One team, one charter.

Before a diverse team can build something new, it has to agree how it's going to think.

Allied World was assembling a diverse project team to develop a new market proposition. Different backgrounds bring range — but without a shared way of working, range becomes friction.

A team that hasn't agreed how it will think spends its early energy negotiating approach instead of making progress. Allied World wanted alignment before momentum, not after.

Diversity of thought is an asset only once a team shares a way to use it.

Ninety kickstarted the project by aligning the team on mindset before method.

• 01Set the tone with a keynote. A ‘Mindsets Inspirer’ keynote introduced the team to the key innovation mindsets behind the work ahead.
• 02Wrote a shared charter. Together the team developed a ‘mindsets charter’ — a shared agreement on how they would approach the challenge.
• 03Made it a living reference. The charter became a reference point throughout the project, keeping everyone aligned and focused as the work got harder.

Armed with a common approach, the team collaborated far more effectively — using techniques like active listening and creative stimuli to stay open and build on each other.

That alignment fed directly into the successful development of their new proposition, with team members fully engaged in the innovation journey from first day to last.