Experimenting with Prototyping
Image Credit: Nir Him
Prototyping is a powerful way to experiment with real actions on something you hypothesize may be useful. Examples can come in many arenas of life: from the office to health or socializing or even taking baby steps with a new hobby.
I had a client who had climbed to a Director level role ahead of her peers. She was a go-getter and thrived on challenges. She was also an introvert and resisted the feedback she had received that it may be wise for her to network to build relationships outside of her immediate team if she hoped to build bridges and advance even further in the organization. After much thought and discussion about the pros and cons, she decided to experiment with committing to attending at least one work social each month. In keeping with the promise she had made to herself, she identified an upcoming Happy Hour and pushed herself to sign off on time to make it to the event on the other side of campus. While she reported feeling a bit uncomfortable there, she also shared with me the sense of victory she experienced in pushing herself and also mentioned surprise at realizing the impact that connecting with her peers made in the following weeks when they found themselves collaborating on a project.
Another leader chose to observe himself in meetings where he might typically dominate the conversation, bringing a notebook in which to jot down how long he was able to stay silent and listen to others’ input after the initial pleasantries before he really felt he must speak. He reflected that his team opened up and shared more about their progress and concerns on projects without his typical injections to quickly solve problems or propose a path forward, which ultimately led to his team becoming more independent and confident in their roles.
A year or two ago I was hoping to get back into journaling. A colleague of mine proposed a format called GLAD to follow at the end of each day, writing just one item for each category. G for one thing for which I’m grateful, L for one thing I learned that day, A for one thing I’d achieved and D for one thing in which I delighted! I used the GLAD prototype and have enjoyed its simplicity so much that I’ve stuck with it.
What’s an area of your life where you’d like to experiment with a prototype? In the next 10 minutes, identify three options for prototypes that you could try in the next two weeks, then choose one and give it a shot. The joy of prototyping is that it allows for quick pivots based on what you learn as you experiment.
Happy Prototyping!
How have you experimented with the power of prototyping?