Today is a good day for taking stock of the present, gathering thoughts, making adjustments, and streamlining what should come next for your national opera, your photo lab, or your fashion brand. Grab our template or a piece of paper, invite your team for a productive conversation, and let the magic of "Keep, Drop, Start" operate!

"Keep, Drop, Start" encourages critical yet constructive thinking, helps evaluate what you have been doing so far, and facilitates the identification of new opportunities. By examining what should be retained, eliminated, and initiated, creative teams can drive progress in a shared and desired direction optimally.

1. Keep
First, rejoice in the victories by asking yourselves what is collectively deemed as successful, effective, or valuable. A self-appreciation minute won’t hurt. This step involves identifying the actions that have been working well so far. Hiring a coordinator has helped you focus on development, your fundraising efforts have paid off as you got your first sponsor, and investing in your marketing has doubled your sales: congratulations! List whatever you collectively want to preserve going forward: extend the coordinator contract and carry on with your fundraising and marketing efforts.

2. Drop
Now, time to troubleshoot. Touch upon obvious failures and mixed fortunes openly, yet broaden the conversation as well by wondering: what was it that has been tearing you away from your main mission? What used to be relevant but doesn’t excite the team anymore? What has been too demanding in terms of resources? What, even if not utterly bad, has hindered you from reaching your goals? Let go of your yearly festival if the festival-goers got bored, of your market participation if you have not sold enough ceramics to cover the expenses, and of one of your social media channels if you realize you have spread yourself too thin. Ineffective, outdated, or unnecessary actions should be eliminated to make room for fun and growth.

3. Start
Finish with a refreshing brainstorming session that shapes what is on the creative horizon. What are the new elements or practices that should be introduced to enhance your creative venture, bridge gaps, and bring you closer to your dreams? These can be innovative ideas, alternative approaches, or spotted best practices that can bring about improvement and a great bunch of motivation! Now may be the time for launching your wedding accessories collection, experimenting with VR performances, or organizing your first piano concert on the lake!

When playing at "Keep, Drop, Start" don’t fall into the common traps:

- Make sure that whatever is to be “Kept” is backed up by performance numbers and agreed on by the whole team.
- Don’t skip “Drop” - with constant resources, you will need to renounce a couple of things in order to free minds, skills, and focus on development.
- Don’t overdo “Create” - keep it in check and realistic based on the resources at your disposal.

To help you start off the conversation and strategic decision-making, we have prepared a ready-to-use “Keep, Drop, Start” template. Download it here.