#1 Data First
“You can achieve amazing progress if you set a clear goal and find a measure that will drive progress toward that goal. This may seem pretty basic, but it is amazing to me how often it is not done and how hard it is to get right.”
- Bill Gates, Annual Address 2013 The first step in solving a problem is to understand it deeply. We start every solution by capturing the data as real-time as possible.
#2 Goals as real world metrics
All journeys need a destination. The next step is to create a quantitative goal. The goal is developed from a meaningful metric that most clearly indicates the problem is 'solved'. Meaningful metrics might be goals such as 'to reduce waste to 100 kg per person per year' or 'reduce gasoline usage to 50 gallons per year'.
#3 Visualize the future
"If you want to build a ship, don't drum up people to collect wood and don't assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea."
- Antoine de Saint Exupéry, writer and aviator.
The secret ingredient of great leaders is vision. What will the world look like when this problem is solved? How will it work? What systems will it use? How beautiful could it be? We illustrate how this world will look, function and feel. The visualization becomes the guiding star that inspired the journey of change.
#4 / #5 Idea Storm & Evaluation
Harvest ideas from looking deep into your data. How do we get from here to there? Once the data is collected and the metric goal is established. We use the data (where we are now) and visualization (where we want to go) as the primary compass.This is where we unleash our imagination to brainstorm a cauldron of ideas solve the problem.
#6 Look at policy and the whole system for change
A problem usually requires government policy in order to reach its full potential for getting solved. We map out which policies would be most effective at solving the problem and what style of campaign is needed to have the highest potential of the policy being approved into law. Use data viz to support policy change.
#7 Behavior Mapping & Change
Once we have the data, we can isolate what behaviors need to be created, removed or enhanced in order to achieve the goal and then develop behavior change programs. The feedback of the data back to people is an essential component in motivating real change.
#8 Game designSaving the world should be fun, right? We implement game and motivational design features into the project to encourage the key behaviors that need to be changed to successfully solve the problem. Adding social competition and emotional rewards truly ignites the process of change.
#9 Tribes & Evangelists
All change is driven by powerful cultural movements. But all ideologies were once created. We use branding, media and social marketing to build passionately motivated tribes and evangelists who drive waves of change through their communities.
#10 Technology
Once the problem has been thoroughly assessed, we can determine what technology projects can be created to facilitate the achievement of the goal.
We create apps, games, data APIs and websites that the community needs to harness the drive we all have to solve the world's greatest problems - and make it fun.