Walt Disney revolutionised the industry of animation during the 20th century. How come?
Mr Walt Disney understood the power of effective visualisation already in the 1930s. He started doing storyboarding in order to gain an overview of the huge amount of drawings constituting animation films his crews of drawers made. Walt Disney aimed to produce better quality animation by increasing the number of drawings per frame four times the normal number of its contemporary standard. The company outperformed its competitors by using much of the same methods as Blocket has been applying to their tasks.
Go visual and get your message across
I believe a lot of us could learn a lot from becoming more visually oriented when trying to explain something to colleagues or an audience. It’s fascinating how easily understandable quite complex ideas can get with a little help of a pen and paper instead of Power Points or Word files.
A couple of years ago I attempted to get employed by IDEO, a fascinating industrial design company with offices in the US, Europe and Asia. The company blends engineers, designers, social anthropolgists, business people, and more. What the company has understood for a long time, is the art of visualising process and development. The company has also understood the importance of customer and user insight.
In order to be considered for the posts, applicants were asked to present photos expressing something on the topic ‘What will the future hold?’ I made a drawing (as featured below). The message I wanted to give was that in the future ‘anything goes’. What may seem science fiction today will be reality within few years.
The drawing did not land me the job. However, the process of trying to condense a complex message into one image made me appreciate the power of imagery. Draw what is on your mind. Shoot a photo or a film. It may help you get your message across more easily.
In 2005 I spent a year in Madrid studying for an MA degree in Strategic Human Resources. I still view it as one of the smartest investment I have done.
In order to get up to speed in Spanish proficiency I spent a couple of months on a language course before starting the MA programme. Change of location allowed me to spend time on things I normally would not do, like for instance drawing stuff. I spend mornings in the classroom learning Spanish verbs and grammars. In the afternoons I could go to the beach and relax or hang out with fellow language course students.
One of those afternoons I created a story in my head which I spent the next couple of afternoons writing and skethching.
I didn’t have a plan for the story when I started drawing it. Somewhere down the road I decided to mail it to the five year old daughter of a friend of mine. A few months ago I borrowed the book and posted parts of it on my Flickr photo sharing site.
A couple of weeks ago I was lucky to attend a presentation by a very inspiring colleague within one of Schibsted Media Group’s companies: Lena K. Samuelsson. She is the Editor-in-Chief of Svenska Dagbladet, a Swedish daily.
She said something that you may find ordinary, but that I think is at the core of corporate challenge today: keeping your employees engaged.
She shared a story about an editorial meeting she was going to run a morning. There were plenty of topics to be dealt with and, of course, not enough time to go through all of them. So what can you do? Start the meeting and drag yourself through all items of the agenda, even though you notice that the team is not inspired at all to do so? (Well, here I’m adding something of my own imagination, because I don’t know exactly whether Ms Samuelsson’screw was inspired or not that particular morning. However, let’s pretend that was the context, okay?)
I guess the Editor-in-Chief said something like this: ‘Let’s skip the agenda, we’re not in the mood for decision making anyhow. Therefore there’s no use in sitting down here. Let’s go the Museum of Modern Art! Let’s go search for inspiration! OPEN YOUR EYES and think about something completely different. Perhaps it’ll bring us forward, fill us with energy, hey? Okay? Yeah! We’re off, hurray!’
They didn’t do the agenda. They probably did the whole meeting another day. But she managed to create a story which I’m probably not the only one remembering and sharing.
Right, then watch the video above, it’s a delicious piece of visual and emotional inspiration. Five minutes of your time.
We should all once in a while allow some fresh air and perspectives into our busy days. That counts in particularly for leaders aiming to inspire their workers to go to work full of energy when times are rough.
‘Talent managent’ means customising ones leadership style to individual employees
Harvard Business Online’s blogger Peter Bregman suggests that the sudden stardom of Susan Boyle, recently rocketing to the sky in the UK television programme “Britain’s got Talent”, can teach us a lot about how companies can improve their talent management.
Bregman writes:
By recognizing and encouraging the particular gifts of their employees, great managers increase the chance that those employees will be willing to stand there, exposed and authentic, while their audience rolls their eyes and sneers, expecting failure.
The scepticism among the programme’s hosts and audience towards the 47 year old, complete unknown singer is vividly displayed in the YouTube video above. This is all predictable, of course. It’s yet another contemporary sample of storyteller H.C. Andersen’s classic tale of The Ugly Duckling.
Manage B players well
What Ms Boyle adds to this storytelling tradition is that she illustrates the importance of leaders managing their B players well. B players make up the majority of nearly any company’s core of workers. They keep the ship afloat amid crisis. They are loyal. They’ll go through fire and water to keep the company afloat.
A players will always make their way to the surface when things get rough. Manage B players well and they will rise and shine stronger than ever.
Encourage and provide feedback
So, dear reader, make your way into the organisation you work for and hunt for the Susan Boyles of your company. They’re all around you. If you’re a colleague: encourage them to grow their talent. If you’re their boss: encourage as well as provide them with specific feedback.
Read my previous posts on managing B players and an inspiring example on how to provide specific feedback.
