A visual to help with planning for the new year…Less? Same? More? What if…?

January 17, 2017

MAY 2021 update

4 years ago we shared a post with a visual by the fabulous Lynne Cazaly entitled Less, Same, More. It was written in the context of taking time out to consider for the year ahead – What do we want to pay more attention to? What do we want to be the same? What do we want to stop? What do we want to start?

Given (hopefully!) the majority of us are approaching the latter end of the ‘lock down’ phase and ‘work from home orders’ are lifting, these questions are just as – and perhaps even more relevant – when we think about how we want to shape the ‘re-entry’ stage. Check out the post below and consider how you might use these questions to start re-imaging a future captures the best of all the different ways of working we have lived over the recent future. You might also consider some of these questions:

What things have we learnt about in recent months / this year that inform us about what we want in the future?

What has surprised us about what we didn’t need / didn’t miss?

What strengths did we discover that we didn’t know we had?

What have we discovered about the way we work that we want to bring with us?

What should we be leaving behind?

ORIGINAL POST – 2017

For many of us, the lead up to the end of the year, and the Christmas season can be a hectic one! Some of us are desperately trying to knock off those remaining ‘end December’ items off the ‘to do’ list. And those lucky enough to have a break, look forward to emptying the brain, being kinder to the body, and replenishing the soul!

We like to start the new year reflecting on the successes of the last, and thinking about how we can make the new year ahead an even better one. What do we want to pay more attention to? What do we want to be the same? What do we want to stop? What do we want to start?

We recently came across a post by Lynne Cazaly, a ‘keynote speaker, author and mentor’ who also happens to create some amazing visuals that ‘help people distil their thinking, apply ideas and innovation and boost the engagement and collaboration effectiveness of teams!’ Her pre-Christmas newsletter shared a simple yet powerful visual template called ‘Less Same More’, which presents a really creative way to explore the ‘stop, start, continue’ concept’.

As Lynne writes, “What do you want more, less or the same of…?

LESS: stop or drop this stuff. Wind back, remove and reduce it.
SAME: keep on truckin’, keep going, keep moving with this stuff.
MORE: ramp it up, do more of this, get or have more of this.

This is about you – what do you want less, same or more of in your life, in your work. It can relate to anything at all. “

And in the corner you’ll see the image representing innovation and possibility…

and…how about this?

What if…? Imagine if we…? I wonder what would happen if…?

So how might you use a visual like this?

Maybe this could become your personal plan on a page for career and personal development?
Perhaps this could be a way to start a ‘retro’ and/or a conversation about what the team wants to pay attention to over the next 6-12 months? (Perhaps it could become your simplified team plan on a page?)
It could possibly be where you capture your thinking around your personal 2017 wellbeing goals?
Maybe it could help you ‘keep’ your New Year’s resolutions?!
Or when reviewing your DiA Leadership action plan, create a one page visual to keep you on track?

It is critical to make time for reflection – and for planning. This tool is a great one to help make these things happen.

Want to know more?

Click here to see Lynne’s website.

Info Graphic, Visual Story