We’ve all been involved in projects where a final report is generated to summarize the work. Often, these are lofty documents that look impressive — but end up being relegated to the shelf. There can be too much volume to digest, more text than anyone will read, or extraneous content just to make it look more valuable. The result is that no one looks at them after the initial presentation.
Contrast that with a summary prepared after a multi-month process of co-design to envision how to reduce racial disparity in a community. The document set the tone with the title Idea Book. Instead of being text-heavy, it told the outcomes through the eyes of a fictitious Johnson Family, using colorful graphics and stories to bring the results alive. For those who received it, the vision became tangible and the document itself served as an actionable road map instead of a dust collector.
If you are involved in creating a report to spur action — such as with a strategic plan or project proposal — adopt some of these lessons to leverage your work and allow it to galvanize the next steps. Crafting your work with the future in mind will help you actually achieve it.
(You can download or preview the book here: Idea Book: A New Future for Beloit Families. Source: A collaboration between Rock County, Wisconsin, Alia, and IDEO.org)
