Portfolio of Ideas

How to use this tool:

Revisit your Future Vision (tool 3 ) so that it is front of mind. You may also want to revisit your Root Cause Analysis (tool 5 ), to help you think about ideas at different levels of the system.

Individually, generate as many ideas as possible for five minutes. Write one idea per Post-it note.

In small groups, share your top five ideas:

Plot your ideas onto the template as you go, arranging them from micro to macro and from ideas that your team can lead to ones you need others to lead.

Allow time to build on each other’s ideas. Do not critique at this point. ‘Yes and…’ rather than ‘no but’..

As you discuss the ideas start to consider what their social, democratic, planetary and financial value might be (see our Design Value Framework).

Feedback in plenary to summarise your top ideas from each group.

What now?

Review your Portfolio of Ideas. Of the ones that your team or organisation can do, consider if there are any that you would like to build into your project plan. Are there any quick wins that you could implement without too much effort? Are there any bigger projects that require further conversation? Agree the simplest next steps for any of the ideas that you would like to take forward.

Of the ideas that are outside your remit, consider whether any of them could be implemented by an existing stakeholder within your ecosystem (refer to your Ecosystem Map, tool 4 ). Could you set up a conversation with them or share at a future campfire (refer to Deep Reflection, tool 7 )?

Agree the simplest next steps for any of the ideas that you could influence to happen.

Further resources

A Guidebook for Adopting Portfolio Approaches, UNDP