Greenfield Scenarios
If you were starting from scratch, what would you do?
I once had a boss walk into my office, hand me a whiteboard marker, and say...
If you were to rebuild your department from the ground up, show me what it would look like.
What I learned later was this was a "Greenfield Scenario Exercise," whereby you attempt to start from scratch, abandoning preconceived notions and present constraints, to determine what an alternative, ideal state could be.
Once complete, you then compare it against your present reality to determine just how far off you are from what you'd build, if you had the chance to start anew.
It's an interesting exercise and sparks some great conversations.
Because so often the constraints of our present state are present in the way we think and approach our work.
And the way we did things yesterday will more-often-than-not seep into the way we'll do things today.
So the next time you're thinking about where you want to go, consider taking a minute to first think about where you are today.
And don't be shy about asking...
In a Greenfield Scenario, if I was starting from scratch, what would I do, how would I build it, and how is that different from where we actually are today?
About The Author
Seth is the founder and CEO of Kanahoma, a San Diego-based performance marketing agency on a mission to build a better agency for organizations building a better world.
You can learn more about who we are and what we do at www.Kanahoma.com.