Strategic Storyboarding

“The world is in a crisis of trust. With this loss of authenticity and trust, it becomes increasingly incumbent on leaders to present ideas clearly and re-engage people.

When you have these tools you can be a truly facilitative leader — creating the environment for people to step forward and become better leaders.”
—Todd Harrison
Director for Associate Leadership Development, Wellpoint

What’s the big deal about winning trust?
Whether it’s your marriage or your team, people want to be included. They want to share their opinions. And they want to know you are listening.

If you have an important title or not, you can be win trust by being a truly facilitative leader. Right where you are. Training. Presenting. Running a pre-shift meeting. When you invite input and listen closely, you inspire trust.

It seems like a little thing. But faciliating takes practice and skill.

To be successful you need to know these three potential pitfalls. Once you know them–you can avoid them.

Trap One: Logic Above All

Sure, business needs a logical and left-brained approach. More customers. More profits. More on time and on budget deliverables.

But what about the people side? Personal issues, emotions, feelings, and creative insights. It’s really about people working with people.

Remember the ‘human’ in Human ‘resources’?
Oh, yeah. It’s about humans.

Trap Two: Bring Me The Money

Of course you’re in business to make money. Otherwise–why not just go for a hike? You need to make money. Shave costs. Eliminate fluff. Be real about recession proofing your business. But if you keep a hard-nosed focus on money, money, money–I bet you’re leaving a lot of opportunity on the table.

Opportunity for new idea. Opportunity for abundance. Opportunity for win-win creativity and innovation. A chance for people to get involved. A fighting chance for sustainable profits.

Trap Three: Working With You Is A Drag

You’ve seen the data. People will stay in a low-paying job, with lousy conditions just because of a great relationship with their immediate supervisor. Don’t get me started on this one.

If you are a drag to work with…look no further than the mirror. You’ll find the true reason for 100% turnover in your department.

I bet you’re not like this in everything you do or with everyone in your life. How can you be more open and engaging as a leader at work? Explore this and make simple changes high on your priority ‘to-do’ list.

With these three traps in mind, jump in and start learning more about facilitating. Ask open-ended questions. Invite input. Listen to responses. Capture responses on interactive storyboards.

Let me know how this helps you win great results. You deserve it.

There’s a myth that a lot of people have and you’ve probably heard:

Anyone can be in business.

In fact, you may have this false idea yourself.

Just this week, I ran into an old friend. “V” has a carpet cleaning business and is barely eeking by. He looked at me and in characteristic fashion declared, “I could do what you do. Anyone could!”

In the past, I would have gotten pissed off. But I’ve learned. Now I just smiled and said, “Really? Go knock yourself out.”

You see, I’ve realized a lot of people don’t have a clue about thinking strategically. They haven’t the foggiest about innovating. And they don’t understand how much persistence you really need.

They just see the tip of the iceberg. The limo picking me up…my easygoing attitude…the smile on my face. Bottom line– I’m happy!

And I make it look so easy.

It’s like this. Professional athletes make it look so easy–you think–hey, I could do that. Sure you could. With training, coaching and non-stop dedication.

No successful athlete turns training on and off. They focus constantly to achieve great performance. And you need to do the same.

Doing business is not a ‘grab-n-go’ thing anyone can do.

Your business is not a sprint. It’s a marathon. You have to pace yourself, keep drinking water and working your vision. And for phenomenal results, you have to nourish yourself and your team. And you have to continually ask tough questions.

Strategic business IQ is a living thing. Here’s how to take a pulse on your strategic intelligence. Do a quick tally. Check if you’ve asked yourself these questions in the last 30 days:

• Why am I in business?
• What is my business vision for my business?
• What are my strategic milestones for 2008?
• How did I do in the first quarter?
• What will I do differently in the next quarter?
• How am I sharing all this with my team?

Are you asking these questions? If you are asking all of them–great!
Some of them…well, that’s a good start.

Or none?

Then…there’s plenty of room for improvement.

The fastest way to increase your strategic business IQ is to storyboard your vision. Map out your mission. Use an interactive and visible process to identify milestones with your team…and track progress.

You’ll find storyboarding becomes an essential part of part of how you succeed in business. And, the best news is, with visual maps you’ll be able to do the three most important things every leader wants to do:
1. Simplify complex strategy
2. Explain tactics and big picture
3. Engage everyone on your team

How can you strengthen your strategic business IQ?
Ask tough questions. Storyboard your answers. Share the process

Just discovered a tiny, utterly delightful Italian restaurant in San Francisco. And sorry, I won’t reveal the location.

But it was the most delicious Gorgonzola pasta this side of Tuscany. And a charming, low-key atmosphere that makes me want to jump in the car and head back over there again. And again.

Yet, this is not a wine-and-dine post. This is a post about strategic storyboarding–and how you can grow your repeat business using this principle in multiple ways.

And I’ll start at the end of my meal so you get what I mean. After we’d had a yummy meal and polished off every last bite, the owner came over to confirm that we were happy.

I told him I was and would be coming back again soon. For sure.

He promptly returned with the bill. After he’d picked up my payment, he put down 2 spoons. How interesting. I’d already paid.

But he held my attention with that small yet deliberate move.

Naturally when a light and creamy taste treat emerged at the table…covered in fresh strawberries. Well…let’s just say my decision to return was sealed with a kiss.

You may not be running a restaurant. In fact, your business or project is likely to be a lot more focused on profits, deliverables and cost cutting.

(Hmmm…sounds a lot like most restaurants.)

So how can you thrill your clients? Give them the equivalent of a surprise treat. It may not be an edible one. Perhaps it’s a taste of a different product. A new service. A coaching call. A test-run of a pilot course.

Think of it as your special dessert. It’s the frosting on the cake. In addition to one they’ve already experienced.

By the way–this is the exact opposite of the ‘free’ dessert when everything has gone wrong with your meal or customer experience. I never get this one. Why would you want a free dessert on top of a rotten experience?

Back to the delectable route and how to super thrill your customers.

Brainstorm all the ways you can go over the top. Storyboard exactly how to exceed what your customers expect. Then, go out and do it. Have fun putting a smile on their face. You just never know how this will snowball. All the way to your next repeat business. And raving fan.

That’s how storyboarding can really make your business sweeter and much more profitable.

Visual Language has a proven effectiveness

Research from John Sweller and his associations found 10-150% greater speed in understanding of visual language documents and from 20-50 percent fewer errors–or better learning scores. Results from Sweller’s research showed that text where visuals where tightly integrated with diagrams improved problem solving and promoted better scores.

Notes from Visual Language: Global communication for the 21st centuryby Robert E. Horn

Styles that Work

There are three important styles of learning–audio, visual and kinesthetic. Audio learners must hear what they are supposed to learn, visual learners must see what they are to learn, and kinesthetic learners must be able to try and do what they are to learn in a hands-on environment. Each person learns differently and has the ability to learn with all three styles, however will learn more strongly in one setting than another. In order to increase the learning in your environment, it’s best to employ all three methods.

Everyone processes information in different ways as well, and will likely depend on the style of learning that they are most comfortable with. Some people, such as kinesthetic learners, will need to work with the data in a hands on environment. Audio learners need to engage in conversation about the data they have been presented in order to work through it verbally. Some people need to just think about the data and put the pieces together in their own minds. The types of learning and processing of information also depend on personality types between extroverted and introverted.

When you have a group of adults that you need to teach something, the learning and processing preferences will vary across the board. You have to allow for all three kinds of learning and different information processing, and allowing for all of them will ensure a well-taught group of adults. You should deliver each of your sessions using varieties of methods and allowing for alternatives at key points–allow for quiet reading time, group discussion and hands on activities so you can ensure that you are hitting all the personality and learning types in your class.

Understanding the concepts of learning styles is one of the key points to being an instructor of adults. Allowing the information to be processed and taken in with a variety of methods will ensure that you are covering everyone under your instruction.

Teaching adults and instructing them can be very difficult, especially if you haven’t taken any instructional technique courses. Many adult teachers who teach or speak to adults have trouble getting across to the group and the usual cause is lack of credibility.

One of the key things that you will notice is that adults do not respond to other adults in a position of authority, such as an instructor, if they aren’t credible. You can really easily deny your credibility to your audience by not being prepared or fiddling through stacks of notes. Reading off of a note page is not a good instructional technique.

It is also easy to build your credibility with adults, and it’s just as easy to build it as it is to lose your credibility. You can increase your credibility, for starters, by knowing the information that you are teaching or giving inside out. By knowing your information, you can easily stop, start, answer questions and move around the information as you need to, going with the flow of the class that you have in front of you. The dynamics in an adult classroom or meeting setting change from group to group and you have to have the ability to go with that flow—if you can’t, then you immediately lose your credibility.

One of the best ways add credibility to your seminar with adults is by using a white board. Whether this is a plain paper flip chart or a whiteboard , it can be used to highlight, punctuate and move fluidly through information. With a whiteboard, you can easily flip to a fresh, new topic and add more information because that is where the class is taking you, then if you need to go back to other information, it is already there and readily available. You don’t have to be an artist or a instructional guru to pull it off, just know your information, go with the flow of the group in front of you and make good use of your whiteboard.

Take a Break from Data Overwhelm

“We’re all overloaded with too much information�
“My boss went away for a week and came back to 2500 emails.�
“We’re drowning in information.�

According to Stephen A. “Tony� Batman, writing in Accounting Today, Information pollution is one of the top five foundational pain-creators in 21st century America. He points out how this impacts decision making and problem solving: in “information pollution that Americans are unable to sort through, in order make better decisions about all aspects of their lives.�

Sound familiar? Everyday I talk with people in widely different industries—from mortgage lending to pharmaceutical training –– and they’re all experiencing the crunch. Call it overload, overwhelm, or paper war. It falls under the big heading of “Information fatigue syndrome.�

Psychologist David Lewis first used the phrase “Information Fatigue Syndrome” for the condition that, he says, is caused by unrelenting exposure to excessive information.

“Information Fatigue Syndrome had emerged as a direct result of the information revolution. Symptoms might include the paralysis of the analytical capacity, constant searches for more information, increased anxiety and sleeplessness, as well as increasing self-doubt in decision-making.
—Nick Hudson, “Managers ‘Suffering from Info Overload,” Press Association Newsfile, October 14, 1996

When it comes down to it, working or retired, coach or coachee students or teachers, patients or physicians—you’re likely to be dealing with too much information. This is both a problem and an opportunity. A problem if we don’t face it. An opportunity if we take on the challenge to find new solutions, new tools and new skills to help manage the torrents of information.

Take A Data Break!
Even Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates is reported as taking a break from all the data. “Bill Gates takes a “think weekâ€� away from his computer.â€� according to Marsha White, “Confronting Information Overload,” Journal of School Health, April 1, 2000

Many articles refer to taking a break, a data fast, a time-out from information. Here are a couple of my favorites:

“Go on what David Shenk calls “data fasts”. Take a week in the country away from all the noise to clear your head. Take a big novel with you, preferably by an austere Russian from the 19th century.â€�
—Nick Paton Walsh, “Information burnout — is it the new flu?” Sunday Herald Sun (Melbourne, Australia), April 23, 2000

“Cleanse your system with “data fasts.� Every now and then, turn everything off. It will help you evaluate its real value.�
—Joy Rothke, “Poking holes in the Net,” The San Francisco Examiner, May 19, 1997
If you’re wondering how to manage that, take it in baby steps. Here are six mini-steps to taste the “data retreat� in bite size chunks:

6 Mini Data-Retreat Strategies
Even if you can’t take a week off, here are six things you can do:

1. Move away from the computer. Stand up. Walk away. Stretch.
2. Stop at least once an hour. Get a drink of water. A cup of tea. Stop and hydrate.
3. Give your eyes a rest. Look up from close work. Look around and look outside. Shift your focus to see something in the distance. Do this several times to allow your eye muscles to relax from fixed concentration.
4. Set the alarm clock for a scheduled break. Experiment with setting the alarm for 60 or 90-minute increments. When the alarm goes off, act on it! Stand up, walk away, and stretch. Give your mind and body a rest. Watch and support your own concentration time.
5. Make a cluster map to get a quick overview of all the data you have to deal with. To learn more about practical mapping techniques, get SOS: Stress Options and Solutions a practical guide to manage too much data.
6. Install software such as “Coffee break� to enforce your time-out sessions. Coffee break turns off your computer for you! It’s intense but keep breathing. It’s just a time-out. After your screen goes blank, it reminds you to take the time to stretch, relax, and move while you are taking a data break.

If you’re saying, “I could have used this yesterday!� you’ll find more easy-to-implement tools to use today in the just released e-book, SOS. In SOS: Stress Options and Solutions you’ll find practical tips and techniques for getting in, around and through the data deluge.
Click here for more information.

P.S. Know someone who could benefit from taking a stress break?
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Get A Break from Insanity: Take a Mini-Vacation!

You know that feeling after a completely satisfying day — you’re lying down to bed, feeling exhausted yet happy? I’m just guessing here, but has it been a while? Maybe when you were last on vacation. Would you like to take a mini-vacation, right now?

The good news is: feeling good is something you already know how to do—in fact, your body is naturally drawn to do what you enjoy and what you’re good at. In the next few minutes, you’ll learn a practical technique to create less stress for yourself—starting right now. Here’s how:

Find Things That You Like To Do
What do you really ENJOY doing? What puts a smile on your face the quickest?

Lets work on pulling out the practical segments of these activities. We want to find out – Just what is it exactly that you cherish about these things? This requires a bit of reflection and may take a few moments. Don’t worry – you’re not on your own – keep reading…

Do you really look forward to your morning walk around the neighborhood with the family dog? What do you like most about those walks? Is it the fact that you are getting in some quiet “me-time� with no one else around? Or maybe you value the physical benefit you get from the fluid movements of your body and the mind-clearing effects of your increased heartbeat and breathing… Perhaps you enjoy the time of day right after dinner when the sun is setting. Ask yourself, “What am I appreciating most about this picture?� Maybe you are really drawn to the beautiful colors at that time of day.

Use this checklist to put a finger on what delights you.

“Wow! I enjoy that!�
• Which places make you feel most at ease?
• Where do you feel most creative?
• What activities do you look forward to the most?
• Who are the people you can really enjoy yourself with?
• What times of the day do you feel like your senses are gathering the most input for you?
• What are your favorite sounds – musical instruments, sounds of nature?
• Which are your favorite colors – bright and vibrant, soft and soothing?
• What smells bring you positive associations?

Identify Your Weak Spots / Sore Spots
Think of something that you have wanted to start doing or feel that you are not good at doing. Where do you find yourself doing something with great reluctance? What are the necessary things in your life where you find yourself saying, “I’m not cut out for this!�
Use the following checklist to identify things that rub you the wrong way:

“No way, it’s not my thing!�
• What are your least favorite activities?
• What intimidates you?
• Who intimidates you?
• Who are your least favorite people?
• What are the locations – in your home or place of work – that don’t do anything for you, or even drain your energy?
• What seem to be your least productive times of the day?
• What is your pet peeve?

Drawing Connections
This part is a bit like playing a game of mix and match. Ready? – Now that you’ve done detailed work in discovering just what it is about a situation that brings out the best and the worst in you, it’s time to do yourself a favor and apply your “strengths� to your “weaknesses�.

The goal is to find your “sweet spots� among all of the things that bring you joy and a sense of relief and match them to an area of your day that doesn’t go so well. The key here is to realize that you already possess everything you need to smooth your bumpy road! Instead of such huge fluctuations in your activities – ones that you look forward to and complete with ease vs. ones that you dread and plough your way through – you will draw from the positives and apply to the negatives. It makes sense, doesn’t it?

Start The Improvements Right Away!
Let’s take the example of your favorite and least favorite room to be productive or creative. Think about all of the details of those two places – the colors, the lighting, the smells, and the temperature. Which setting, or combination of settings, brings out the best in you?

Take this strategy and apply it right down your list of things that bother you (weak spots) and refer to the information you gathered from your strengths. Our mind is an amazing tool…sometimes we just need another way of looking at things!

Take This With You:
Take a really rough part of your day and find an appropriate strength among your opposites. Apply that positive element to shed a new light on your rough spot and rapidly improve how you feel.

How to Deal with Too Much Information

According to the 2003 report from SIMS, School of Information Management Systems at UC Berkeley, the amount of information each person deals with has more than TRIPLED in the last three years! The SIMS report, “How much information?� quantifies the radical growth of information in the world, as well as the sources and storage of information. So if you’ve been feeling that this information torrent is rapidly increasing—you’re right!

This may explain that feeling you’ve been having that leads to that frustrating feeling, “How do I deal with all this??!�

Take a first step at looking at your personal information load. What’s your share of information involvement? Take a look at the whole picture: at home, at work, at school and in research.

Right now, take a moment to put a check mark next to the sources of information that you use on a daily or weekly basis.

• Search email
• Watch TV
• Listen to radio
• Read newspaper
• Talk with friends
• Answer pager
• Talk on the phone
• Watch films
• Read office documents
• Read magazines
• Read periodicals
• Read mail
• Read advertising offers
• Read credit card offers
• Read books
• Look at photos
• Listen to CD’s
• Watch DVD’s

Use the Internet and online services to:
• Query search engines
• Research product purchases
• Research areas of interest
• Read ads
• Check pop-up news
• Enter sweepstakes
• Look for medical/health information
• Visit reference sites
• Download software
• Use internet yellow pages
• Read daily newspapers
• Check local/city guides
• Evaluate travel deals
• Play online games
• Look for job or career information
• Evaluate purchases
• Use instant messaging
• Document review: preparing for meetings
• Read notes during meetings
• Preview or review handouts
• Look at PowerPoint presentations

Now What?
Review your list. It’s OK. Take a deep breath. You’ve been busy, haven’t you? Think about one area where, without negatively impacting your job and your life, you could reduce your information load. What is one step that you can take today to reduce your information load?

Review this list tomorrow, and again in a few days. You may find that you have a different perspective or answer each time you look at it. Ask friends or colleagues what they do to reduce their information intake. You’re likely to learn interesting new habits and practices that you can apply to your information consumption.

Take This With You:
Pick one area to reduce your information exposure. Start small to achieve success. Cut back by five or ten minutes at a time.

Find out what you can do to manage information overload. You have better options than feeling exhausted from “just too much.� Get your personal guide today of “Design Yourself.“ You’ll find field-tested visual mapping techniques to manage information overwhelm and find stress relief.
Click here for more details.

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