The Visual Thinking Revolution is Here! We are in the midst of a “Visual Thinking Revolution” and leaders in all types of organizations are embracing visual thinking as a literacy of the future. This revolution’s “tipping point” came earlier this year at the International Forum for Visual Practitioners annual conference, which drew 100 visual practitioners from across the globe. The panel I moderated with Business Models Inc. CEO Patrick van der Pijl and Doodle Revolution’s Sunni Brown kicked off the conference with an expansive discussion on the future of visual thinking. Captured by three different graphic recorders in real time, we explored 10 significant external forces that are fueling the Visual Thinking Revolution: We live in an increasingly VUCA world. Vulnerable, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous. Each day we’re bombarded with too much noise and not enough signal. Visual thinking helps us break down complex problems into simple pictures (Thank you, Dan Roam for showing us the way to make ideas come alive on the back of a napkin!) Advances in neuroscience and fMRI technology demonstrate that our brains are more creative and imaginative when operating under reward vs. threat conditions. If you want to create reward conditions that encourage participation, use simple, welcoming, hand-drawn pictures that everyone can understand. Want to create threat conditions? Hefty text-driven, data-filled, bullet-pointed PowerPoint presentations should get you there in no time. Best selling authors are codifying their “magic”. Thanks to Nancy Duarte’s bestselling Slide:ology and Resonate, Dan Roam’s Back of the Napkin books and Blah, Blah, Blah, and Alex Osterwalder and Yves Pigneur’s Business Model Generation we’re creating a whole new leadership discipline around visual storytelling and visual modeling in service of business and innovation. Technology gives us exciting new tools. Wide adoption of touch screen tablets and accompanying apps enable easy, real-time, visual capture and sharing of ideas. Some app recommendations include: Adobe Ideas, Sketchbook Pro, Bamboo Paper, Penultimate, Art Set. Viral channels spread the word—and pictures. Millions of animated RSA videos were watched and shared in 2011, with the TED talks by Sir Ken Robinson and Dan Pink on creativity and innovation converting even the most left-brained thinkers to the power of visual communication. Mainstream media catches on. Beyond traditional supporters like Fast Company, 2011 saw coverage in mainstream journalism, with stories on visual thinking featured in Harvard Business Review, The Washington Post and CNN. New sources of talent and training proliferate. Sensing a growing demand for visual skills, new kinds of training are popping up, ranging from one-day workshops, such as “Introduction to Graphic Recording” to online seminars and virtual learning. “Design Mania” becomes a movement. With no end in site for the excitement surrounding design as a strategic competence, visual thinking is riding the coattails of IDEO and Stanford’s d. school, which have pimped the value of Sharpies and post-its. New investors and incubators emerge. Design-based angel funds and start-up incubators are catching the visual-thinking fever, realizing that superb customer experience may trump over-hyped technology. It’s no secret that a napkin sketch is the ultimate low-res prototype. New audiences arise. Perhaps most significant, is the demand and excitement expressed by new audiences. Visual thinking is NOT just for artists. It’s for business people, entrepreneurs, NGOs, government leaders, teachers, kids. Nor is it just a Western phenomena; visual thinking is going global, from Asia to Africa to South America. Wherever you find good ideas and stories to tell, you’ll find visual thinking. If you’re still not convinced that the Visual Thinking Revolution has arrived, what could be better proof than the Saturday Night Live parody of the visual thinking-inspired UPS commercial. Looking forward, we can expect that each of these emerging trends will only get stronger. The world will be more complex and overwhelming. Adaption of new technologies will accelerate. Companies will continue to chase growth in the midst of new competitors and customer demands. People will seek out communicative leaders who can help us feel safe, grounded, understood and inspired in the midst of all of this noise and uncertainty. The question is who among us will be the first to embrace the full potential of visual thinking as individual and organizational catalysts for leading innovation and change, helping make our work more meaningful and productive. At this time of year when we when we have made promises to do things differently— eat healthier, hit the gym more— how about also resolving to wield a marker in service of communicating new ideas and possibilities? It doesn’t matter if you think you “can’t draw;” visual thinking isn’t about artistic ability, but about passion for innovation and change. The revolution is calling: pick up your pen and change the world! Lisa Kay Solomon is a guest contributor to the Duarte Blog. Lisa is an adjunct professor for the California College of the Art’s new MBA in Design Strategy. She teaches visual thinking as a mandatory literacy for innovation leaders of the future as part of her Innovation Studio course. Posted from my iPhone using Joomla Admin Mobile!

Contro la schiavitù del time management Come ho suggerito in un post precedente, un leader deve stabilire nel suo team un linguaggio condiviso che distingua tra i due fattori “pressione sul tempo” e “impatto sugli obiettivi”. C’è un errore comune, però, che i leader spesso commettono nel fare questo. Può sembrare un dettaglio, ma, nella mia esperienza, riveste una grande importanza e implica un cambiamento nella mentalità di molti team leader. Per illustrarlo voglio ricorrere alla scena di un noto film di animazione: Gli incredibili. Sindrome, l’eroe negativo della storia, ha un piano per diventare il più grande supereroe di tutti i tempi. Pur non possedendo superpoteri, infatti, è in grado di creare macchine che gli consentono di simularli (stivali per volare, un raggio paralizzante, eccetera). In una delle scene più importanti del film, Sindrome è riuscito a imprigionare Mr. Incredibile, il suo nemico giurato, con tutta la sua “super” famiglia. E gli illustra il suo piano: «Sarò un eroe più grande di quanto tu non sia mai stato. […] Vedranno che cosa è l’eroismo. Darò loro l’eroismo più spettacolare che abbiano mai visto. E quando sarò vecchio e mi sarò divertito venderò le mie invenzioni, così chiunque potrà essere un supereroe. Tutti potranno essere super. E quando tutti saranno super, nessuno lo sarà più». Trovo che questo pur malvagio piano sia geniale. E il genio è tutto scritto nell’intuizione dell’ultima frase: se tutti sono super, nessuno lo è più. La parola “super” nell’etimologia latina significa “che sta sopra”, indica quindi una posizione relativa, non assoluta (perché qualcosa stia “sopra”, necessariamente qualche cos’altro deve stare “sotto”). Un proverbio latino recita “Beati monoculi in terra caecorum” (Nella terra dei ciechi chi ha un occhio solo è un beato). Questo vuole dire che quello che in un contesto può essere considerato un handicap, in un contesto diverso è un vantaggio. È il livello relativo che conta, non il livello assoluto. Lo stesso vale per i messaggi di un leader circa la gestione del tempo. In un post precedente avevo chiamato “urgenza” la pressione sul tempo e “importanza” la pressione sugli obiettivi. Ebbene, come in un mondo nel qualche tutti sono super, così in un’organizzazione nella quale tutto è urgente, nulla è più urgente. E in un’organizzazione in cui tutto è importante nulla è più importante. Come ha intuito bene Sindrome, è il livello relativo che conta, non l’assoluto. La prima lezione che possiamo trarre è, quindi, che un leader non deve abusare della pressione che può esercitare sul tempo o sugli obiettivi perché rischia che il suo team (o la sua organizzazione) non sia più in grado di distinguere ciò che è super da ciò che non lo è. Ma c’è anche un secondo, forse più sottile, messaggio: un leader deve saper distinguere ciò che è super da ciò che non lo è non solo in maniera assoluta, ma anche in modo relativo, sia nel tempo (ciò che è super oggi potrebbe non esserlo domani) sia nelle diverse articolazioni dell’organizzazione (ciò che è super per me potrebbe non esserlo per qualcun altro). Il leader deve anche saper comunicare questo senso della priorità ai diversi livelli del gruppo o dell’organizzazione, rispettando quindi il livello di priorità relativo a ogni parte del gruppo – e perfino a ogni membro del gruppo. Tutto ciò richiede qualcosa di più della capacità di guidare per obiettivi e di assegnare priorità alle azioni e alle attività: implica una conoscenza profonda delle diverse articolazioni della propria organizzazione e del proprio business, la capacità di entrare in contatto con le persone, l’abilità di coniugare priorità e responsabilità. Non è facile, ma può essere appreso. Ah! Quasi dimenticavo la terza, importantissima lezione: mai rivelare il tuo piano al nemico! È questo che ha causato la sconfitta di Sindrome. Posted from my iPhone using Joomla Admin Mobile!

Visual thinking has become so popular today that it has spawned many excellent books from its most talented practitioners. These books are invaluable guides to this fascinating world of non-linear, bigger-picture thinking. They include many types of thinking with diagrams, mind maps, sketches and other forms of non-linear communication. If you want to learn about leading visual thinking strategies and techniques, I recommend these 10 books: The Back of the Napkin: Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures by Dan Roam Unfolding the Napkin: The Hands-On Method for Solving Complex Problems with Simple Pictures by Dan Roam Blah Blah Blah: What To Do When Words Don’t Work by Dan Roam Visual Teams: Graphic Tools for Commitment, Innovation, and High Performance by David Sibbett Visual Meetings: How Graphics, Sticky Notes and Idea Mapping Can Transform Group Productivity by David Sibbett Mind Maps for Business: Revolutionize Your Business Thinking and Practice by Tony Buzan Idea Mapping: How to Access Your Hidden Brain Power, Learn Faster, Remember More and Achieve Success in Business by Jamie Nast Thinking Visually: Business Applications of 14 Core Diagrams by Malcolm Craig Gamestorming: A Playbook for Innovators, Rulebreakers, and Changemakers by Dave Gray, Sunni Brown and James Macanufo Resonate: Present Visual Stories that Transform Audiences by Nancy Duarte Are some of your favorite visual thinking books missing from this list? Please tell us about them in the comments. Thanks! Posted from my iPhone using Joomla Admin Mobile!

When to Share Sensitive Information with Your Team Being the boss means you are often privy to information that your team isn't. You may learn that a major client is unhappy with your service, or that senior leaders are considering outsourcing your team's work. At these moments, it's easy to feel stuck between your bosses and the people you manage. Do you share the information? Or do you protect your employees from it? Whatever the news, it's up to you to decide whether, when, and how to tell your team. What the Experts Say There are of course times when you are not allowed to share the news — your company has been acquired but the deal is not finished, or someone on your team is being let go. But there are a whole host of instances when it is up to you. At those times, you're likely to feel pressure from one side or another. "It's very rare people don't want to know the news even if it's bad," says Michael Useem, the William and Jacalyn Egan Professor of Management at the Wharton School and author of "Four Lessons in Adaptive Leadership." But it's important to assess each situation individually and to remember it's not your job to coddle employees. "We're not their parents, we're their bosses," says Linda Hill, the Wallace Brett Donham Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School and coauthor of Being the Boss: The 3 Imperatives for Becoming a Great Leader . Telling or not depends on the situation, but these guidelines can help you make the decision. Know your natural tendency When it comes to privacy, we all have a preferred approach in our personal lives. Some tend to keep things quiet, while others are more of an open book. In your role as a manager, though, neither end of the spectrum is ideal. "If you're too private and people aren't getting the information they need to do their jobs, you need to get over it," says Hill. But if you're being too transparent — divulging too much information — it can come off as unprofessional. If you understand your biases, you'll be better able to counteract them and find a middle ground. Question your motives If you find yourself chomping at the bit to share news with your group or, on the flip side, resisting a conversation you think you should have, question your motives. Are you feeling guilty about harboring information? Are you afraid of people getting mad at you? "Understand your reasons for telling or not and ask yourself if they are legitimate," says Hill. Definitely don't share news if you are simply doing it to make yourself feel better. You shouldn't pass your anxiety on to your employees. At the same time, don't keep quiet just because you're uncomfortable or can't figure out how to deliver the news. You should also question whether or not your motives are manipulative. Don't hold back information to gain or prevent a certain outcome from your people. For example, Hill says she takes issue with companies that know they have to lay people off but don't tell in the hopes that employees will work hard until the bitter end. Secrecy in this case is deceitful. Tend toward transparency Both Hill and Useem argue that managers should typically be as transparent as possible, especially when it comes to negative messages. "You need to give them bad news if it's going to impact their work or career in ways that are material," says Hill. Telling also allows you to enlist your team's help in solving the problem. Openness builds your credibility, which Useem describes as "cash in your account." Employees will trust that you're going to tell them what they need to know. Then, if at some point, you can't tell them everything, they are much more likely to understand. Frame it about the future If you decide to share, make sure your delivery includes a degree of hopefulness. "Frame the news so they can absorb it and do something about it," says Hill. Useem concurs and says that leaders have a responsibility to show people what the path forward is. For example, if you need to tell your team that you lost an important project bid, you can say something like, "While this is definitely bad news, we are going to double our client development efforts and work towards securing three smaller projects by the end of the year. You can help by reaching out to your network and reporting any leads back to me." Useem says that no matter how bad the news you need to convey optimism. Of course you don't want to give anyone false hope. "Overstating the likelihood of success can lead to disappointment later on," says Useem. But don't over share Also realize that total transparency may be unnecessary and overwhelming to your employees. Resist the temptation to share news when you don't have complete information and to delve into details when it will cause more harm than good. "People have a hard time coping with probabilities on the down side," says Useem. Instead of hearing there is a small chance of the negative outcome, they are likely to panic and assume it's a done deal. Hill agrees: "You don't need to share your entire thought process with people." When to keep your mouth shut There are also times when you are not at liberty to disclose information because of corporate policy, or a directive from your boss. In these cases, if you feel your employees should know the news, challenge the rule or decision by talking to upper management and making the case for telling. But without permission from above, don't go against policy. You could put your job at risk. Principles to Remember Do: Ask yourself why you want to tell or not and assess whether it's a legitimate reason Lean toward being transparent if possible Frame the news so that people know what they can do about it Don't: Hold back information because you aren't sure how to deliver it Flout company policy if you want to share something you've been asked not to Give your team every detail about a decision — tell them just what they need to know Case study #1: Give the necessary information Rocky Pecoraro, the principal of Pecoraro Recruiters International, had some pretty bad news to share. Several months earlier, Rocky had placed Gerald* in the position of director of food and beverage at a resort hotel. Gerald's supervisor was disappointed with the new director's performance and wanted to terminate him. Rocky promised that he would talk to Gerald to see if his performance might be turned around. Rocky did just that, but refrained from telling Gerald that he would be fired if his behavior didn't change. "I had a previous experience on a different position where the individual walked off the job fearing he was to be fired anyway," Rocky explains. So I didn't feel that I had to tell [Gerald] every detail and have it hanging over his every move. It would have been too much pressure," Rocky says. Instead, he told Gerald to work harder at adapting to the hotel's culture and meeting expectations. Gerald listened to the feedback, and after venting frustrations of his own, worked with Rocky to do a better job. In the end, Rocky's supervisor was pleased with the changes he saw and agreed to keep Gerald on board. "Ultimately I believe most of us want to know the truth and not have to discover it on our own," Rocky says. But if I had told [Gerald] the whole truth about what [his] supervisor said exactly as it was, it would have been detrimental to their future relationship." *Not his real name Case study #2: Enlist them in coming up with a solution Suchitra Mishra had been leading a close-knit central account operations team at an IT company in India for three years when she found out the group was to be disbanded. She knew the decision, which was to be carried out in four months' time, would negatively impact everyone as they were reassigned and given new responsibilities. "We would have to learn new skills and new style of working" with new peers and bosses, she says. "This is not easy to do at any stage of a career and I expected stiff resistance and negativity. As a leader, my first instinct was always to 'protect' the team, to not let anything demotivate them." But she realized this would benefit her more than it would them. Instead, she decided to share the news immediately in a sit-down meeting to help ease the transition and give the team time to "accept the inevitable." "The reaction was a mixed bag of emotions — anger at management for changing something that was working, fear about their jobs, and unhappiness about having to make a fresh start," she says. But she also encouraged the group to focus them on the future "Letting them know as soon as I knew gave us time to strategize and work on a plan to ensure smooth transition for both us and the departments everyone eventually moved to," she says. Her superiors were also happy because she managed the change without a drop in productivity. 'You have to trust your teams enough to process all information — good or bad — for them to feel valued and empowered to deal with all situations," she says. Posted from my iPhone using Joomla Admin Mobile!