Fictional, anonymised story: Operation Unicorn Island

Based on real HowToFly work: Post-merger integration · One shared vision. Characters and dialogue are invented.

Operation Unicorn Island · fictional, anonymised client chat

Mr. KlausA direct message to Mr. HowToFly
Real-world reference: uniting merged teams behind one vision

Fictional, anonymised story: Operation Unicorn Island. Based on real HowToFly work. The characters, dialogue and story outcomes are invented to protect client confidentiality.

Day 1 · The message
Mr. KlausClient · sleigh-maker, new owner of the kite company

Mr. HowToFly? Klaus. Sleigh Works, up north. I've just bought the kite company across the valley.

I now own two workshops, one vision and nobody who agrees on anything.

Mr. HowToFlyAI augmentation

Congratulations. And condolences. 😄 What's the vision?

Mr. KlausClient · sleigh-maker, new owner of the kite company

Fly across the Red Ocean to Unicorn Island. 🦄

Sleighs are strong but can't climb. Kites can climb but can't carry. Put them together and we fly.

Mr. KlausClient · sleigh-maker, new owner of the kite company
Mr. Klaus's map from the workshops across the dangerous Red Ocean to Unicorn Island
The route. The sea monsters are not to scale.
Mr. KlausClient · sleigh-maker, new owner of the kite company

On the island, geese groom the unicorns, and the magic in their coats turns the geese's eggs golden. 🪿

We collect the empty shells after hatching. The gold pays for gifts for children who need a little magic. The island stays protected. 🎁

Mr. HowToFlyAI augmentation

So the mission is joy, the gold pays for it, and the kite company is what gets you airborne.

How are the two teams getting on?

Mr. KlausClient · sleigh-maker, new owner of the kite company

My elves call the kite-makers "the hobbyists". The kite-makers call my elves "the furniture department".

We filmed a few interviews. This one says it all.

Mr. KlausClient · sleigh-maker, new owner of the kite company
A word from the sleigh workshopOne elf. One honest question. · 15 sec
Mr. KlausClient · sleigh-maker, new owner of the kite company

They're brilliant at what they do. They just can't see what flying has to do with them. Or with each other.

Mr. HowToFlyAI augmentation

That's exactly where we come in. We look at your vision, how the work really gets done and what your people are good at. Then we use AI to help every person see their part, do it better, and connect with the people they need.

Can we start by meeting a few of them?

Mr. Klaus created the group Operation Unicorn Island 🦄
Mr. Klaus added Pip, Nori, Wren, Gale
Mr. KlausClient · sleigh-maker, new owner of the kite company

Pip and Nori are from the sleigh side: frames and delivery routes. Wren and Gale joined from the kite side: sailcloth and wind testing.

Be nice. Everyone.

PipElf · sleigh-frame carpenter

We build things that last three hundred years. They build things that get stuck in trees.

😂
WrenKite-maker · sailcloth

And yet ours leave the ground. 🪁

Mr. HowToFlyAI augmentation

Perfect. You've just described the whole plan between you. Pip, what are you best at?

PipElf · sleigh-frame carpenter

Frames that are strong without weighing a ton. Most days.

WrenKite-maker · sailcloth

Fabric that catches the wind without tearing. Gale works out how much lift we get.

GaleKite-maker · wind tester

Nobody has ever asked me to lift a sleigh. Mostly birthday kites.

NoriElf · route planner

And I plan routes. If we're flying over an ocean, I'd quite like to know where we land.

Mr. HowToFlyAI augmentation

Strength, lift, wind and a landing plan. Nobody in this chat has a small part.

Let me bring in the crew.

Day 2 · The crew arrives
Mr. HowToFly added Astro, Mr. Ditto, Laura, Aurelius, Mary P, Doc Gold
Mr. HowToFlyAI augmentation

Meet the crew. Each of them helps your people in a different way.

Swipe through. 👇

Mr. HowToFlyAI augmentation
THE HOWTOFLY CREW 6 PHOTOS
Astro in his golden astronaut suit. Yellow notes: Goes highest. Who's in there?
AstroCrew leader

Keeps every specialist, elf and kite-maker flying towards the same island. Golden suit. Higher ambitions. Don't ask who's in the helmet. Yet.

1 / 6 · AstroSwipe to explore · Tap photo to enlarge
Mr. HowToFlyAI augmentation

Prefer moving pictures? Here's the crew introduction. 🎬

Mr. HowToFlyAI augmentation
Meet the HowToFly crewSix specialists. One island. · 30 sec
Mr. KlausClient · sleigh-maker, new owner of the kite company

A unicorn, a robot and a golden astronaut. My finance elf has gone for a lie-down.

Mr. HowToFlyAI augmentation

Under the costumes: empathy, AI engineering, game design and research. Here's the plan:

1️⃣ Everyone gets the vision explained for their job.
2️⃣ We map what everyone is good at, across both workshops.
3️⃣ Every team and every person gets a flight plan.
4️⃣ We connect the right people and track the journey together.

Week 1 · Everyone gets their own version
LauraCoding & generative AI
A gold laptop on an elf's workbench
Aurelius now lives on every workbench. Ask him anything about the plan, any time, in plain words.
LauraCoding & generative AI

I've also made short AI-generated films and songs that explain the vision for each team. Same island, different starting point.

Pip's is about weight. Wren's is about lift. Generative AI makes it affordable to tailor them for every team and language. We check every one before it goes out.

PipElf · sleigh-frame carpenter

Watched mine twice. Every gram I take off a frame is a gram the kite doesn't have to lift.

So that's what I've been doing for three hundred years. 🤯

AureliusAI agent · built by Laura

Skills interviews complete: every elf and every kite-maker. Two things stood out.

1. Gale is the only person in either company who can calculate lift for heavy loads.
2. Nori and Wren have both been sketching the same landing gear. Separately. For years.

GaleKite-maker · wind tester

I'm suddenly very popular.

NoriElf · route planner

Wren, you've been drawing landing gear? Lunch. Today.

😮
Doc GoldResearch · evidence first

Every team now has a flight plan that links its work to the vision. And every person has their own: their part, what they'll learn, who they'll work with.

They wrote them themselves, with Aurelius's help. Nobody got a plan dropped on their desk.

Mary PGamification · a spoonful of sugar
Different flying vehicle prototypes compared on a workshop screen
The sleigh-kite tournament is open. Mixed teams, head to head. Best learning wins. Loudest elf does not. 🏁
Mr. DittoEmpathy · walks in your hooves

I've entered a prototype too. Small modifications.

AstroCrew leader · higher ambitions
Astro and Aurelius react with NO on their visors to an overengineered kart
Respectfully: NO. One sleigh. One kite. Let's see if it lifts first.
😂
Mr. KlausClient · sleigh-maker, new owner of the kite company

Three days in and the two workshops have booked lunch together. I've been trying to arrange that since spring.

💛
Mr. HowToFlyAI augmentation

That's the second half of the job. Every person gets stronger with their own tools. But AI also connects them, so what Gale knows reaches Pip, and Nori finds Wren.

Two workshops start thinking like one big brain.

Mary PGamification · a spoonful of sugar

Two films from the HowToFly collection for the tea break. A little imagination makes a message stick. 🍿

Mary PGamification · a spoonful of sugar
A Spoonful of SugarWhy the best tools are the ones people enjoy using.
Mr. DittoEmpathy · walks in your hooves
The Unicorn WithinEveryone has more to offer than their job title suggests.
WrenKite-maker · sailcloth

Better than the merger slide deck. Back to the sailcloth. 🪁

A few weeks later · Mission control
LauraCoding & generative AI

Mission tracker update. Distance to Unicorn Island:

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩⬜⬜ 80% there.

Every milestone on it came straight from a team's flight plan.

Mary PGamification · a spoonful of sugar

And this week's challenge is won by... a mixed sleigh-kite team. 🏆 A first.

GaleKite-maker · wind tester

Full-load lift test passed. Pip's lighter frame made the difference.

PipElf · sleigh-frame carpenter

Wren's sailcloth made the difference. Don't tell her I said that.

WrenKite-maker · sailcloth

Screenshot taken. 📸

😂
Doc GoldResearch · evidence first

Before anyone flies the real thing, a scouting party has gone ahead by boat to check the landing site and the animals.

We collect only empty shells, after hatching, within limits we've agreed. If it harms the island, we stop.

AstroCrew leader · higher ambitions
Mary P, Aurelius and Astro reach a lush island by rowing boat
Scouts ashore. Landing field confirmed. Nori's route holds.
Mr. DittoEmpathy · walks in your hooves
A unicorn resting beside a goose and empty golden eggshells on the island
Our new neighbours. The geese say hello. The unicorns are less chatty.
Christmas Eve · Touchdown
NoriElf · route planner

First sleigh-kite is back home. Cargo safe. Island protected. 🛷🪁

🙌
Mr. KlausClient · sleigh-maker, new owner of the kite company
Mr. Klaus, the sleigh-maker, in his office
The shells paid for the gifts. The first deliveries are out. Joy, on its way. 🎁
Mr. KlausClient · sleigh-maker, new owner of the kite company

When I bought the kite company, everyone told me mergers were about org charts and spreadsheets.

You made it about people. Every elf and kite-maker understood the vision in their own words, knew their part and found the people they needed.

Two workshops became one crew.

WrenKite-maker · sailcloth

I used to think I made toys. Turns out I make the lift for a sleigh full of joy.

Also: Pip and I have an idea for version two. 🪁🛷

Mr. KlausClient · sleigh-maker, new owner of the kite company

Nobody had to ask them. That's my favourite part.

💛
Mr. KlausClient · sleigh-maker, new owner of the kite company

One last thing. Has anyone ever seen Mr. HowToFly and Astro in the same room?

Mr. HowToFlyAI augmentation

Same man. Better suit. XX 🙂

It was always about helping your whole crew fly.

😂
Mr. KlausClient · sleigh-maker, new owner of the kite company

Five golden shells. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Next question: can Aurelius help us deliver everything in one night?

Mr. HowToFlyAI augmentation

Every chimney, one night? Let's map the workflow first, Klaus. 😄

Fictional client. Very real challenge.

Mr. Klaus, his workshops and these results are part of an original imaginary story. It is based on the kind of work HowToFly really does: uniting teams behind one vision after a merger, with AI-supported team plans and personal development plans.

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