The Art of the Start

Writing down daily, weekly, or monthly intentions is a crucial part of setting yourself up for success, but it’s also helpful to establish intentions at the beginning of a project.

First, it’s important to clarify what “intention” means and how it differs from goal setting. Intention is a broader, more directional aspect of goal setting; goals help you meet an intention. For example, you may have the intention of inspiring leadership in your company, so you establish a goal of creating a leadership program for top performers.

Setting an intention for a project begins with clearly understanding and framing the problem that you are trying to solve. It requires true collaboration, where everyone affected has a chance to voice their thoughts and be heard. This deep collaboration takes time in the planning stages but pays off when you dig into a project.

So, how exactly do you go about setting intentions for a project? Here are some helpful ways to start:

Start With a Buy-In Mindset

Having decision makers and stakeholders at the table can have a positive impact on engagement and buy-in as the project progresses. It’s often critical that stakeholders represent the audience and decision makers.

Co-create a plan, such as a blueprint, that serves as a guide for the project. When we start with a multi-level, cross-functional team, buy-in happens the moment people see their ideas in the blueprint. While not every idea will be adopted, this process creates deep alignment and ultimately investment.

Finally, focus on what’s going well when setting an intention. It can be easy to focus on what’s going wrong, but focusing on elements that are working provides an easier way to build momentum and create additional buy-in.

Embrace Time as a Constraint

Time constraints can be an asset. Constricting the time spent on initiating a project can help spur creativity and limit outside distractions.

Consider blocking time for deep collaboration. Think about the type of collaboration that occurs when a group is in a room together for a few hours versus in one meeting per week for eight to 12 weeks. The impact of meeting in person over a longer period doesn’t match meeting in short bursts. Why? Momentum supports successful collaboration.

Pursue Progress Over Perfection

Embracing progress, not perfection, is crucial. Complex challenges don’t have a single, perfect answer. They’re often multivariant, so seeking perfection can delay a project start. Look for ways to quickly test and pilot ideas. When you hear from the market—a client, consumer, employee, or teammate—it’s much easier to incorporate feedback and improve the idea.

Start With an Intention Framework

The Igniter and the D3 Accelerator are tangible ways to quickly jumpstart initiatives with intention. The Igniter is a very short, focused burst of activity with a variety of stakeholders. Its purpose is to provide lift and direction. Because this method is brief—it doesn’t exceed two days—if you don’t like where you land, you haven’t lost much time. It helps test how well you’ve framed a problem and the feasibility of an idea.

The D3 Igniter helps enable discovery, define success measures and guardrails, and iterate through the design of a project blueprint. Sometimes as a blueprint comes to life, you need to revisit the discovery and define stages. The D3 process, which lasts four weeks, is iterative and fractal, both immensely important for the speed at which you can progress and the comprehensiveness of the project.

Both methods rely on deep collaboration, a highly skilled facilitator, and the two critical mindsets mentioned earlier. Whether you start with a framework or pave your own way, taking the time to identify your intention will go a long way in bringing your initiative to life. To learn more about how you can leverage the power of an intentional start through a D3 Accelerator or Igniter, drop us a line at [email protected] and let us know what initiative you’d like to accelerate.