How do you explain the wind?
In our experience, most business upsets and conflict is caused by something not being understood, and therefore, ending up being misinterpreted and missing expectations.
This is especially true when organizations are riddled with business speak and anachronisms, or when strategy is as easy to interpret as an upside down IKEA instruction manual.
Who’s to blame?
Well, if and when the root cause of an upset or conflict is ever uncovered (between all the pointing fingers), it’s usually because it was poorly communicated in the first place. The blame often lies with the person saying it, not the one doing it.
That’s why we love visuals.
Consider the visual below:
It’s from a kids book from the 1970s, showing the different levels of gale-force winds.
I saw it today, and it struck me - how many words would it have taken to describe the same levels of wind and all the nuances that accompany it? Lots. And lots.
The beauty of these pictures is their ability and power to hold you in their grasp, and communicate their intent with two essential elements;
Facts - you can see the wind.
Emotions - you can feel the wind.
When visuals work on both those levels, they work wonders.
Where possible, we’ve always advocated for the use of visuals above words. We can say with a visual what we sometimes can’t say with our own voices. In business, it means we can use visuals to deliver the facts to shape the context of what we’re communicating, and emotion to give the audience the connection we need for them to take action.
When we have context, we understand the issue better. When we’re connected to the issue, we’re more likely to be motivated to do something about it. When both of these are in line, it’s amazing how much clearer and easier communication becomes.
If you’re working on an initiative right now, how about taking a moment to think about the types of visuals you could deploy to communicate the inherent facts of your message, and the emotion that surrounds it.
You might find it suddenly becomes a heck of a lot easier to get things done.
Yours visually,
Love and wind (of the natural kind),