Take a big bite of simplicity

I took a BIG bite out of the Big Apple over the past two weeks in New York City at the International Forum of Visual Practitioners conference. 

One of the session leaders, Michelle Boos-Stone, referred to Dan and Chip Heath's great book 'Made to Stick : Why some ideas survive and others die' (also called 'Why some ideas take hold and others come unstuck'.)

Right up there, the number one thing that helps ideas stick is that they're  s-i-m-p-l-e. 

Dan and Chip Heath say:
"It's hard to make ideas stick in a noisy, unpredictable, chaotic environment. If we're to succeed, the first step is this: Be simple. Not simple in terms of "dumbing down" or "sound bites". You don't have to speak in monosyllables to be simple. What we mean by "simple" is finding the core of the idea. "Finding the core" means stripping an idea down to its most critical essence."

You might think you know that and do that. But I think we can all do it better. I was providing visual strategy support to a team conference recently where the leader was striving to get people onboard to new ways of working, three new priorities, some new processes, changes in organisational values and .... so much other 'stuff'. How could the team find their way through all of it to implement and lead on it? 

It would have been refreshing, more impactful and courageous for that leader to find the core in all of that noise. What was it that was truly the priority? Forcing prioritisation is powerful. "Message triage" is what Dan & Chip call it, from one of their case studies and stories in their book.

Look at something you're now trying to make stick. Find the core, strip it down, what's the real priority? What do you really need people to get a hold of? Communicate that bit.

Simon says : Start With Why

Simon Sinek's popular TED Talk and book of the same name'Start with Why' came up a few times in workshops, sessions and client meetings recently. 

So I re-listened to his TED Talk this morning and then visually captured the key points on my iPad. This week's visual sip is a distillation of literally what 'Simon says'. 



Over the past week I've watched, listened, graphic recorded, facilitated and provided feedback on a number of presentations, pitches and speeches.

Some of them were brilliant! Like the very talented speakers that came through the Thought Leaders Speaker Showcase in Sydney last week. My visual notes of that inspiring morning are here.  These most compelling presentations started with why!

But out in the workplace over the week, I saw plenty of dull 'n dozy, read these 50 bullet points and 'hurry-up-and-finish' presentations that clearly didn't start with why! Many were soaked with what and how. Uninspired. Uninspiring. 

Highly paid, big hitting leaders were delivering these presentations. Most of them took the 'dim the lights, draw the shades, lock the door ... and make them listen to my damn PowerPoint' approach for their presentation strategy. Who'd want to follow a leader like that?!

If they'd simply started with why, with a story about purpose, about cause and about belief, they would have been way more powerful, compelling, engaging and ... unstoppable across the organisation, and the industry. 

When you next plan to step on to a stage to present or you take position at the front of the room, take note from the Speaker Showcase stars and Simon Sinek and start with why!

Why people won't buy in to that 'thing'

In New York last week at the International Forum of Visual Practitioner's conference and it was a week of great meetings, conversations and learning. 

A stand-out for me was a session by Lynn Carruthers and Sophia Lang - about creating and using visual templates to help people work together, collaborate, create and innovate. 

On the wall in their session they referenced collaboration and group work wizard and author Sam Kaner. Session presenter Lynn had previously heard Sam say something along the lines of the following :

She paused, double-checked and got the quote down on paper from Sam when she heard it.

This for me is a HUGE reason why many groups and teams struggle with building buy-in and getting people to align to complex changes ... as well as the simplest decisions. 

Check on what you're trying to get people to buy-in to.

Can they see it?

Is it visible?

Or are you all-talk?

You can check out Sam Kaner's book on participatory decision making here

'Break into groups and ...' *groan*

Facilitators, trainers and group workers beware!

How often do you have in your sessions, plans and agendas and chunks of time where people are asked to break into groups, work on something and then .... report back?

Yes it can be a powerful group process ... but when I have had the pleasure of being a group participant recently, I have sometimes seen it as a lazy, quick and unfocused option of choice for many group leaders!

Groups can take quite a while to get to the heart of the topic or activity.

It sucks to be in a group and not have enough time to go through some great storming and norming before you perform.

Before you jump up and shout about how you see the value of group work as THE most important thing in your world, just check your diary for how long ago it was that YOU had to do the group thing.

I think it's too often a 'go to' activity without uncovering the real need, outcome and purpose of the important work.

There are other options : singular/solo activities, pair activities, whole group, mentor discussions ...

Be sure you :
Plan and prepare.
Uncover the real need and purpose of the team and session.
Have a range of activity options at your disposal.

And if things get tricky or you don't know how you'll fill in time, step out of your normal routine and don't break people in to groups.

Go on, try it. Just a few times.

Your groups will love you for it!

Good advice creates value - Distil your message

This week I followed the Twitter feed of an event called Adviser Edge. The great thing about Twitter and other forms of social media is you can join in, eavesdrop, observe, interact, play along - you can get as involved as you like in a topic or conversation.

While I wasn't in the room of this conference event, I was able to pick up the gems people were sharing. It was all about using social media to connect more deeply with clients - particularly if you're in the business of providing any sort of advice. I think that applies to clients who are internal to your business as well as external.

As I watched the Twitter feed flow over a couple of days, I captured key points that hit home for me visually.

One BIG thing about social media though: don't use it as an excuse for not being good at the face-to-face part of advice and interacting. Don't hide behind videos, tweets, Instagram photos and other 'content'. You still need to be good at the human interaction stuff when you're providing your advice.

Some key points from my Adviser Edge distillation were:
- Business is about relationships
- People are attention and time poor
- Be strong and confident
- Be yourself. Dr Seuss was quoted 'Why fit in when you were born to stand out!'

My favourite point of all was that you need to distil your message. Of all of those hundreds of tweets, I had to distill to make sense of it all.

If you're in the business of providing any sort of advice, distilling your message needs to be a constant service you provide. Help people cut through all the detail, the waffle, the twaddle and the 'blah blah blah' and help them get to the essence, the meaning and the gem of what you do.

Good advice creates value - help people know they're getting some great advice.