VisualsSpeak blog

I’ve just finished Jay Cross’ book, Informal Learning. It’s based on the idea that most of the learning we do at work is not in the classroom. There is an overview of this idea on Jay’s blog, Informal Learning: What is Informal Learning?

One of the things that first got my attention is the book showcases the work of many of the visual specialists I reference and looked at in the development of VisualsSpeak. The work of Robert Horn, Grove Consultants and Xplane are featured in the book.

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Getting Tough on Time Limits Narrowing image choices may create visual bias. When the choice of images is narrowed down, a specific person’s visual bias may be inserted into the process. In choosing the final 200 photos for the VisualsSpeak ImageSet, Christine and I, with the input of many people, made conscious choices about which images were going to be in the set. We knew that our visual bias would be in the set and we did as much as possible to minimize the impact. Every person sees the world differently. There’s no way of getting around that. The key to any process is to get as much of ourselves, as the facilitator, out of the process as we can.

Photograph © Tom Tiernan

The key to the VisualsSpeak Process The key to the process is setting time limits for how long you give your participants to choose and assemble their images into a collage. There, I just gave away our ’secret sauce’. (I hope Christine will forgive me.)

Christine (Martell) and I have been friends for about 20 years now. We met when we both lived on Cape Cod, MA. On the outside, we appeared quite different. She was a practicing artist at that point complete with a degree from RISD (Rhode Island School of Design), one of the most prestigious art schools in the US. I was a Real Estate broker and had never been the least bit ‘artsy’.

Photograph © Tom Tiernan

I decided she was an interesting specimen and for the benefit of humans everywhere I should put her under a microscope to see what makes an artist tick. OK, so I learned that putting an artist under a microscope is a bit like herding cats. They just won’t stand still long enough to be analyzed. At the same time I was being drawn into this upside down world called art. It was a bit scary. They just don’t think right. A bit out in left field. No consistent rules. Anything goes. Shape, size, color, dimension, texture. Everything is re-definable. I got dizzy.
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In the VisualsSpeak ImageSet manual we suggest using 12″ x 18″ construction paper as a background for assembling images. We do this for a couple of reasons. First, it gives people a starting place. Second, we use the placement of the selected images on the back ground to give us more information about the person.

When we worked with the development team, we asked different questions at different times. Sometimes it was a one part question, sometimes two. We began to notice that the overall patterns in how the selected images were assembled were similar each time. We pointed this out to them, and they would try to make different patterns. It never felt right to them. We suspect we are seeing something about the natural visual language of each person. There seems to be a corelation to the way people think.

The more linear thinkers tend to make images like these:

Photograph © Christine Martell

The more strategic thinkers tend to make images like these:

Photograph © Christine Martell

As we worked with this more, we discovered the patterns are most consistent when there is a short time to select and assemble the photos. We aim for five minutes. We have started charting these patterns across teams and watching how the patterns we see in the images relate to the patterns we see in behavior. We are seeing interesting trends.

Another reason to use the background paper is it helps people who like to work within the box. It gives those who like to line up the edges a guideline. The people who skew their images and expand way beyond the edges hardly notice the background. They also tend to be the people who find the process very comfortable. They don’t need assistance to make the process work for them.

When we design a session, we spend time developing the process around using the pictures. Each session is customized for the individual or group using similar elements. So is it the pictures that make the session powerful and successful or is it the process. I think it’s both. Mainly because each person engages differently. For some, I think it is the pictures. Some, it is the process. For others it is a blend. Which is why I like it so much. The experience can morph and accommodate a wide range of differences. Two very different people can sit side by side and engage with the exercise in their own way. The outcome is affected by who you are and how you process as the unique you. Extend the invitation to engage. Watch, listen. That’s where the learning is. Seek meaning in what happens.

Do I ever ask people to draw in workshops? Sometimes, but not too often. I personally have had profound experiences in my life from drawing something I couldn’t quite put into words. Deep personal growth for myself and those around me. It’s a very different process than drawing for fun, or drawing to depict something as a piece of art. It’s usually a deeply reflective process. I like to draw. I can draw to some degree, at least well enough to get me through art school. But when you ask me to draw in a workshop, I’m worried about whether I can figure out how to draw what I’m thinking about. I’m not as focused on what I am trying to communicate. I used to ask people to draw regularly, but what I realized is I was invoking more creative anxiety and drawing fear than communication. In workshops, I am almost always trying to get people to connect deeply with each other or the topic we are focusing on. I’m not usually looking to invoke memories of a second grade teacher who told them trees aren’t purple. And that seems to be what often happens.

Photograph © Christine Martell

Now adding drawing to photographs is another matter. I think that can be very helpful, especially for adding shapes and connections, or representing a particular detail that is important but not available in the ImageSets. The gloss laminated images in the big ImageSets can be written and drawn on with erasable markers, or you can draw on background paper.

I found a blog post on “Presentation Zen” that has a number of elements which interest me. Garr Reynolds talks about seeing an ineffective presentation. His realization is that if we answer the same questions in our presentations as we do for our branding, then we might prevent being yet another bad presenter with Powerpoint.

The 3 questions (from the book “Brand Gap”) Garr thinks we need to ask when formulating presentations are:
Who are you? What do you do? Why does it matter?
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The image categories were created to help manage visual overload. Each person approaches the task of selecting images in response to a question differently. Some want to have an idea of what general type of images they will find, while others like to rustle through a pile and see everything.

The people who seem to most appreciate the categories are seldom the same type of person who is likely to be facilitating an exercise. So even if the categories don’t seem important to you, consider who your participants are when deciding how to utilize them.

The VisualsSpeak ImageSet comes divided into four broad categories (Life, Nature, People, Things) in color-edge sleeves. On the back of the photographs, these categories are further broken down into twelve subcategories. If I were working with a group of people that included a lot of people who enjoyed structure and methodical approach, I might break out all twelve categories and put them each in separate piles. I might even put them in baskets or boxes to keep them ordered.
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What happens when you use visuals to spark conversation? As the facilitator, there is energy in the room. People are engaged. When people select photos in response to a question or statement, they select things that are meaningful to them.

They tell stories. Stories about what is important to them. Stories about how the world looks through their eyes. Often these stories are full of passion.

Photograph © Tom Tiernan

So what, people tell stories if you ask them questions without pictures. Yes, and they seem to tell a different kind of story. Perhaps one that is more familiar, perhaps rehearsed, perhaps one that is told over and over without thinking much.

Pictures, photographs, visuals of all kinds evoke some of the same story, but add the chance of seeing it in new ways. The subconscious, the unconscious, the unintentional but relevant.

Visuals can capture and express the relationships between various aspects. The brain processes pictures differently, responds more holistically. In places where the linear and structure is celebrated (like so many academic and business institutions), visuals can speak that which is unspoken in words. Those whose voices get missed or are often left unheard can come forward when sparking conversations with photographs.

Working with images is fun, for the participants as well as the facilitator. Pictures speak to our creativity, engage the imagination.

We started our Question Contest a few weeks ago. Nineteen people participated, and sent a total of 168 questions and suggestions. We’ve been answering the questions here on the blog, and will continue to do so. At least the ones we can. Some of you came up with really hard stuff! It has been very helpful for us to know what you are interested in. We will be working on implementing all the suggestions. So, the drum roll please.

Photograph © Tom Tiernan
(Here are all the entries. Every question got one entry for the author.)

Now to insure that every contestant is assured of good karma for years to come, we enlisted the help of a monk living in the farthest reaches of the Himalayas. We sent him, via carrier pigeon, the names of each entrant and the number of times they had entered. Read the rest of this entry »