Blog — Third Thought — For professionals who go beyond the obvious

How to Generate Energy for Change

13th of August ~

A few years ago I had the opportunity to work with a large unit in a state-wide government agency that was feeling completely downtrodden.

They had been confronted with numerous challenges including the adoption of new technology that had resulted in scandalous cost overruns and negative attention in the press. Through it all, the individual site managers had to try and maintain morale, implement a new system, train their employees on the new system and face an annoyed public. They were exhausted.

For their annual meeting we designed a gathering for over 100 managers. These were good men and women and they needed to reconnect to the larger work of the organization, to remember why they became managers and to locate new energy for the ongoing change. The agenda relied heavily on Appreciative Inquiry with lots of time given to interaction with their peers.

Over the day and half they realized that they were all in the same boat, all experiencing the same struggles. And by the end of the session they had renewed their commitment to making the changes–together. They determined new ways to support one another and left the meeting feeling renewed.

At the end of the day one participant told me, “Maggie, you give hope.” Certainly, a nice compliment for me but a real testament to the power of Appreciative Inquiry to generate energy for change.

Technique Tuesday: Contemplating Clouds

9th of August ~

Visualize yourself lying on the grass watching the clouds. That’s all. Just watching.

Do you feel guilty? Shouldn’t you get back to work? Here’s my recommendation: give yourself 10 minutes of cloud watching and then get back to work. Once you are back at your desk you may find that:

You are calmer. Mindful cloud watching is a form of meditation.

You are feeling more creative. Watching the different shapes may have triggered identification of shapes and creatures in the sky, for a kind of lateral thinking warm-up.
You are more tuned into aesthetics. According to a recent study by Harvard University’s School of Education. sky watching “significantly increased the level of aesthetic sensitivity in art and literature.”

So monitor the skies for a nice day and a sky filled with puffy clouds. Sure, it may look like day-dreaming but it’s all in service of your creative skills!

Brilliant Innovation: The Aquaduct

6th of August ~

Google and Specialized (a bicycle company) recently sponsored an Innovate-or-Die contest which offered prizes for pedal-powered solutions to real problems.

The Grand Prize winner of the contest was The Aquaduct, a pedal-powered water-filtration tricycle.

All I can say is “Brilliant!”

Technique Tuesday: Deal Me In

2nd of August ~

This activity is a converging exercise–that is, it helps you evaluate and close-in on the most appealing ideas. I like it because you are playing with something real.

When you are working with a small number of ideas I recommend the use index cards to help you prioritize the options.

Steps:

1) Write each option on a separate index card. Note how many options you have.

2) Select the option that you like the least. Write the last number on it. Select the option you like the most. Write #1 on it.

3) Select the next idea that you like the least. Write the higher number on it. Select the next best idea and it becomes #2. Repeat until you have all the ideas numbered.

Sort the cards in numerical order.

Intuitive Option:

When you have narrowed your ideas to 2 or 3 take the cards and array them in front of you. You may want to pass your hand over each one in turn. Which has the greatest energy associated with it?

Technique Tuesday: Mind Mapping

26th of July ~

Just look at the words: Mind Map….a map….of your mind. Awesome!

Mindmapping is a tool to get your ideas out, organize your thinking and get visual with your thoughts. Wikipedia has an excellent page about this technique so I encourage you to enjoy a much broader explanation here.

Why Map?

Maps help me to capture a lot of ideas quickly. When I am designing a workshop or client engagement I always begin with a mindmap. The process tends to expand my thinking in a way that simple listing does not.

Here’s a simple map up on my window/white board this morning.

MindMap Formats

I tend not to get fancy on my own maps. I keep them in my journal and add to them as thoughts occur. However, I do occasionally use mindmapping software. There are two I like:

Inspiration. This company has been around for years and they keep improving the software. They are based in Oregon so I can support the local economy.

My favorite feature is the toggle between the mindmap graphic format to the Outline format that can be imported into Word. Very efficient.

FreeMind. The best thing about FreeMind is that is actually is free. Yup. Open source and free. I have less experience with it but I am playing with it now because it has some sophisticated features such as ‘folding’ and easy linking.

If mind-mapping intrigues you I encourage you to explore the tool. There are MANY resources online. This chap is a mind-mapping guru and his maps are a delight. The learning curve on new software is probably worth it for more complex tracking. And good old-fashioned paper is instant and satisfying–especially if you use colored markers!

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