Spotting the spark

Whether you're 'in' to a particular sport or not, there's no denying the impact Sachin Tendulkar has had on the game of cricket. 

His farewell speech delivered from the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, India a few days ago was insightful, touching and inspiring. 

I listened to this speech and captured via my visual notes below, the many thank yous, acknowledgements and learnings he delivered. 

Of particular impact was the acknowledgement to his brother Ajit who 'spotted the spark' in him. 

For many fans and followers this speech gave one of the deepest insights into what makes him tick. And it brought tears to the eyes of his friends, family and supporters... and some of the toughest players in the sport too.

And it was about everyone but him.

We achieve few really BIG things alone. We rely on others to co-operate, co-llaborate and co-ntribute. 

Co means 'together'. 

Pause to check on the big things you're getting done with the help, support, guidance and confidence of others. Who is 'spotting the spark' in you and encouraging you to get something great done?

Make sure you thank them for what they're doing, or what they've done to help you get there...

All hail the talented management consultant

Tomorrow I’m spending the day with a team of management consultants. Imagine the knowledge, ideas, solutions and know-how in that room! Imagine all of the situations they’ve seen and how many times they’ve brought someone or something back from the brink.

And yes, you might be thinking of jokes, one-liners and other comments about management consultants... but I think at the core of what a management consultant does is helping a client find a solution to a problem or issue, or find a way through to a new way of doing things.

Tomorrow I’ll be equipping them with some powerful visual thinking skills so they can use in-the-moment visuals (that’s words, shapes, pictures, images – quickly sketched) to give them visual agility.

I say ‘agility’ because they need to be quick, thinking on their feet or quick to listen and respond…with another question, or a possibility, and help the client 'see' that possibility.

It’s vital in this information-dense world that they are able to

• Capture: what the client’s key points are, and to distil the essence of the problem or situation. Then to ...
• Convey: to pitch and propose, to present and consult on the types of solutions the firm can work with the client on. They will map out the possibilities, show the client what the future can look like and what milestones along the way can get them closer to resolving the issue or creating that situation.

And then throughout the client/firm engagement, there will be the:

• Collaboration: meeting after meeting, the many conversations, workshops, brainstorms and innovation discussions – all of that talking can be ‘caught’ so that together the solution will be proposed, adjusted, implemented and embedded.

The skills will give this team of consultants a shorthand and a shortcut to clarity. Rather than talking back and forth, trying to reach understanding, some key words and concepts will help get to ‘same page’ understanding so both parties know what is to be worked on and how it will happen.

This team is in for a powerful day. They’ll likely go from “I can’t draw” to using visuals every day in so many situations.

I’m so excited for them! And for the value their clients are going to receive as a result of this development.

Yes, now we can hail the (even more) talented management consultant!

Now, let’s get their kits together of markers, journals and other cool visual tools… lucky I love stationery. 

Memo to guest speakers: organise your thinking

Yes, three cheers for a call to conference presenters to have a go at engaging the audience (participants!) and delivering their thinking without the use of PowerPoint.

On Twitter today, I happily retweeted @brown_note and @neil_killick when this was put out there, with a reference to agile conferences:

RT @neil_killick I call on #agile conferences to ban PowerPoint and equivalent. Let's see presenters really present and lead discussion.

Here's the next challenge then - given the Agile Australia conference is set for June, the sold out Scrum conference is next week, and the UX and LAST conferences are also bearing down in August, every speaker has the time to organise their thinking. 

Start now speakers! Get your thinking sorted out now! 

I believe visual agility skills are what's needed - visual skills where you can swiftly and clearly:

1. capture your thinking
2. convey information, and
3. collaborate with others

... using visuals.

What happens is that PowerPoint gets used to capture thinking. And then it's the tool that's used to convey information. (Not as good at collaboration is it?)

A great communicator, leader and conference speaker/presenter can use all three: 

1. Capture your own thinking about what your presentation and key message is;
2. Convey information during the presentation; and
3. Collaborate - get input from others in the session, engage and lead discussion. 

It's not for artistic types or creative folks; it's for normal people and thinking people whose job it is to think, communicate and work well with others. 

I'll be watching next week at the Scrum conference; and I'll be capturing using visuals on my ipad.

I so hope a session I've proposed for the Agile Australia conference gets up; no surprise it's on visual agility - I want to help Agile folks get more visual so they can help people in their teams - and right across the businesses they work with and in - to "get" what they're on about quickly, clearly, and in an engaging and captivating way.

The sooner you're understood, the sooner we can all get on with it. 

Three short whistles for 'up'

There's a large crane onsite at a housing construction site nearby today. 

While the set-up and set-down of concrete slabs and wooden piles can be a visual distraction, it's the auditory, the sounds, that are getting my attention. 

There's great deal of trust, communication, cooperation, focus and engagement that's required among the team - all conveyed via hand signals and ... a little silver whistle!

One long whistle... 'lower'

One short whistle... 'stop'

Three short whistles ... 'up'

With this quick visual guide I was off and running, watching what was happening, learning quickly from the visuals on the guide and confirming via the sounds I was hearing.  

What auditory or sound signals do you give the people in your team? (applause, cheers, verbal confirmation or encouragement, verbal rewards...)

What quick visual guides do you use so that people are up to speed quickly on what to do, when, and how? (noticeboards, flyers, post-it notes, big picture visions, the visual storyboard, process maps, status or kanban boards...)

Keep it simple. No need for big bucks, fancy design and a mega-production with massive timelines! 

What simple tools can you use to convey information and engage quickly and clearly today?

One long, two short whistles ... slew (or veer) right!

Project Introverts - how to get out of that meeting ASAP!

Diversity in backgrounds, cultures, languages, thinking, styles and communication - they come together every time we communicate, engage and connect with people we work with.

If you're an introvert, you'll want to get your message across quickly, understand your colleagues quickly and then get outta that meeting or conversation ASAP. You may want to get back to the good stuff you were working on earlier - alone!

I've seen in several project teams recently how so many delays, derails and slow-downs come from simple misunderstandings.

"I thought you meant ..... when really you meant ....." or "You're talking about the big picture; I'm talking about this specific thing..." and it all drags on and on and on.

Being able to capture, draw out and understand what someone else is saying, and then convey your ideas and thinking is critical. To do it rapidly is the game here. The faster you can understand others and get your point across, the happier we'll all be. Unless you just want to sit 'n talk...

To speed up the process, get it sorted, get to understanding quicker and then get on with the other good stuff you're working on, you need two key skillsets...

1. facilitation skills (how to handle the stuff that happens when groups meet) and

2. visual agility (not arty drawing, but rapid sketching and visualisation).

When culturally, linguistically and geographically diverse teams 'get this', they step way up into higher levels of performance and move on (quickly) from misunderstandings and cultural hurdles.

Project teams have the opportunity to build this awesome skillset at a one day workshop I'm running in Melbourne on March 4, Visual Facilitation for Projects. Details here, early bird until February 19.