Are you a Champion for Change?

There are always payoffs for the lies we tell ourselves and the easiest to maintain are those we share with others which carries the appropriate scientific title of “Bandwagon Effect”.  The Bandwagon that I had worked hard to be part of was that of the Charismatic Champion of Change.  The fallacy was that regardless of my mastery of the topic or skills as a professional communicator that change does not happen from the top down or outside in but must be generated by champions from within.

This realization was both painful and productive flipping my entire approach to my service upside down to develop the Peer Powered Performance process.  I still am proud of my ability to deliver the perfect inspiring, entertaining and educational keynote but now that is just the beginning.  I know if that is all I do most of the benefit will be lost in a matter of days or even hours.  To encourage lasting transformation within any organization I must find ways to continue the conversation.

The challenge is how to create the same positive emotion in print that I create from the platform.  The solution was recognizing that I could not do it alone. I needed more than just the best words.  I needed enlightening, entertaining and insightful pictures.

In the evolution of our brains imagery has several million year head start.  Words drain our attentive resources by requiring the brain to analyze each shape before assembling them into a meaningful thought.   In contrast, images become so indelibly imprinted on our brains that you can be shown 2,560 photographs for just ten seconds each and three days later your recognition accuracy would likely be over 90%.

The solution was to take on a collaborator enlisting the talents of the remarkable Mr. Shon Watkins.  Since the first night we met in the Borders Book store we have collaborated to create more than 100 images each designed to convey an idea, opportunity, obstacle or emotion in a single illustration.  Each character begins with a sketch like those you see included here.  The sketches are merely starting places that our clients use to create the image the best represents the message they wish to convey.

I like the sketch style because it represents our ever evolving and imperfect.  Our daughter, who is a fantastic manager, often asks her employees if they brought their human with them today?  She does it to remind everyone that humans make mistakes without which we NEVER learn.

The Jazz quartet you see below was the result of a single one day retreat with Shon several hundred miles away in his studio.  Based on the descriptions the group created that morning this full color image was ready for delivery that afternoon.    Notice the “Me Bee” in the background unwilling to share what he clutches close in his “mine” honey jar.  The jar he hides in represents the old systems of management where information was controlled by a limited few.  Another brilliant interpretation added by Shon was using the top of the jar to create the stage for the creative jazz quartet.  Imagine using this image as a poster in your business and asking employees to describe its meaning to them.  Where would they put themselves.  On the stage of in the jar?

1. Are you using illustrations to keep the most important issues in focus and part of your cultural conversation?
2. Are images part of your organizational arsenal for addressing counter productive behaviors?