Imagine Your CU as a Major Cover Story

In Gamestorming: A Playbook for Innovators, Rulebreakers and Changemakers,  a new book by Sunni Brown, Dave Gray and James Macanufo, the authors toss aside the old argument that creativity is an innate gift. Creativity, they argue, is not only a product of repetition and hard work, but also an essential skill in today's "complex, dynamic, competitive knowledge economy." In a world of innovation and rapid development, we must all, to some extent, be creative.

Gamestorming is a two-part book. The first half breaks down a kit of tools employed by creative workers, defining the most basic concepts behind games that can be employed to stimulate the creative process. The second half is an anthology of games already used by successful creative companies, especially those in Silicon Valley, where innovative concepts "cross-pollinate like bees in a single massive hive."

The game Cover Story is about "pure imagination,” the authors write. "The purpose is to think expansively around an ideal future state for the organization; it's an exercise in visioning. The object of the game is to suspend all disbelief and envision a future state that is so stellar that it landed your organization on the cover of a well-known magazine.

The players must pretend as though this future has already taken place and has been reported by the mainstream media.

"This game is worth playing because it not only encourages people to 'think big,' but also actually plants the seeds for a future that perhaps wasn't possible before the game was played."

Try Cover Story with a team of leaders at your credit union, and email lisa@cues.org with your results. For more creative exploration, join Sunni Brown Ink representative Stacy Weitzner as she facilitates three or four gamestorming sessions at CUES' CEO/Executive Team Network in November at Amelia Island, Fla.

Kait Vosswinkel is a CUES editorial intern.