The Headline of the Future: A Creative Exercise to Build Your Team’s Vision
A few days ago, my team and I gathered for a strategic workshop to shape the future of our Customer Education Program.
In the past few months we all had tons of long weeks and a very heavy workload. My goal as a leader was to get them out of the daily operations, to make them dream, and make them see the future from a different light.
To get this dynamic going, I used a technique for visionary thinking: the “Headline of the Future”. 📰
If you’re a manager or team leader, this could be an easy-to-use activity that anybody can facilitate to get their teams out of the ordinary.
Let me walk you through how it works, why it’s so effective, and how you can bring this exercise into your next team meeting to get the bold, creative, and impactful ideas your team needs. I am also attaching the activity card from my latest book "The Complete Team Activities Toolkit" if you would like to implement it with your team:
Why Vision Matters
Vision often feels vague, but we all know that it’s critical to guiding your team’s focus. How do you know what you need to prioritise if you don't know where you are going? How do you keep people engaged if you can't show them the dream outcome at the end of their daily challenges?
That’s where “Headline of the Future” comes in.
This exercise asks your team to step into the future and imagine what success looks like. The question we posed to our team was:
“What do you want people to read about your program in two years?”
This isn’t just any future headline—it’s a bold, aspirational statement. The goal is to get people thinking beyond just survival mode and into what their best-case scenario would be. It literally is writing the front-page news about your team’s future success. ✨
How to Run the “Headline of the Future” Activity
Here’s how you can introduce and facilitate this exercise in your own workshops. It’s simple but incredibly effective for sparking creative thinking.
Step 1: Introduce the Activity
Start by explaining the purpose to your team. You’re not just brainstorming here—you’re shaping the narrative of your team’s future success. Set the tone by giving examples of visionary headlines like, “How [Your Company] Revolutionized Customer Education” or “The Product That Transformed Team Collaboration in 2026.”
Step 2: Frame the Challenge
Split your team into small groups (3-4 people works well). Their task is to craft a headline that would appear on a major media outlet (think Forbes, Harvard Business Review, or Fast Company) two years from now. The headline should capture a major achievement that their project, program, or team has reached.
Make it real. Encourage them to focus on outcomes, not just activities. For example, instead of “Our Team Hit All Their Goals,” try “How [Your Team] Doubled Customer Engagement Through Innovative Education.”
Step 3: Craft the Story
Once the group has their headline, the next step is to flesh out the story behind it:
• What’s the major impact?
• How did the team get there?
• What were the challenges we overcame?
• What did the team do differently?
Encourage them to think in terms of impact, not just milestones. Did the project improve customer satisfaction? Did it save costs? Did it launch a transformational feature? These details help turn their headlines into something that feels achievable and inspiring.
Step 4: Visualize It
One of the most creative aspects of this exercise is that teams can bring their ideas to life visually. Ask them to sketch or describe a mockup of the front page—complete with images, sidebars, or even quotes from stakeholders. You want them to feel and see the success, not just imagine it.
Insider Tips to Make This Work for Your Team
Running this activity is straightforward, but here are a few do’s and don’ts to make it more powerful:
| Do | Don't |
|---|---|
| Encourage bold thinking Remind your team that there are no limits. This is their opportunity to dream big. | Avoid vague outcomes |
| Keep it realistic (ish) While you want to encourage ambition, steer away from completely unrealistic goals. It should be something aspirational yet achievable within a few years. | Don’t rush it Give your team enough time to think deeply about their vision and create a compelling story. |
| Get specific The more detailed the headlines and stories are, the more valuable this exercise becomes. Challenge teams to go beyond buzzwords and dig into the specifics of what makes their success stand out. | Don’t let the conversation get stuck in the present |
The Power of Shifting Perspective
There’s a reason this activity works so well. Our daily operations often limit our thinking. We can get stuck in patterns, doing things the way we always have. The “Headline of the Future” activity shakes your mind up because it forces your brain to create a new narrative. Instead of just focusing on what’s directly in front of you, you’re telling the story of success—something that’s both motivating and creatively freeing. ✨
This frame takes your mind out of survival mode, where we tend to think in small, incremental steps. Instead, it makes space for big leaps, without worrying about the present.
Final Thoughts: Make It Actionable
Once the activity is over, don’t stop there. Use the insights from the discussion to guide your team’s planning and priorities for the next few months. Get closer to the present by revisiting those headlines—ask, “What do we need to do this quarter to start making that headline a reality?”
Vision starts by dreaming big but becomes a reality when you transform those dreams into concrete goals. And the “Headline of the Future” activity gives you a way to make those dreams feel real, actionable, and most importantly, achievable.
What I love most about this activity is that you don't need any specific training, or psychology background to run it. It's accessible to anyone and you can implement it straight away. Give it a try and drop me a line to share how it went!
