Graphic Facilitation can help to save an incredible amount of frustration, time and money of many businesses, simply because its so much easier and effective to think, converse and explain complex systems with the help of Visual Thinking Tools.

4) Visual Thinking makes communicating the emotional side of complex problems easier.

Sometimes what makes a problem more complex is that the emotions of those involved are tangled up in the decisions that need to be made. This can be very difficult to deal with when we just use written or verbal language as words have a power of their own. The connotations involved with certain words, phrases, or spoken inflections can spark emotional responses in those who are an audience to them. In sensitive situations this can be dangerous.  How many times have you heard the phrase ‘It’s not what you said but how you said it,’ as the pre-cursor to a full blown argument?
In R4VT #4 above we can see one fish making a suggestion to go into a cave, or not. Now I’ve never met a fish that can talk but bear with me. If the fish making the suggestion had have spoken it,

“Hey guys let’s hide in that cave.” The response could be very negative, the fish are being hunted, many of them would be on edge, and here’s this idiot fish telling everyone to go into a scary cave. But what he actually said was a suggestion, not a command, but it can be heard that way in emotional situations. If he was being more careful maybe he would have tried to be much more clear about the open ended-ness of his suggestion, but these take a lot of time and energy,

“Guys I have seen a cave, maybe it is safe, maybe not, I don’t know. But could we make a decision about wether we should check it out or not? I’m not attached to the outcome either way but I felt strongly to make the suggestion. What do you think?” phew! Take a breath right? Even this consciously less-violent communication can be taken badly if the atmosphere is charged enough.

What Mr. fish above decided to do was to communicate his idea visually. A simple sign made of simple symbols. Donating that the group may, or may not, go in the cave. With this method he removes the charge (positive or negative) connected to the words and deals only with something that is actionable. It even allows for a 3rd option which is to ignore the sign altogether (though he hasn’t placed himself well spatially for that to be a clear option).
With the emotional side of things diminished, or at least defined in a way that they can be taken into consideration properly in their own time, then a decision can be made on the issue at hand (the cave) and the group can move forward.

3) Visual Thinking helps people communicate across culture and language barriers.

We look at culture in three different ways: Hierarchical cultures, departmental cultures and human/world cultures. What unites these is that they all establish their own unspoken rules (how one has to behave), paradigms (how the wolrd works) and languages (how one exchanges information). While doing complex problem solving it’s often that multiple cultures are touched upon, or that one needs to exchange information with another. Here Visual Thinking can lower the barrier. In “Reasons for Visual Thinking (#2)” we brought up the example of an IT-department that needs to talk to the rest of the company. And it could also be the CEO of a big company, who makes use of a visual language, scribbling on a flip-chart with clumsy stick figures, that people usually lower in the hierarchy can resonate on. Bringing them on the same level of understanding by employing a language that’s new to both parties. Or, as the illustration shows, three different horse riders that want to get consensus on how to tackle the snake. Last September I visited some non-English speaking villages in India. How did I make clear what I needed? By letting my arms do wild gestures. This is Visual Thinking.

2) By visualising out a complex problem, it becomes simpler to communicate & for others to build upon.

Imagine an IT-Department explaining the rest of a company where they have to save what kind of information. Or an HR team that introduces the organisational structure to a new person in the company. In these situations, where complexity needs to be communicated often Models are used for communication. By making thinking visual, you can communicate across cultures, hierarchies and specific domains. Thus working on a complex problem is made possible, by using many minds to that build on each other.

1.) Visual Thinking makes understanding complex problems easier.
Try to understand a complex setting by just reading words. For example the relations and roles of and between the different characters in Heinrich von Kleist’s novel “Michael Kohlhaas”. By drawing it out in a map, making it visible in a sketch, the situation gets more clear, simple and understandable. The book “The Back of the Napkin: Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures” is a great resource to read further on how making problems visual can help you ” literally see the world in a new way.”

INTRO:

Our world and society is changing; and the speed at which things are changing seems to be exponentially growing. Living in a globalised world, our products and services become increasingly sophisticated and interconnected. We are dealing with a never-seen-before amount of complexity, information and uncertainty.

We are used to dealing with challenges by having standardised meetings; by talking about, and writing, reports. This is not enough to meet the requirements of complexity. Our collaboration tools are outdated. We can not explain complex problems and their solutions without adapting a systemic way of working.

How can we think and communicate in a way that meets our own needs for simplicity but also makes sure we can deal with the increasing complexity of information?
We want to present to you 10 reasons why we use visual thinking. Enter the Bright Pilot.

We thought it would be a great idea to make use of visual thinking to try and explain its own benefits.

Anah joined us as an Explorer and has come up with the character ‘Bright Pilot‘. An old-school adventurer with a lightbulb for a head. He’s here to shine a light on Visual Thinking, and to help explain its uses. He has no mouth & doesn’t talk so the whole thing will be visual.

Bright Pilot’s first goal is to illuminate 10 Reasons why we use Visual Thinking for problem solving.

Every other day we will use Twitter to share  an image of Bright Pilot presenting a scene that shows Visual Thinking being used.
It’s up to you guys to guess what use of Visual Thinking is being presented by tweeting with the hashtag #brightpilot and your answer. The next day the answer will be revealed along with a more in depth description for those VisThink aficionados.

Effective dispute resolution has for long been only affordable for the happy few, the elite. And to this date, available mechanisms do still not reach the millions who need it. Do we need to rethink our strategy? How?

‘Collective intelligence’ may be part of the answer. After all, approaching an issue from multiple perspectives seems to be the common denominator amongst today’s most successful initiatives.

No longer is it the crowd that is stupid. Those that do not engage and tap into the wisdom of the crowd are. Community-building has become key to the core of organization’s right of existence. One needs to be relevant today.

Tapping into the collective intelligence of communities has become general practice, and is no longer the exception to the rule. Think for instance on the creation of a world-class operating system (GNU/Linux) – it was built by thousands of part-time programmers, from all over the world. Or think of wikipedia, that became the most used encyclopedia in the world, thanks to its unpaid contributors. Who expected such warm-hearted dedication and results ten years ago?

Perhaps, by stretching the ‘wikipedian’ principle (of involving the wisdom of the crowd) towards the social domain of conflict and mediation, could it be that every engaged world citizen can actually contribute to the resolution of disputes around the world? And if so, what does this mean?

With the success of eBay on the rise in past years, it saw itself confronted with millions of claims a year. How to handle them without hiring thousands of people? The idea to  harness the collective intelligence with access to dispute resolution mechanisms was soon embraced for exploration.

In 2008, the eBay’s Community Court was launched. It would enable the members of its community to appeal to non-positive feedback (they believe are unfair or unjustified). Upon the final decision of the jury, the verdict is enforced by an eBay Customer Service Representative. This person, if appropriate, removes the unrightful feedback. And so is the conflict resolved after all.

As the community has grown and reliable members have been identified by eBay, the operations of the Community Court have been stopped. Yet, pioneering initiatives like these do definitely shine a light into what the future will bring – a new era of dispute resolution. Are you prepared?

Daniel Dimov (PhD student at the Leiden University) co-authored this article with Oscar Westra van Holthe (co-founder ModelMinds), who can be contacted at +31(0)624643336  or at .

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In times of change and uncertainty it is crucial to have conversations about what really matters: to communicate ideas clearly, to plan inclusively, and to get everybody on the same page. With Visual Changemaking one can do this: create a shared language and collective memory.

 Register online: http://bit.ly/visualchangemaking 

Visual Changemaking is a two-day Visual Thinking workshop on Graphic Facilitation and Harvesting. Based on action learning we tailor the workshop to the needs of the group. Understand how to use visuals, graphics, and images in meetings. Participants will leave with the feeling ‘Yes I can’ – plus have the tools and confidence to start right-away.

For whom?

Are you a changemaker, rulebreaker, visionairy, or innovator? This workshop proves to be useful for business consultants, coaches, leaders and high-stake decision-makers, participatory meeting planners, and group or meeting facilitators.

Learning outcomes

• Get back in touch with your natural ability to say things with pictures

• Increase and build your confidence with a pen and marker

• Communicate ideas quickly with simple and powerful images

• Improve the quality of your communication by using visuals

• Create and use prepared templates on which to organize your information

• Learn simple visual techniques to better collaborate with others

• Use graphic facilitation to create more productive meetings and outcomes

• Get to know the right graphic facilitation tool for the right business challenge

• Practice hands-on story-telling, listening, neutral observing and reflecting

• Develop your unique style of visual practice and learn how to help others

• Learn tools, techniques and approaches that you can apply in your working practice today

Program

DAY 1:

Beyond Words and Text

• Visual language and visual storytelling
• Tips and tricks for people, colour and more
• Experience and learn about the method
• Fun exercises for practice: Graphic Jam
• Build your own powerful toolbox and Icon Library
• Engaging Flipcharts: Enjoy your markers!

DAY 2:

Using Visuals With Group Processes 

• The field of visual thinking
• Consolidation and mapping of complex issues
• Graphic harvesting: capture the meaning of conversations
• Graphic facilitation: using visuals for effective engagement
• Create your own templates
• Making your professional practice visual

Please note:  this is not about Art with a capital “A”, it is about making ideas visual and helping people remember concepts, understand complexity, and decide what to do next!

Practical information

PROGRAM FEES:

Early bird (register before May 15th): 595€ excl. VAT

Regular fee: 695€ excl. VAT

Fees include coffeebreaks, lunch, materials and handouts

DATES & TIMES:

Dates: June 14^th & 15^th 2012, time: 9am to 5pm

Location: The Hub Amsterdam, Westerstraat 187, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Register online: http://bit.ly/visualchangemaking

Same program (in Dutch) will be held in Ghent on June 18 and June 19, 2012. This program is also available for incompany training. Contact us for details and/or tailormade solutions.

Raised with the saying ’a coin has two sides’, the same goes for the crisis. It may affect some institutions and individuals more than others but it is also an opportunity for all, for example, to critically review budgets. And this is needed: current government is big, expensive, and not always effective. But can we do something about this? What other European initiatives can we learn from? How can we stimulate talent, innovation, and entrepreneurship? Can we use our full potential to address today’s economic, social, and environmental issues?

Let us turn to the UK government. They have redefined themselves through forming the ‘Big Society’ movement. Its goal is to create an entrepreneurial talent-based innovation network. So society can better help itself and the government can focus on its core tasks (like security, infrastructure, health, and education). The government becomes ‘the host’ of societal actors working on their individual dreams, who do take on their mutual responsibility.

With the introduction of the internet (and how it redefines governments), we have become increasingly aware of how our society can be viewed as a network. Networks move in specific ways. They become bigger or smaller, and are formed around themes. People take responsiblity if they feel something needs to be done. Action now!

A smart government builds on the networked societal structure. Plans and decisions become more effective as the government involves its stakeholders at an early phase and throughout the decision-making process. And that is crucial. Stakeholder involvement creates emotional engagement. And that is efficient. After all, emotional engagement takes emotional barriers towards the mutually desired results away. The question that remains then is ‘who does what?’ - making taking responsibility transparent, and one’s contribution both visible and meaningful.

Where to start? First and foremost, the Dutch governement will have to make clear decisions on what projects it will continue or not. Next is to set the conditions under which the government will ’hand over’ specific tasks towards societal actors (like companies, non-profits, and individuals). The means of local entrepreneurs and citizens are brought together through social media. So society – you and me – can really see how to contribute again.

For a taste of the concrete decision-making process you are more than invited to our first interactive demonstration on the 9th of May 2012, at the National Dutch Congress of Public Administration (Landelijk Congres Bestuurskunde at Utrecht). You can register here. Places are limited to those who subscribe beforehand.

And I am inviting all who resonate with the above to contact us at +31(0)616875201. So we can both explore new ways of working and living together. Redesigning our worlds can also start today. Looking forward!

This article is co-authored with our newest partner Lennard Duijvestijn. More information about him you can find here. Want to react? Feel free to contact us at and/or at .

Did you know that your incapability is the key to your style? Where you view it as not good enough, another perceives it as your style. That is also why others like your work better than you will ever do yourself. Fun, huh?

Irene van Nispen-Kress was so kind to provide us with the pictures. Thanks! Love this post? Want to be invited for our next event (like our presence at the Amsterdam Service Jam)? Like us on our FaceBook page or via twitter!

The world experiences a ‘cultural lag’: the collective thinking with regards to contemporary technical solutions lags behind. Do you feel it? Or see it?

The Feelings Beyond

With the role of governmental bodies contested worldwide, this quote from the eigthies proves useful today. Back then, the quote was directed against the development and use of the atomic bomb. Today, the potential wipe-out of humanity, though present, may however no longer be on our minds. Rather, the very legitimacy of governmental bodies, institutions, and systems is more frequently questioned in public. Our focus today is more specific and zoomed into the way we organize ourselves – the existence and legitimacy of our bureaucracies is now at stake…

The Facts Beyond

A cultural lag finds itself especially dominant in times of fast change, according to professor S.C. Derksen, a great Dutch thinker on the peace movement of about thirty years ago. New technologies increase the gap between what can be and the applications of the principles beyond. It is about social adaptation and about reinventing ourselves.

Right now, the technological system that impacts millions of lives worldwide is, not surprisingly, the wordwide web. The Internet – ‘www’.

Generation Y knows no other way than navigating this world’s complexity with this online ‘device’. Contemporary ‘regulators’ have not yet explored the potential impact of the internet on their way of organizing. Nor have government officials explored how they can address today’s societal challenges with the principles beyond.

The Two Key Challenges

Democratic governments struggle with addressing contemporary issues. Citizens do not see the leadership they are screaming for. Officials do not understand what is happening in society. The gap of understanding between officials and changemakers is growing everyday. What do both groups have in common? Two main challenges:

The one challenge is that of navigating informational complexity – the mix of different viewpoints available is huge and the variety in dreams different stakeholders work towards manifold. The other challenge is that of social complexity – how to engage with all voices and how to decide in groups.

Where the Solution is Already Known

Even though there is no one answer to the two challenges, a concept that may guide us is crowdsourcing. It is literally asking for and using the resources of stakeholders themselves. We all know the famous examples online: ranging from wikipedia (for information) to kickstarter (for acquiring private funding). But also other organizations use the principles beyond the online platforms. Think of amazon with its book reviews by customers. Or Lego who have children themselves design their newest toys online. Or Nike where you can design the prints on your own shoes from the web. It seems to work with private initiatives. Why is it not (yet) practice with the government?

The online principles of crowdsourcing are not yet widely adopted in the offline world of governments. Asking for help seems not to be easy with bureacratic institutions. ‘Why?’ young changemakers ask themselves…

The Thinking Beyond the Solution

We all know twitter, a fast-paced-information-sharing platform. It is powered by the force of the crowd, people who want to contribute. It no longer matters what organization you are with: if you add value with the information you share, you build trust with others. You can establish human relations with one ‘click’ on the mouse. Twitter is about trusting others to know better. It is about being pragmatic. That is, if you do not ask others for help, the assumption is that you cannot be trusted. It is authentic and real to build on others, especially when you need it. So, what about the government not asking for help? Can we trust our political parties and ‘representatives’? Sure?

Let us say, we agree on the online principles of ‘participation, inclusiveness, and contribution’. How can branch-organizations and innovation platforms overcome their legitimacy issues? What thinking do we need?

How to Deal with Informational Complexity

Overcoming informational complexity demands a new way of thinking – it is about combining systems thinking with design thinking. It is about seeing the whole yet also the parts or big chunks of available information. It is about making sense of the data. With ModelMinds we do a lot of stakeholder mapping in industries. In a pressure-cooker session we map the power relations present in the branches of our clients. Yet, knowing what is now is not all that is needed. More crucial is to know where all parties want to move towards. In a group session with the major stakeholders we do an industry-wide backcasting process. That is, we construct the dream of all involved. And we can start to formulate criteria for young initiatives to be measured against. So we gain the clarity needed for action.

How to Deal with Social Complexity

Tackling social complexity demands more refined ways of working in groups. After all, it is about engaging with the voices in society. Creative group and brainstorm exercises do help here. It is the government’s role to facilitate finding unique sharing points amongst stakeholders. So that all parties can agree on a vision that represents the needs of all. It is like defining a ‘light house’. Once having made this explicit, we all understand its significance, and how to navigate around. With our impact mapping tool we help groups to refine the postulated vision, so it can be used as a sector’s strategy. Making the outcomes of these sessions visual creates a common frame of reference. Combining this with scenario-planning prepares a sector for what may come. It is about generating clear points of reference, to navigate the unknown. When making decisions, a combination of non-violent communication, appreciative inquiry, the art of hosting, and deep democracy, are recommended. To make our future meaningful.

What to Remember and What to Do Next

Simply put, what I am talking about is similar to my grandmother and the internet. She does not understand and use the web. Not a problem if I take her age and health into account. Younger generations, however, are still capable to learn to work with it. Or, at least with the principles beyond the technology: inclusiveness, participation, and contribution. Application of these principles towards tackling today’s and tomorrow’s complex, pressing sustainable issues, is not only an option, I see it as the sole one. Are you in?

PS: I am inviting all who resonate with the above to contact us at +31(0)616875201. So we can both explore new ways of working and living together. Redesigning our worlds can also start today. Looking forward to meeting you!

“On 24 February 2012, people interested in service and customer experience will meet at locations all over the globe. If YOU are reading this your location is likely to be Amsterdam. They will be designers, students, academics, business people, customers, mums, kids and grand-dads.
In a spirit of experimentation, innovation, co-operation and friendly competition, teams will have less than 48 hours to develop and prototype completely new services inspired by a shared theme. At the end of the weekend, their collection of brand new services will be published to the world. Do YOU want a brand new service published?”

Are you afraid, sweating and confused about how to draw faces, emotions, people, expressions, cartoons, movements...? We hear from a lot of people that they are, especially when it has to be done quickly and to communicate efficient. ModelMinds organizes on the 16th of February 2012 an evening event, where everyone, experienced or not, is invited to join. Floris Koot, a former cartoonist and exceptional visual communicator will guide us step by step to success. Dont miss out on this by signing up to the facebook event to confirm your attendance. There are limited spaces available. The event is free. Gathering 19:00, start 19:30.

Bloc23

“We hired ModelMinds to run an interactive information gathering evening to provide data for a new venture. We had initially considered organising the event ourselves but in retrosepect I’m very happy that we didn’t. The preparation sessions made sure that we were happy with the content of the evening and that we focused the attendees to get the results we were interested in. Highly recommended.” (Mark Coleman – Director at MixTup and Sofware Developer at TomTom)