I draw to see...

I like to draw.

But it isn't because I'm good at it...

I like to draw bcause it forces me to look more closely at the world around me. I don't spend enough time drawing, but - then again - I don't spend enough time doing anything.

At dinner the other night, I pulled out my index cards (don't leave home without them!) and drew this 2-minute sketch of Anige. I wish I was more confident in my strokes, but it captured the way she looked at that moment and I'll take that.

You can't draw and not look... at least I can't.

If nothing else, that's the gift that drawing gives me: focus.

Drawing forces me to be in the moment. To stop. Look. Reflect. And make a connection from my eyes to my brain to my hands (hopefully with a quick stop at the heart, but who can say?). Isn't that a pretty good description of learning?

Restroom Iconography XIII: Mountain View, CA

A couple weeks ago, Angie and I had an excellent lunch at Cascal, in Mountain View, California. We'd been there before, but I'd never used their restroom. I know, I know - too much information, but stick with me...

On this occasion, I did use the restroom. On my way in, the tile door icons immediately caught my eye. I reached into my pocket for my camera and found it wasn't there.

Damn... I've been posting interesting restroom icons on this blog for the past year and was bummed to miss these.

I immediately started planning my next visit to Cascal - with a camera. I'm sure this says something about me, but I'm not sure what exactly it says. And I'm not sure I want to know...

Anyway, I made it back to Cascal this past week, with my buddy Ed Muzio. We had an excellent meal - ceviche, queso fundido, paella, and a Cuban wrap.

At the end, I excused myself to 'take photos of the bathroom icons'. I thought I'd mentioned this little hobby of mine to Ed, but his expression indicated that I hadn't.

I explained, and then shot these.

I love gesture drawings. Rodin's sketches of Cambodian dancers are some of my favorite images. So, you can imagine how pleased I was to add these to my icon collection.

I'm not sure which I like more - the toreador or the flamenco dancer. So, I offer both.

VizThink 09 Highlights: Icebreaker

Connections with friends you've never met...

As a facilitator, I love to collect icebreaker activities. I enjoyed this one that was used at VizThink 09, and thought I would share it.

There was white drawing paper covering each table. We were asked to write or draw a few things about ourselves on the paper. I think we were given 3 minutes.

We then looked at our tablemates words/images (there were approx 8 people / table) and drew connection lines between any items that were the same (or where there was a connection).
For example, I drew a connection from my time in Japan to a Japanese woman across the table.

At the end of the exercise, you stand up and observe all the connections you have with people that were strangers 5 minutes ago.

VizThink 09 Highlights IV: Visualizing Tomorrow

My infographic of a factory going from 100% waste to 30% waste

At VizThink 09, I attended a 20-minutes session facilitated by Elizabeth Pastor of Humantific and accomplished way more than I though possible in 20 minutes.

We did quick warm-up drawing exercises, and then started making meaning.

By the end of the session, I had created the graphic above. It's a today/tomorrow image of a company going from 100% to a strategy with 33% reuse and 33% recycling.

I'm not bragging about the art or anything, but it's amazing what you can learn in 20-minutes.

2009 Visual Thinking Conference in San Jose

Here's the ad for VizThink 09 in San Jose.

Besides being a good advertisement, it creates a useful graphic vocabulary for the disciplines of Visual Thinking.

VizThink takes place in February and I will certainly be there.

I missed last year's event, as I was in India, but this year I'm scheduling around it.

Hopefully, I'll see you there!

Are You Leveraging Your Strengths?

Last week, I received Strengths Guru Marcus Buckingham's latest DVD "Go Put Your Strengths to Work". It captures an excellent live presentation and it's reasonably priced.

As attendees of my management workshops will attest, I'm a big Marcus fan.
If you don't know him, Marcus Buckingham is a former Gallup Organization researcher and current best selling management author. He also has the delivery of a stand-up comic, so he's fun to watch.

Earlier this year, I was showing a Buckingham video in India. I'd seen it a dozen times, so I pulled out my index cards and decided to practice sketching while the attendees watched. The result is above.

I'm not particularly good at drawing, but the act energizes me. That feeling fulfills one of Buckingham's basic definitions of a strength - a strength is something that strengthens you.

Not everyone agrees with his core belief that "you will grow the most in your areas of greatest strength". According to surveys, in fact, most people disagree with that statement.
His latest book, "Go Put Your Strengths to Work" addresses this.

I believe his thesis.
I (and my teams) have been most successful when I focused on bringing my strengths to the team - not on correcting my weaknesses.

When I've been in positions that don't call on my strengths, I did okay work. But I struggled, feeling drained at each day - not able to summon the energy to do outstanding work.
In my current role, which calls on all my strengths, I have endless energy.

I stumbled on this formula before I discovered Marcus, but his books helped me put it into words. They also helped me realize that I wasn't a slacker for not wanting to grunt and sweat my way through my weaknesses.
On my current team, as much as possible, we trade each others strengths for weaknesses, so that there are few times when we feel drained.

I'm lucky to be on such a team, but I'm only lucky because we know our strengths and communicate them...

If you're not so lucky, go to iTunes and search for Marcus Buckingham's "Take Control of Your Career and Your Life". This podcast shares his process to identify your strengths and bring them into your worklife.

As for me? I'll keep finding ways to draw at work!

Creativity Exercise II - Team Drawing

Rule #1 of creativity is 'reject nothing'.
The improvisational theater has another name for it:
'Yes... and..'

'Yes... and...' is very different from 'Yes... but...'
'Yes... and...' means building on whatever came before.
If you've ever watched "Whose Line is it Anyway", you've seen 'Yes... and...' in action. No one on the stage can reject an idea, no matter how bizarre.

Angie and I frequently do an exercise that tests our 'Yes...and...' skills.
For the exercise, we use a 3"x5" index card and a marker. One of us starts a drawing with one line or one feature. The other has to build on what what was drawn. We go back and forth until the energy dissipates.

We've done this on airplanes, and in bed (too much information, I'm sure), but most often in restaurants. It usually attracts attention. More than once, a waiter has asked us about it.

The drawing above, drawn while we were in India, was appropriately named "Catbataloupe" by Angie.

If you're looking for a way to develop your openness and flexibility - and have a little fun - give it a try!