Topic Selection

This page outlines the What Matters Now topic selection process for participants.

Purpose

Live conversation helps us share experiences, discover new ideas, and situate concepts. The What Matters Now process helps identify and prioritize questions and challenges to guide live discussions, catalyzing just-in-time versus just-in-case learning.

The entire process takes no more than 10 minutes and will help ensure our conversations are timely, relevant, and engaging. That said, don't worry if you can't participate in brainstorming or voting—you'll still be able to join the conversation.

Process

What Matters Now consists of two phases:

Phase	Action	Method	Duration
Brainstorming	Asynchronously share ideas for discussion topics regarding current opportunities and challenges.	Add "sticky notes" to a Mural board.	5 minutes within a 48-hour window
Voting	Asynchronously prioritize discussion topics.	Use Mural's built-in voting tool.	5 minutes within a 48-hour window

Brainstorming

• Brainstorming Notice: You will receive an email with a link to a Mural board. You don't need to subscribe, register, or log in.

• Add Sticky Notes: Take 5 minutes to anonymously add sticky notes to the Mural board within 48 hours of the brainstorming notice.

Please frame your interests in two ways: "I wish I knew..." (IWIK) and "How to...?" (H2).

• "I wish I knew..." taps into curiosity and the desire for understanding.

• "How to...?" focuses on actionable challenges and practical applications.

Frame	Objective	Example	Value
IWIK	Surface information gaps or curiosities.	"I wish I knew how AI impacts our privacy policies."	Guides discussions toward learning and discovery.
H2	Uncover process gaps or practical challenges.	"How to integrate AI tools into our existing workflows?	Highlights opportunities for skill-building, problem-solving, or collaboration.

Voting

• Voting Notice: You will receive an email notification that voting is open. You can vote on topics even if you didn't participate in the brainstorming phase.

• Vote for Your Favorite Topics: Return to the Mural board and place your votes on the sticky notes containing the most interesting and relevant topics. You can distribute your votes however you prefer - either use all five votes on a single topic or spread them across different topics.

• Topic Selection: Votes will be tallied 48 hours after the voting session starts. The topics receiving the most votes will shape the agenda of subsequent live conversations.

Using Mural

1

Open the Mural

Click the link within the brainstorming or voting notification email to open the appropriate Mural.

2

Click Enter as a Visitor Link

Click Enter as a visitor

3

Click Enter as a Visitor Button

Don't change the visitor display name to maintain your anonymity.

Click Enter as a visitor button

4

Navigate to the Start Here Section

Click Start Here in the outline and read how to add sticky notes and navigate the Mural board.

Mural outline menu

5

Learn About the IWIK and H2 Brainstorming Framework

Click IWIK and H2 in the outline to learn how and why to frame your interests as "I wish I knew..." and "How to...?"

6

Add Sticky Notes

Click Brainstorming in the outline. Take no more than 5 minutes to brainstorm topics that tap into your curiosity and focus on practical challenges.

• Double-click your mouse to add a sticky note.

• Don't resize your stick notes; zoom in and out instead.

• Start each sticky note with either "I wish I knew..." or "How to...?" for clarity.

Adding a sticky note to the Brainstorming area

7

Revisit the Mural

Check back to see what other group members have posted. Their contributions might spark new questions and ideas.