Good for nothing

Moving from thinking to planning to implementing in 24 hours is a daunting but rewarding challenge. There's not a lot of time for deciding on a strategy it's more like setting off a creative spray gun. We spent too long on some things, too little on others, there were fraught moments and it didn't all turn out as we expected, but the energy was fizzing and by 5pm Saturday every group had produced some brilliant outputs. Here are few thoughts I've been mulling over on what makes this kind of exploit work now that the dust has settled.

• Map out skills and interests. In my group we kickstarted the day with a short session mapping out the various areas we thought the Good Gym could expand on with some associated actions. For example creating a web app to use data associated with the runs would require research, UX skills and some technical know how, while looking at different levels of engagement for runners was more of  a strategy and copy challenge. We then matched ourselves up with appropriate skills and areas of interest. It was a resolutely practical measure but it proved a quick and easy way to break down our group into better targeted teams.
• Think through doing. Ideas are just hot air if you can't articulate them. In this case the devil is in the talking but it's hard to dive straight into making something when you're not warmed up. Colliding making into thinking is one way to get around this. Think out ideas by sketching, mapping, prototyping and get into building them as soon as you can, even if it's just a simple hacked version.
• Work small, share fast. Luckily,  every large group naturally atomised into smaller working units as the day progressed.  But we all felt it was important to re-group at various intervals and sense check our ideas. Working in an unplanned context with no set agenda or pre-defined leader makes it harder to focus a large group. Given a second take, I'd recommend that we keep the big group sessions to 25 minutes, pomodoro style. In that time each team of 2 or 3 could present back on what they were doing and what they planned to do next. You could also nominate one person each time to take 5 minutes at the end to decide what the next steps should be.
• It's not about a big vision. If you start testing out your ideas early there's really no opportunity to to plug in a grandiose vision. While it can feel comforting to define that one unifying idea to push you through, each group seemed to find this organically by looking at the dominant strands that run through each of the organisations we were working with. It might have been a bit of surprise but even when we were working independently the same core themes still emerged.
• Not finishing is a bonus. It all got a bit rushed by the last 2 hours as the finishing line approached and a few last pieces in the puzzle came together too close to the wire. At first I was disappointed that we hadn't tied up all the loose ends but then I realised that not finishing is part of the party. It's what keeps the ideas and the energy running in your head long after the event is over and I hope we'll be able to convert some of that energy into doing more in future with the groups we worked with. On a more general note, not polishing your work up to too fine a degree also means you don't get too attached and are ready to take it apart to build something even better next time.

So what was it that made it so much fun? It can't just be the fact that we were using our skills 'for good'. Fresh faces, a lovely space and willing 'clients' who we were working with rather than for combined to create a palpable crackle of excitement throughout the day. On top of that, the freeform structure of the event was loose enough to set our pulses racing but supportive enough that we didn't slip into creative freefall.

A huge thanks to all 3 of the social enterprises who made this event work so well. I don't think this format could work without people who are passionate but also relaxed enough about their projects to set them loose on a load of people they've never met. And of course kudos and respect to the Pipeline Project for conceiving an awesome event and making it happen.

Credit for the amazing sketchnote goes to Scriberia.