at the words, they may have a completely new and creative input and insights. By letting the groups determine the most important words for each other, you open up worlds that may not have existed before. This is clearly reflected in the concept of group three, which I will come back to in detail later in this blog. The same applies to magazines. I always like it when I can visualize my thoughts. That's why I arranged magazines for this session and handed them out when they had to create the concept. The groups could use these magazines for their mood boards, but also to find inspiration. It has paid off, especially for groups two and three. I will also reflect on this more extensively later on. 

CONCEPT GROUP 1

Although it was valuable to facilitate the brainstorm session during this theme day, it is even more interesting and valuable for me to reflect on the concepts created. Every group had a few minutes of time to pitch their concept. 

Group one created the concept ‘Your Story’. Every letter from the word ‘story’ stands for a word connected to the Impact Expedition: Self Development, Togetherness, Orientation, Real Experiences, and Yourself. Because the Impact Expedition can’t take place the way it normally does, the participants will get a book to write their own story in 21 days. In phase one, the participants will receive an empty book and an introduction letter. Every day, 21 days long, participants will get a challenge to do from home. To stay in contact with others, a group chat is created to carry out some challenges together and keep each other updated. In phase two a program will be posted on a platform that everyone can follow. Challenges and activities will be posted over here, according to the needs of the Impact Expedition and/or participants. An example of an activity: cook together a dish from home, with your camera or webcam on. Every participant has a part of the recipe. They need each other to complete the recipe and cook a dish together. In phase three you read your story again and look back on the 21 days of vacation at home. There were some things that stood out to us/me when listening to the pitch of this group:

• For some people, it could be a barrier to join for example yoga classes alone, but if you know you are going to follow them together, the chance may be bigger that people come and experience the value of it. The same applies to the cooking activity this group came up with: people need each other to cook a dish, so they have to come together (online). I like the different possibilities to come together in a way and be co-creative. 

• The story element was already an important factor of the Impact Expedition in Nepal, to write your thoughts and experiences down. So I think it could be very valuable to include this ‘ingredient’ also in the new concept of the Impact Expedition. 

• What also struck me about the concept, was the way they formulated this concept. They did not look to Corona as a problem, but they looked for opportunities in times of Corona. They looked at what is already there, so be appreciative. Your home is there and it will always stay there. What can you do with that? They have responded well to this situation. 

• They did not create a molecule model, but there were some key ingredients that they mentioned: self-development, sharing, co-creation, self-awareness, community, and location independence. Normally ‘location independent’ is not a key ingredient that you should include in the molecule model, but in this case, it was important to include due to the situation where we are in. 

• They did create a one-liner: Your story. If you play a bit with that, you get (Y)our story. Then it becomes even more powerful. Especially because the Impact Expedition is focused on creating a community with the people involved. 

• I see some deeper layers: it is not only about the story of the expedition, but the story of life. Give your own direction, make your life (more) meaningful. 

CONCEPT GROUP 2

Based on the information the groups had gathered about the Impact Expedition, group two was able to create a molecule model. The words they came up with and implemented in their concept were a safe space, community, personal growth, contribution to society, and adventure. They didn't want to change too much to the existing concept, because they noticed that Carlijn is very passionate about her current concept. That is why group two has chosen to change the Impact Expedition to an online version. 

Self-development & contributing to society are also central to our study, Social Innovation. Since the online platform Teams works well for us, this could also be a useful tool for Carlijn's new concept. The one-liner where they came up with: "Looking at the world through different webcams''. The Teams environment will be called "Impact Expedition" and the channels can be called for example "challenges" or "societal contributions". In these channels, you can have discussions, apply to participate in a challenge or (online) creative session, and work together on particular skills like personal and/or collaborative growth. It doesn't all have to be too serious; you can also organize activities that are attractive to a large group of people. Stay connected with your target group in a certain way. 

Group two also thought about the possibilities after Corona; this platform can still be used after Corona. Through this platform, you can connect and keep in touch with different people from different countries. In this way, people with the same interest can continue to meet each other without being physically present together. Some things that were striking about this concept:

• After the pitch we were wondering about the practical side of this concept: were they planning to do a weekly kind of event, monthly, every now and then, or was it meant to be a ‘once in a lifetime’ experience? After asking them, they explained that they were thinking of organizing it once a week and repeating it each week. So for example, the community can work on a societal challenge every Friday or participate in a yoga class every Wednesday. However, the platform itself can be an ongoing thing; you can post interesting articles, react to experiences from others, etc. That is what I like about this concept and what could be interesting for Carlijn: a platform like Teams that can stimulate sustainable engagement between the different users of the platform. A platform where things go on, on a continuous basis and try to trigger people. This group actually combined the E, D, and C phases in one concept. I like the concept; a concept to keep in mind when starting with my E-phase, creating an engagement platform.

• For Carlijn, as a company, this concept could be a good opportunity to create a sustainable relationship with the participants. So instead of ‘just’ going to Nepal, it can be interesting to connect with each other on a sustainable basis. That is something Carlijn is really striving and looking for; creating a lasting bond. A way to combine each other's strengths and perspectives and build on that. Especially in this pandemic, it could be valuable to have a community where you can always return to. 

• The one-liner, looking at the world through different webcams, was not a one-liner that immediately appealed to me when hearing it for the first time. I do not know why it did not appeal to me, maybe because the one-liner was a bit long. However, I like that they have responded to the situation. Because people are indeed looking at the world through webcams when they come together via Teams. Yet this one-liner limits you maybe to online-only, but it depends on the final concept to what extent this one-liner will fit. With a bit of imagination and shuffling the words, I think this one-liner could be interesting to keep in mind.

• This group used the magazines that I handed out. I was happy to see that the magazines actually functioned as a source of inspiration, mainly for groups 2 and 3. 

CONCEPT GROUP 3

Group 3 made great use of storytelling; they created a story around their concept. We all start in our ‘shells’. Eventually, we crack out of our ‘shells’, but we are still in our ‘Nest’. Especially during this time of Corona, we can not easily leave our nest, even though we want to spread out our wings. So instead of focusing on spreading our wings and going somewhere else, this concept is focusing on strengthening our wings. This group based their concept on the molecule model they have created. They started with the word ‘connection’ in the middle. Around this word, they wrote down history, rustic, wisdom & bird watching. Underneath their concept, they created some products. 

The main product is kind of a platform as well. The expedition, how it is organized now, is not possible. For some people, it could be too long as well. So why not create a platform where people can step in whenever they want, and step out whenever they want? This platform will be called ‘the Nest’. Next to that, it is more personalized than the current expedition; people join with their own mentality, their own experiences, and their own interests. That is the reason they have chosen ‘rustic’ and ‘history’ in their molecule model; with rustic they mean the rustic feelings people have and with the history they mean the things people experienced in the past. Next to that, they choose connection, wisdom, and bird watching. This is how they want to connect all the individuals to other companies and organizations and let them work for example on societal challenges. 

So actually doing what the Impact Expedition was already doing, but then closer to home. It will be a combination of online and offline; if you want to join this expedition, you can create a personal profile on the platform. You can do that as a person, but you can also do that as a company. Based on your interest, you will get a ‘route’. This route brings you for example to interesting companies, beautiful in-, and outside places, or to someone else who shares the same interests. It is even possible to connect Airbnb’s to it, so you can follow a ‘one week route’. The idea behind this is: strengthen your wings by collecting wisdom, develop yourself, and create connections between the different organizations you will visit and the societal challenges you will work on. It is possible to follow a route alone or together, what the participants prefer. 

This can be in The Netherlands, but this platform can also be a way to stay in connection with internationals who share the same interests. So you can learn from each other and create a community around the different interests ‘routes’. When Corona is over, you can share the interest ‘routes’ and even follow an interest ‘route’ in another country and meet people with the same interests. 

What was striking to me about this concept, is that the narrative of this concept was very strong in our opinion; ‘strengthen your wings’ and ‘the Nest’ means finding a sort of home in yourself and experiencing how important that is. Later on, you can fly out and discover the outside world in combination with your own personal interests. I like the elements they used, especially because they used the words from the visual linking assignment. Bird watching was one of the most important words they underlined. This group decided to build a concept around the most important words underlined. In the first instance, you may think: ‘what have the words bird watching to do with the Impact Expedition?’. By using your imagination, creativity, really trying to see the value of random words, they came up with this concept. They used 'bird watching' as a strong metaphor, something that really appealed to me. This group is the perfect example of trying to use external inspiration by creating a concept; they looked for the deeper layers and saw the purpose of the visual linking assignment. The concept speaks to your emotion; it triggers you to feel something. Next to that, they used the magazines and the molecule model to visualize the concept. Although the concrete experience was not completely clear yet, they created a great basis for a concept. 

FINAL CHOICE

Carlijn ultimately opted for the concept of group one. She clearly found it a difficult choice; she hesitated between the concept of group one and group three. She eventually opted for group one, because the concept of group one was already more concrete and several ingredients were already included. Although I didn't want to influence Carlijn too much in her choice, I had personally chosen the concept of group three. Their concept may not have been fully worked out yet, but they proved that you can actually create a concept by being creative and using your imagination. In my opinion, group three was the group that thought out-of-the-box. They have used the words ‘bird watching’ from the visual linking assignment to shape their concept. Although the concept was not yet concrete, they worked out the basics so well and creatively. As far as I am concerned, they created the best concept: they made a one-liner, created a molecule model, and an appealing title for the concept. These three facets fit together perfectly. I see it as an advantage, that this concept has not yet been made concrete: you can still play with the interpretation of the concept, but the basis is there.

Afterward, I told Carlijn which group I would have chosen and why. Carlijn indicated that she felt more for the concept of group three but nevertheless went for group one because it was already more concrete. Yet I noticed that Carlijn was not sure about her choice. She indicated that this time she listened to her head, although normally she would listen to her feelings. She had the feeling she might have made the wrong choice. The choice had been made, she had to accept that, but I indicated that this is not a definitive choice; she could use any of these concepts if she wants. She does not have to choose one of the concepts to work out, but she could also combine different parts of the different concepts. In any case, Carlijn has some input for her new concept.