Lean Leadership Lessons - the Visual Notes Story

This morning in Melbourne I watched a livestream of the Lean StartUp conference, beamed from San Francisco. 

There were many swift presentations on great topics. 

Usually when I'm at a conference or seminar, I keep myself listening and focused by capturing visual notes. Also known as graphic recording, sketchnoting or scribing. 

I will often share the image of the visual notes I've created, based on the content I've heard. 

Today I shared this visual on Leadership Lessons in Lean - presented by a team from Intuit Inc. 

I'm often asked what app I use or how I create the visuals I share. 

Here's the short story on what I do...

- I do use the app Brushes on my ipad mini. There are plenty of others I've tried; this one remains my favourite. Look for an app that will let you zoom, choose brushes and colours and output to a jpeg, mov, PDF or other file.

- I don't use a stylus. I've tried many and find that using my finger to write, zoom and change colour/brush size is quicker and easier (for me anyway) than writing, shuffling the stylus, writing again...

- I often start in the middle of the blank screen with the presenter's name and title, or start at the top with a big bold, banner-style heading. You can do this before the speaker starts - it's a good 'warm up'. 

- I do listen out for voice changes in the speakers -it's as important as listening to the content they're delivering. It helps you separate what's important and what's waffle.  Speakers are signalling which points are important by how they speak!

- I do write out some key words they've said, and if a quick visual or image comes to my mind that will help anchor and enhance that key point, I'll sketch that. (I don't think you need to know how to draw many icons or symbols at all. About 20 is a good place to start and build up from there to 50 - 120. They're reusable for so many different meanings and concepts).

- I may have to pause on that point or visual I'm writing because now I'm listening for their next point and might have to write and draw that. 

- Time permitting I do go back to the previous point and begin to embellish it more; more detail on the picture, different colour for the words.

- I do keep building up the content either working in columns or radiating out from the centre of the page. 

- If I feel like I'm 'running out of space', I can adjust the size that I'm writing; I can scale it down and write smaller, or place other key points 'in the white spaces' on the page. 

If you're not already taking visual notes for yourself - let alone your team - you're missing out on vital opportunities to learn, retain, recall and distil information. Plus it's fun, and a productive and effective way to build your creative muscle - and it certainly keeps you listening and stops your mind wandering to whether or not they'll have muffins at morning tea.

Some speakers are well organised, structured and entertaining. That makes taking visual notes an absolute joy! Others you have to listen hard to - trying to work out 'what are they saying', 'what's this really about'? Often that's because they haven't clarified their thinking; they could have another pass at their content and improve on their presentation. We could all improve on our presentations!

But you'll have a better chance of understanding and making meaning of presentations and content when you've got a sorting or filtering process you're working on - and visual notes are just that!

Try visual notes rather than dot points, linear notes and pages of scrawl that you may never look at again.

Oh go on! Try it in private - listen to the news, an interview or a TED talk!

The ultimate in remote and distributed collaboration

When I'm running facilitation training programs and I gather a bunch of 'concerns, questions, challenges' at the start of the day, many people raise the remote hookups and telconference topic.

Whether it's a video hookup or audio only, there are plenty of tricky challenges:

- how do you keep people engaged

- how do you KNOW if they're engaged

- how do you achieve what you need to do in the time available

- how do .... <insert your challenge and question here!>

I am an occasional listener (wierd as it may be but thanks to my father's careers and keen interest in all things mechanical) to the Air Traffic Control feed of my local airport in Melbourne. 

Think about it - hundreds of people flying through the air at speed in the airspace above you, in big metal tubes, with a couple of people 'up front' in control of the metal tube. 

On the ground, air traffic controllers observing, managing and directing traffic through and around the airspace. 

I think this is the ultimate in remote and distributed collaboration and communication. 

Heights, speed restrictions, approaches, departures, angles, gate allocations, weather advice, wheelchair requirements for passengers (yes, they arrange this in the air) and many other key pieces of information are communicated, resolved, discussed and arranged with some, but not full visuals. 

Shorthand, codes and abbreviations are used as part of their operational jargon. It's efficient.

Questions are asked by pilots - 'can we cancel our speed restrictions'? And they are answered by air traffic controllers.

Controllers ask questions of pilots - 'can you use runway 27 or do you need 35'? 

And problems are solved - 'our headset for arrivals transmission is not operational. Can you relay please?'

If day in and out these critical pieces of information are able to be encoded, communicated and decoded in what can be perilous environments, a phone or video hookup with the team in another city shouldn't be so hard!

• You must allow more time than you think you'll need for the topic.
• Allow for time to introduce, engage, map out the agenda, take questions.
• Allow time for problem solving, information sharing and collaborating.
• Allow time for general discussions and 'wonderings' by participants too. 

In your haste to get 'stuff done', you might be communicating some messages you had no intention of conveying! The consequences could be far reaching and the rework may be costly and time consuming. Check understanding - check again for questions. 

Play air traffic controller at your next remote meeting and focus on clear communication and great collaboration. 

And now... tuning in to the feed, the massive A380 is coming in to Melbourne from LA. QF94. Now that's a BIG project to get on the ground safely!

A view from the tail camera on board the A380, coming in to land in Melbourne from LA. 

A Blueprint for Meetings, Workshops, Conversations

When you get people together - face to face or via a hookup - you need to make something happen. 

 
Is it a briefing or transfer of information?
Is it a consultative thing - you want to ask some questions and find out what they think.
 
Maybe you need to involve them in the design or development of a process, product or service.
Perhaps it's about collaboration: 'let's work on this thing together'. 
 
And sometimes you want them to pick up the ball and run with it, toempower them so that they act and decide.
 
Whichever of these you'd like to make happen, you need to start with that in mind. Here's a continuum or scale that can guide you:



I regularly use these five levels and depths of participation (adapted from the International Association for Public Participation - or IAP2) to guide me in:

• how to prepare for the gathering,
• how to set up and design the environment they'll meet in,
• what processes they'll work through and
• how to handle the stuff that happens during that meeting.

What you do as a leader will make a b-i-g difference in how well the group goes towards achieving the outcome. 

It's not "their fault' or 'up to them'. It's on you. 

If you've called the meeting, are facilitating or leading it or are responsible for getting the outcome, it really helps to get clear about why they are in the room (or dialled in remotely) and how you'll engage them to make something good happen. 

Those crusty old days of workshops or conversations to 'discuss, decree and demolish' are gone. That's disengaging and ineffective. 

Start with this Blueprint and zoom in on the levels that suit the outcome you're after. 

The meeting, workshop or conversation will be more productive, more engaging and the people who've given their time to be there will oh-so grateful you got this sorted!

Did your meeting pass the 'motion activation' test today?

Have you been in a workplace in a green, energy conscious building, and noticed how lighting switches on and off based on movement in a room?

For some buildings it's the bathrooms or kitchen areas that have this feature. 

For brave workplaces, it's in meeting rooms too. 

Next meeting, check whether you pass the motion activation test. 

If the lights switch off - you're too still..., dead still ! Dull meeting. Disengaged participants. Poor outcomes. 

And note... passing the motion activation test doesn't mean waving madly at the sensors so that the lights switch back on!

It means you're having a stand-up, sit-down, stand-up, move around, collaborate and really 'work' meeting. 

A meeting that's active, engaging, physical, creative and collaborative. 

If the lights switch off, you MUST switch things up, fire up the content, style and agenda.

You have to make that meeting and conversation environment one that people want to be in.

And more importantly, an environment and a piece of work that they want to contribute to. 

Move. 

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...