Play with Structure

This worksheet (PDF) is the closing exercise in Chapter 6 of How to Make Sense of Any Mess

This is less of an exercise and more of a crib sheet to remind you of the various types of taxonomies that are at your disposal when making structural choices in whatever medium you are working in. 

Allowing your content to try on a structure you believe to be bad or wrong can be helpful.

When we determine what something won’t be, we often reveal a little more about what it will be.

Why is this important?

Because, the way you organize things says a lot about you. But the process of deciding how to organize things should be a place to explore options. If you feel yourself too tied to your initial idea, take this crib sheet and reimagine it in another form. 

When to use this…

• As a reminder when making choices about the way things are structured

Level Ups, Bonus Points, Brownie Points, Nerd Snipes

• Explore more than a single option: This might sound obvious but I am still shocked how many people just go from the first idea. I invite you to really challenge yourself to actually consider at least two ways to structure things. Detail each out to the same level and assess the pros and cons of each approach. Allow yourself to be surprised by the result

Turn it into a visioning exercise with your team: Put together time for your team to reimagine something as a new type of structure or organizing principle.