Think Visual Meetups are monthly in-person events for professionals in any industry looking to expand their visual communication toolkit and be inspired by meaningful stories about the power of creativity and visual storytelling.
When What You Built No Longer Fits Where You’re Going
“Something is always broken. And there is always someone we want to blame!”
That’s how Georgia Linton answered the question: “Why did you write your book?”
It’s also the most honest description of organizational life I’ve heard in a while! Georgia should know, with two decades in energy and industrial operations making hard stuff and leading teams.
Our 16th Think Visual! Houston Meetup opened with an exercise built on the “Points of Mastery” model by Matt Taylor and Rob Evans from their book, “The Collaboration Code: Models.”
The Five Points of anyone’s learning journey involve distinct roles: Learner, Expert, Facilitator-Guide, Sponsor-Advocate-Advisor, and Steward.
Each of us could (and should) be in these roles at different times of life, in different domains or communities. It’s also a core principle of lifelong learning!
Each participant drew a map and their own assessment of where they stand today in each role. Quite a humbling way to start a Friday morning, because the points you leave blank say as much as the ones you fill in!
For example, if you’re considered an “Expert” but not mentoring others or stewarding an aspect of your learning community or knowledge base, you may not be preparing the next generation well. And if you’re not a Learner, you may be atrophying or getting stale.
The Four Conditions
Next, Georgia took the floor with her presentation: “When What You Built No Longer Fits Where You’re Going.”
The Four Conditions she sees within any organization dedicated to healthy execution are:
Strategic Translation — communicating The What and The Why clearly
Leadership Alignment — ensuring that all key team members are sharing the same story
Operational Readiness — resources, people, training, timelines
Performance Control — KPIs, measurements, processes, speed, direction
A major lesson which jumped out for me: “Do not treat the SYMPTOM as the SYSTEM.”
If the “fix” is always a new initiative, the diagnosis of the root problem is probably wrong.
Two questions to take home
To develop concrete take-aways, Georgia encouraged us to ask ourselves two questions:
What are you protecting because it worked yesterday? (A founder identity? An old corporate identity? A familiar way of connecting with people?)
What would you stop doing before adding something new? (We all keep a to-do list which stretches until eternity. Y’all know the one!)
Her closing exercise followed three steps:
Identify your biggest friction.
Select the condition behind it.
Name one action you can control. Just one!
Thank you, Georgia, for a room full of people leaving with a smaller, more honest, and more strategic to-do list!!!
ABOVE: A scan of the whiteboard with visual notes from Georgia Linton's presentation at Think Visual Houston Meetup.
SUGGESTED MATERIALS
Some drawing materials are provided, so bring a sketchbook, an iPad, or other drawing tools to capture ideas and make them visual!
Think Visual Meetups are monthly in-person events launched in Sydney, Australia, by Alan Chen & Diana Ayoub of Sh8peshifters.
Working with other Visual Thinkers in Australia, India, Norway, Kenya, and Houston, Think Visual! Community is truly an international collaboration.
Perfect for community organizers, consultants, facilitators, educators, counselors, artists, healthcare providers, and anyone who works with people to understand complex systems and make an impact.
