ESPICE Framework

How to Use the ESPICE Framework

Phase 1. Envision

Discover the vision that you want to create. It will act as the North Star that will guide you. As you craft your vision remember the iterative process. Don't worry about getting it perfect the first time around, but dream big. To complete this first phase use the envision exercise and create a vision board as shown inside of the template, or use an envisioning technique of your choice.

Phase 2. Survey

Create a mind-map of your current situation by noting your skills, resources, habits, risks, wants and needs. Then look at your mind-map and mark areas of importance. Highlight the skills that you are most passionate about and most effective at. Note invisible resources as well as physical ones. Categorize habits as beneficial or non-beneficial in achieving your vision. Note risks that are the most relevant or your highest priority to avoid. Review your wants and needs to ensure that they are accurately categorized. Now find the items that you think might be relevant to achieving your vision and use arrows or color coding to show these connections.

Phase 3. Plan

Plan the dynamic path towards your vision through the lens of rapid prototyping. Start by asking: “What is the minimum valuable thing that I can create in the next three months to simulate my vision?” We like to use OKRs to facilitate the completion of this phase. Follow the instructions on the template to create your OKRs.

Phase 4: Implement

Manage your daily actions to implement your plan. We use methods inspired by Agile project management in this phase. The Agile system we use has three main parts that work together: The Backlog where we collect all of our initiatives and tasks. The Sprint which is a short cycle of focused work, and the Kanban Board where we manage our tasks in a visual way. Review the template for more guidance on how to create and manage this Agile system.

Phase 5: Celebrate

This phase is a reminder for us to celebrate as we go. Celebration helps us recharge, it supports beneficial habit forming through positive feedback and it enables us to gain new insights and a fresh perspective. Write a list of ways you enjoy celebrating. Then create repeating reminders for yourself to celebrate in each sprint and quarter. If you'd like to take this a step further then think of ways you can celebrate specific habits that you want to develop in order to achieve your vision.

Phase 6: Evaluate

In the Evaluation phase we review our work and reflect on our processes so as to improve for the next iteration by harvesting feedback and incorporating our learnings. The ESPICE Framework functions as a fractal with opportunities for Evaluation throughout our daily, sprintly, monthly and quarterly cycles. Reference the Evaluate phase in the template to see the different ways to complete this phase. Consistent and frequent evaluation is key to improvement. It keeps us on course as we navigate life’s complexity.

Continuing the iterative process

After Evaluating we continue forward with the next iteration. With each cycle of the framework we adapt and learn, gaining insights that refine our ideas and improve our methods and results. We repeat these cycles until we've achieved our vision.

Further instructions

Within the template there are more detailed instructions available for each phase. There is also an example template for reference.