Priming a canvas prevents it from rotting. It also helps the paint adhere to the surface. In the PRIME phase, we do the strategic work upfront to ensure your idea has staying power. We set the direction and determine your idea’s urgency and complexity. We outline an initial plan acknowledging the work required to get your idea from concept to reality. The plan will vary from project to project but generally includes desired outcomes, potential barriers to success, blind spots, key collaborators, and early thoughts on how to scale your idea appropriately.

In the LAYER phase, we put our PRIME plan to the test utilizing impasto. Impasto is a painting technique that involves setting down thick coats of paint to create texture (think Van Gough or Pollock). Applying this technique to change management, we’ll discover by doing. This might look like running tightly scoped pilots of your idea in parallel to design sprints, pulling forward lessons learned to prepare for roadblocks, and shaking loose early adopters to the change. For writing projects, this looks like content outlines, book proposals, and rough drafts to build mature concepts, layered messaging, and surprising story connections. Like in painting, when applied strategically, these layers will produce the most compelling parts of your idea’s implementation.

With impasto, the thick layers of paint require sculpting to refine the form of a painting’s composition. Similarly, in the FORM phase of your idea’s implementation, we identify the layers of work that reinforce your idea’s desired outcomes. Then, we sculpt them. In change management, we formalize lessons learned from pilots into SoPs where appropriate, transition the outcomes of sprints to preparations for ‘Go Live,’ and use formal measurement tactics to assess idea adoption, process adaptations, and early success. For writing projects, we conduct final copy edits, share manuscripts with beta readers for objective feedback, and prepare to publish.

Art comes to life through the artist, but it doesn’t belong to the artist. Eventually, we let it go, even if it's from the easel to the walls of our own home. In the RELEASE phase, we systematically release your idea – to your organization or your audience – and observe its impact. For change management projects, we reinforce business process rituals to optimize organizational transformation through communities of practice, policies, and continuous learning opportunities. For writing projects, we publish your work and implement promotion and marketing tactics to garner readership and engagement. And then, like any good artist, we return to the canvas when the next idea hits.