Once people are agreed on the need to change, your next task is to help them to think how they could do things differently. This stage is all about being creative, having fun and exploring possible future states in a safe environment. Following the decision to change in Disengage, many of your stakeholders will be feeling excited and enthusiastic at this stage. If they have seen the impact in Disengage of the input they provided as part of Joint Diagnosis, they should also be feeling empowered. Some people will be keen to start making changes straight away; others will be feeling concerned about what the future holds or keen to lobby for a particular solution from the start.

Your activity in this phase will focus on establishing creative and non-judgemental situations in which lots of new ideas are generated. You need to ensure that everyone’s voice is heard and that people feel confident and comfortable in expressing their thoughts. Many suggestions will have been put forward during Joint Diagnosis, so check that these feed into any work at this stage. You are more likely to come across conflict in this stage as people set out what can be competing alternatives and you can use the tools in this section to ensure you manage that conflict in a positive and constructive way.

If you omit this stage, you might miss out on some amazing ideas and not make the change in the best way. If they are not given this chance to put their ideas forward, you will probably find that people put their ideas forward later, after another option has been chosen. It can be disruptive to have competing versions of the future in circulation.