3 examples of Assets that Influence

A Collective Story – Can we change how people think?

A project wanted to hear the voices of people with lived experience of trauma, to shape service design, but recognised the retraumatisation that can occur when people are repeatedly asked to share their story with people in situations, that felt vulnerable and where power dynamics were unequal- like in a boardroom. 

We worked with 6 people, to craft a collective story and accompanying piece of visual art, that shared important elements of each person’s story in a way they could control. This felt less exposing and the story and artwork was able to be taken to meetings and shared at events, reducing the emotional load on the people who had lived through trauma.  

The collective story was powerful because people listening and viewing could see the patterns and recognise the systemic challenges that shaped the stories.  This helped leaders tangibly connect societal pressures to individuals’ lived experiences, and influenced the direction of prevention work.

A Reshaped Service – Can we change how people work?

When you transform collective insight into practical assets, you get useful, memorable tools that punch above their weight.  

The two tools, developed with WorkWell coaches, embedded experience into the backbone of the service, guiding conversations, strengthening relationships, measuring impact and creating a shared understanding of what good support looks like.  The tools describe the service journey, support the relationship between coach and coachee, guide deliverables and service experience, measure impact and communicate the value of the service to partners and participants.

The Road to WorkWell and Progress Postcards tools created a common language and approach. Rather than relying on individual knowledge or experience, the design embedded the perspective of the participant, coach and service leader. By turning collective learning into reusable assets, the project increases consistency, builds team capability and creates a stronger foundation for continuous service improvement.

A Leadership Curriculum – Can we change how future leaders develop?

Organisational memory is lost when people move on or priorities shift.  Rather than allowing two years of partnership learning to remain with the people involved, we transformed it into a practical leadership curriculum and toolkit to support system change. 

To develop an asset that influences beyond the project timeline, A Brilliant Thing CIC worked alongside HMR Local Care Organisation, Community Enterprises and partners across Rochdale. We co-designed a place-based leadership development programme rooted in local communities, relationships and lived experience. The curriculum brings together community research, leadership practice, facilitation methods and practical tools into a shared approach that can be applied, adapted and delivered by others. 

As more leaders use and build upon the curriculum, it strengthens a common language, develops leadership capability and enables collaborative practice to spread across organisations and neighbourhoods. By turning experience into a reusable learning asset, the curriculum continues to influence how people lead, collaborate and create lasting systems change long after the original project has ended.

Transformation is created through design.

Creating assets that influence requires both collaboration and intentional design. At A Brilliant Thing CIC, we use Human Skills to help people collaborate effectively, while Healing-Centred Design® provides the framework for transforming collective experience into practical assets that create lasting change. 

Our approach and framework create experiences, develop practice and build knowledge then turn this collective intelligence into infrastructure for change. 

• Experience Past lived experiences and memorable shared experiences provide the raw ingredients.
• Collective Learning Reflection and collaboration combine different perspectives, transforming experience into shared understanding.
• Practical Asset Shared understanding is shaped into a practical asset that others can use, adapt and build upon.
• Lasting Influence The asset continues feeding future projects, partnerships and communities long after the original work has ended.

Projects create experiences. Assets preserve and multiply their value.