Visualising TEDx Melbourne

It was a thrill to be at the recent TEDx Melbourne event - not on the stage as a speaker, nor in the audience. I was on the sidelines graphic recording as the speakers presented on the topic of Education Leadership.

Three 18 minute talks showing a global, state and local perspective of leading in education. As the room was being set up before the event, and the TEDx banners and signage were put in place, the speakers did microphone sound checks and a had a final run through of their talks.
Then it was show time; the speakers presented, the audience listened, and I listened too... capturing in the moment the key themes I was hearing. Here's the end product - a large wall chart. At the end of the evening I was interviewed for a podcast (the edited link is here) by the guys atEdTechCrew (the full podcast) about graphic recording and using visuals as well as words. 

So... if the stage was yours, how would you structure your 18 minute TED talk? How would you start off? What would your key points be? What stories would you tell? How would you finish?

There were more speakers to listen to this week at the LAST Conference (Lean, Agile and Systems Thinking) in Melbourne. I presented on the topic of Visual Collaboration and also captured several of their presentations using the ipad. Several speakers had more than 18 minutes to fill and so I wondered, how did they prepare? What were their key points? I was tempted to walk over and 'pull the plug' on the data projector and slide show a couple of times! Too much reliance on what was on the big screen, not enough faith that their content and thinking could be delivered even more powerfully without the technology. 

As Leonardo Da Vinci said "Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication". It's not always quick to simplify, but it's most effective and most engaging in a busy firehose-full-of-information world.

Get closer to simple before you stand and deliver your next talk, presentation or workshop. Your audience will be engaged and it will be memorable for the right reasons!

Opening a can of worms

When your team or group gets together for some strategy, planning or important conversations, often what you plan to work on or think you need to work on is not the real issue. Real issues can be sitting below the surface.
 
In a planning session with a client recently we talked about what might be below the surface. ‘I don’t think we want to go there’, ‘that’s a can of worms and it’s more trouble than it’s worth’, ‘if we go there we’ll never get out!’ they said.
 
There can be a feeling that some of those big issues or topics will be too big and you’ll never get back on track, or it will be too touchy or difficult. Sometimes you might think it’s not important for the work you’re doing anyway… or you can plan the strategy without having to go there.
 
But time and time again in strategic planning sessions, retreats and company fireside chats with clients, the value of ‘going there’ can be seen. 
 
A board team I worked with who had a bright and creative agenda mapped out for the weekend, needed to take a right hand turn early on to deal with some fundamental financial and strategic issues. We went there.  Our original agenda and plan shifted and changed. For some, that was uncomfortable. But we did what was needed… and we got back and continued on.

One of my clients recently said : “Lynne was indeed the glue that held the discussion together while at the same time allowing the conversation to go where it needed to go, as touchy as it was...”
  
Good facilitation skills will give you the confidence to go to that topic and work with the team to address it.
But if you're not going to open up the can, then at least name and say what the can of worms is - a bit like reading the ingredients label on a product from a supermarket shelf. And there's a lot more of that happening these days!
 
A helpful meeting tool to start with the facts, move to opinions, generate ideas and commit to actions is my Facilitator 4-Step from a few issues back. 

So go on, open the can. Most cans of worms only have a couple of worms in them anyway and once they’re out, so many other things are easier to address and clearer to tackle. And the energy you now have – because you’re not stifling or dancing around those worms – is better redirected to the real game, the other issues and the important work of the team. Now where is that can opener? Oh, it's got a ring pull top - great!

Engaging, Building Buy in?

Engaging, building buy-in?
Cut.
Take 2.

I had the wonderful experience of acting in a couple of scenes of a Paramount feature film recently. There were lines to learn, a costume and makeup to wear, actions to remember and a conversation to have with another actor. And the starter-gun pressure of having to perform when the director called 'Set..... Action!' After a few takes with a different tone in my voice, varying hand gestures, louder or quieter volume and emphasis, it was … ‘a wrap’!
 
The day after the film shoot I worked with a group of leaders to help boost their engagement and buy-in skills with colleagues and project sponsors. We talked through how we don't often give ourselves the opportunity to try a second or third (or more…) take with our communication. 
 
It is ok to have a few takes at our engagement and communication. If you’ve asked a question and you don’t get the response you’re after, ask another, try again.
 
“Another way to ask that would be…” or “How about…..” or “Let me try that again…”
 
It’s not live television. It’s not a game show. We’re working with other humans and sometimes we have to re-work and re-take things. It will be ok.
 
Just pause, rewind, go again. With a second or third take, you’re demonstrating your commitment to the role and you’re genuinely working to engage and build buy-in. In your meetings, conversations and workshops this week, have a 'take two'... or more. 
 
The feature film? It will be released in November so I'll give you more details closer to the time - if I make it beyond the cutting room floor!
 
And thank you for the big thanks and feedback on last edition's highwire walker metaphor for meetings and conversations. Great to see it playing out for real this week for Nik Wallenda completing the Niagara Falls highwirecrossing. What an inspiring feat!

Every meeting and conversation is a balancing act

Watching someone handle a meeting and conversation well, is just like the skill of a highwire walker. Balancing, woah over balance, back to centre, wait, steady, step forward, balance, wait...

The almost easy part is moving along the wire to achieve your outcomes. You can run across if you like. But you might lose people along the way. Or, everyone can be having a great time and participating, you'll achieve some outcomes but they won't be on topic or relevant.

So the balance is between achieving the meeting or session outcomes; involving and engaging the people who are there (in the room or dialling in remotely); and keeping things on topic. It's a balance and you need to let some slight overbalancing happen here and there, but get back to centre, steady and then keep stepping forward.

In a meeting, workshop, conversation today, notice how the balance is going. Is anyone really participating? Are you getting anywhere? Are you on topic? How are all three coming together to the applause of the crowd?

Focused talk... or off on a tangent

The quick pic image at the left for you this week is a good reminder: notice when conversations, meetings and discussions are focused and on-topic or wandering off on a tangent. Conversations do spark people’s thinking. It’s no wonder we think of other things or want to raise what we see are important or related topics when we're right in the middle of another.

So be aware of how you encourage divergent and convergent thinking when you’re leading or participating in a meeting or discussion. 

Divergent – open it up, open up the conversation and the discussion.
Convergent – narrow it down, close it up, wind it up.
 
If the talk goes off-topic, rather than rolling your eyes with ‘here they go again’, say that it sounds like it might be on another topic. Then you have a choice: proceed along the existing path or take the new path. I like to note what that topic, question or comment is. You can come back to it if you choose not to take that path right now. It can help to ask: 'Do we need to go along this path?' 'Does it tie in to our topic today?'  'Is this related?' 'Is this the time/place to talk about it?' Notice these are closed questions. If you do go along this new path, then it's helpful to open it up (divergent) with open questions like 'How does this....', "What parts of that...' or 'Where do these points...'
 
In true divergent and convergent thinking, divergent is about many possible solutions. Convergent is about one.

In business, I often see leaders, managers and meeting facilitators hit speedbumps when a topic is about to be wound up and converged ... and (often unknowingly) they ask another open question. Wham! It's open again. More divergent thinking and talking. Of course if it needs discussing and deciding you do that. But make sure the questions you ask suit either opening things up or closing them down.  

Are we all done on this topic now? Is there anything else to add to this before we move to the next point? Do we need any more time on this topic?
 
Notice how you as the leader, manager, consultant or facilitator contribute to diverging or converging.