Reflection on Visualization

Challenge & Selection    The first tool I used was the tool of Visualization, or Visual Thinking, to achieve a better and  shared understanding of a problem space among a group of colleagues, to raise their  awareness and to engage them in a call to action.     My role is the CFO of a mid size company and one of my duties is to monitor the financial  performance of the entity. Regularly, I present financial reports to line managers‘ assembly.  As these managers don’t have strong finance background, it is a fair assumption that my  reports were difficult to grasp for some, and outright confusing for others. In the past, I tried  different approaches to better tune in with my colleagues:  shift the scope of the figures to  the relevant areas and to generally trim the amount of figures presented. But the  understanding still remained an issue, and so was the energy, I could get from my audience  to support my plans.   At the end, being the senior expert in the room, was enough for most stakeholders to accept  my conclusions and to engage in whatever was suggested as management action plan.     Application    Last year (this year still being new!) I tried a significant change in my presentation style:  Instead of powerpoint, I used an ‚clean‘  flipchart. ‚Clean‘, because I had pre-drawn some of  the pictures in pencil, that I then just had to follow up with the big felt pen, used during my  presentation.      For the first part: ​‚Where do we stand financially​‘, I used  the metaphor and the symbols of a  weather forecast. There were symbols of  thunder, lighning, wind and clouds, suffice to say  the actual financial were not in a good shape at that time.   For the second part, ​‚What do we now have to do​’ , I used the metaphor of a soccer game,  and how to turn the game around after an unfortunate drawback in the first half. There I used  symbols of a soccer game‘s tactical map, like a coach would use: how to plan our offense  moves and how to set up the defence. In each of these moves, I placed suggested financial  actions, like  reduce costs, increase revenues, avoid spending, etc.     The result was astounding: the audience immediately engaged in very intense discussion  about what was apparently going wrong and how to fix it. They came up   with additional improvement ideas and spent a good deal more energy to really turn around  the financial situation. More importantly, they also understood, that it was necessary to  orchestrate all different actions at the same time and as a team, in order to achieve a  successful outcome.    Insights    I have three take aways from this:

1) Visualization helps to convey the important ideas and topics, in a group of  people with  different professional background. With that, it can be a helpful tool to focus the discussion  onto the real issues.   2) Visualization can bring higher engagement and participation, and together with right  metaphor and analogies, it can boost team spirit and affect a greater buy in. One reason is, it  lowers the barriers for engaging in a discussion - no need to be afraid to misinterpret some  technical jargon or ratio of  figures. The other is, the graphical representation is engaging  other brain regions and triggers creativity at a different level.  3) Preparation as always is key, choose your graphics /drawings  wisely - or risk to confuse  the audience!  And, I found it helpful to have my drawings prepared in advance, so that I  knew, drawing space was properly used  and the drawings were recognizable. After all, I am  still a miserable artist;-)    Approach    The approach of visualization is certainly something to explore further, especially when  reaching out to experts in a different professional family. Which visual symbols to use and  how to structure their connections most meaningful.  I see already aspects of storytelling in my application example, when using the metaphor of  a soccer game. I would use visualization and storytelling further, in all situations, where I  want to share a problem and engage my audience in a creative solution finding process.


Reflection on Visualization Challenge & Selection The first tool I used was the tool of Visualization , or Visual Thinking , to achieve a better and shared understanding of a problem space among a group of colleagues , to raise their awareness and to engage them in a call to action . My role is the CFO of a mid size company and one of my duties is to monitor the financial performance of the entity . Regularly , I present financial reports to line managers ‘ assembly . As these managers do n’t have strong finance background , it is a fair assumption that my reports were difficult to grasp for some , and outright confusing for others . In the past , I tried different approaches to better tune in with my colleagues : shift the scope of the figures to the relevant areas and to generally trim the amount of figures presented . But the understanding still remained an issue , and so was the energy , I could get from my audience to support my plans . At the end , being the senior expert in the room , was enough for most stakeholders to accept my conclusions and to engage in whatever was suggested as management action plan . Application Last year ( this year still being new ! ) I tried a significant change in my presentation style : Instead of powerpoint , I used an ‚ clean ‘ flipchart . ‚ Clean ‘ , because I had pre - drawn some of the pictures in pencil , that I then just had to follow up with the big felt pen , used during my presentation . For the first part : ​‚Where do we stand financially​ ‘ , I used the metaphor and the symbols of a weather forecast . There were symbols of thunder , lighning , wind and clouds , suffice to say the actual financial were not in a good shape at that time . For the second part , ​‚What do we now have to do​ ’ , I used the metaphor of a soccer game , and how to turn the game around after an unfortunate drawback in the first half . There I used symbols of a soccer game‘s tactical map , like a coach would use : how to plan our offense moves and how to set up the defence . In each of these moves , I placed suggested financial actions , like reduce costs , increase revenues , avoid spending , etc . The result was astounding : the audience immediately engaged in very intense discussion about what was apparently going wrong and how to fix it . They came up with additional improvement ideas and spent a good deal more energy to really turn around the financial situation . More importantly , they also understood , that it was necessary to orchestrate all different actions at the same time and as a team , in order to achieve a successful outcome . Insights I have three take aways from this : 1 ) Visualization helps to convey the important ideas and topics , in a group of people with different professional background . With that , it can be a helpful tool to focus the discussion onto the real issues . 2 ) Visualization can bring higher engagement and participation , and together with right metaphor and analogies , it can boost team spirit and affect a greater buy in . One reason is , it lowers the barriers for engaging in a discussion - no need to be afraid to misinterpret some technical jargon or ratio of figures . The other is , the graphical representation is engaging other brain regions and triggers creativity at a different level . 3 ) Preparation as always is key , choose your graphics /drawings wisely - or risk to confuse the audience ! And , I found it helpful to have my drawings prepared in advance , so that I knew , drawing space was properly used and the drawings were recognizable . After all , I am still a miserable artist;- ) Approach The approach of visualization is certainly something to explore further , especially when reaching out to experts in a different professional family . Which visual symbols to use and how to structure their connections most meaningful . I see already aspects of storytelling in my application example , when using the metaphor of a soccer game . I would use visualization and storytelling further , in all situations , where I want to share a problem and engage my audience in a creative solution finding process .