Category: Storytelling

An Exercise in Observation: Practicing Your Genchi Genbutsu

Tuesday, June 10th, 2014

One of my all-time favorite thoughts is by UK-based urban designer Ben Hamilton-Baillie, a master of designing shared space intersections: “If we observed first, designed second, we wouldn’t need most of the things we build.”

The Japanese phrase for what Ben is talking about is genchi genbutsu, which roughly translated means “go look and see.” It is a principle widely practiced in many Japanese organizations. The goal is to build skill in viewing problems and challenges from different perspectives, much like artists, sculptors, and photographers do when they look at their subject from every possible angle to enhance their ability to artistically render “the truth.”

Now, I believe that the ability to survive and thrive in this world of increasing excess and unnecessary complexity lies in our ability to make sense of it, and to craft elegant solutions and stories through the tools and skills at our disposal. But to do that, we must become better observers, better fact-finders, and better detectives.

To become better detectives, do what New York’s finest do: analyze art.

New York Police Department Assistant Chief Diana Pizzuti says, “In New York, the extraordinary is so ordinary to us, we’re always looking to become even more aware as observers.” NYPD sends newly-minted detectives to the Frick Museum in Manhattan.

The technique isn’t as strange as it first appears: Solving crimes successfully requires careful attention to both detail and the bigger picture in order to find the connections and patterns between seemingly unconnected clues.

Here’s how it works: Frick Museum educators coach detectives on how to examine a painting in detail. Examination time is limited to simulate the initial scan and quick analysis required when arriving at an actual crime scene. The process is one first of observation and description, moving from foreground to background, followed by analysis and conclusion.

How does that apply to assessing a crime scene, you ask? By widening the circle of observation to include a broader perimeter, detectives consider a wider range of clue sources to examine. One NYPD captain tells the story of a fleeing suspect who fell to the pavement while racing across rooftops to avoid capture. Frick training prompted the officer to stop, take in the entire scene, and widen his search perimeter beyond just the site of impact; he located an automobile on which detectives found palm prints that aided in reconstructing and mapping the intended escape route.

A 15-minute Exercise

Mistress+MaidSmallNow you try it! You will use one of the introductory paintings used by the NYPD: Johanne Vermeer’s “Mistress and Maid.” Grab a pad of paper and something to write with, then follow these steps, limiting yourself to just 15 minutes:

Step 1: Describe.

Search online for a suitable image by Googling “Johanne Vermeer Mistress and Maid.” The painting is a bit of a mystery. The Frick lists the painting by saying, “The subject of writing and receiving letters, which recurs frequently in Vermeer’s work, is given an exceptional sense of dramatic tension in this painting of two women arrested in some moment of mysterious crisis.”

You’ll find many images of the painting on Google Images. Select one you can view easily and clearly. (You can click on the image to the right to download a decent replica to save time.)

 

Scrutinize it. Working from the foreground to the background, describe in detail what you see. Refrain from interpreting or concluding. Your goal is to simply record all of the observable facts on paper. Hint: take good notes and write down everything you see.

Step 2: Inquire.

Ask and answer the “who, what, where, when, how, and why” of the piece. Who are the people? What is their story? What are they doing and why? Where is the scene taking place?

Step 3: Conclude.

Based on your description and inquiry, use your notes and answers to Step 3 to weave a story.

If you completed steps 2 and 3, I’m sorry to disappoint you, but your genchi genbutsu is incomplete, and thus unsatisfactory. At least that’s what the Frick instructors would tell you. There are enough facts in this painting (well over 50 details) to consume the entire 15 minutes.

The instructors at the Frick will give detectives 45 minutes just to document the facts, and they often list over 80 details.

In workshops I facilitate, I find that most people find it very difficult to refrain from drawing conclusions, choosing to move into Steps 2 and 3 after just a few minutes, and sometimes less than a minute!

This helps illustrate the natural inclination to leap to solutions, usually sloppy, rarely optimal, and nearly always inelegant ones at that.

Remember: Observe first…meticulously. Then, and only then, design a solution.

Go back to Step 2 and work until you have exhausted the facts. Then try your hand at the remaining steps.

My bet is you will come to a different conclusion, and perhaps a far more entertaining and engaging story, than you did the first time around.

Can You Talk Like TED?

Friday, March 21st, 2014

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) Conference, known for its 18-minute presentation format. In those 30 years, TED has become the ultimate forum for today’s top thinkers and doers to share innovative “ideas worth spreading.” By all measures, TED talks are inspiring, creative, informative, entertaining and, judging by the numbers, wildly addictive.

Created in 1984, the inflection point happened in 2006 when TED began posting its talks online for free. TED talks are now viewed more than 2 million times a day.

For his latest book, Talk Like TED: The 9 Public Speaking Secrets of the World’s Top Minds, Carmine Gallo, a communications expert and bestselling author of The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs, studied more than 500 TED presentations, categorized the content, spoke directly to many of the most popular TED speakers, then supplemented his findings with research from the world’s leading neuroscientists in the field of persuasion and communication. The result? A comprehensive guide for anyone who wants to speak with impact.

 

Carmine Gallo, a communications expert and the bestselling author of The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs,

 

I had the opportunity to meet with Carmine recently to ask him a few questions about his new book and how someone can improve their public speaking skills.

Why go to all the trouble of writing book? Why not just give a TED Talk on TED Talks?

I wish I’d thought of that! It would have saved me more than one year of research. Seriously, as much as I love the 18-minute limit that all TED talks must follow, I needed much more space to explore the specific examples and techniques I use to support the secrets I reveal in the book.

That said, most people will never give a TED talk, but everyone who gives a presentation can learn valuable skills from the world’s brilliant innovators and thinkers who give sensational presentations on the TED stage.

I know the answer to this, but for the benefit of the audience, where did the 18-minute limit come from?

TED organizers figured out that 18 minutes is the ideal of length of time to share an idea. It’s long enough to be serious and short enough to keep the audience’s attention. Turns out that science backs this up. Researchers have discovered that audiences go through what’s called “cognitive backlog”—a moment when they’ve been asked to absorb so much information, they forget everything. In other words, the more content you deliver, the tougher it is on your audience to take it all in. Eighteen minutes is the right length for a pitch or presentation.

I’ve been invited to talk at a TED event. What are the top handful of things I need to keep in mind as I prep my presentation?

Don’t be afraid to express your passionate connection to a topic. Tell more stories: “Stories are data with a soul,” according to TED speaker Brene Brown. Use humor, but sparingly. Practice your presentation as much as possible—some TED speakers told me they rehearsed 200 times. Don’t ever show a slide with nothing but bullet points … use pictures instead. Use body language to both focus the audience on you as well as accentuate your most important points. Finally, be true to your authentic self—don’t try to be someone you’re not.

What do all the most popular TED talks have in common?

They always start with personal stories. For example, Bryan Stevenson, a civil rights attorney, told three personal stories in his talk and received the longest standing ovation in TED history. I analyzed his content and found that stories made up 65 percent of his presentation, while data and statistics made up only 10 percent (most average speakers have it the other way around).

 

Bryan Stevenson a civil rights attorney

 

As it turns out, Stevenson is on to something. Researchers at Princeton University are finding that when someone tells another person a story, the same regions of their brains are engaged—the same areas “light up.” Researchers call it “brain to brain coupling.” I call it a mind meld! Stories inform, illuminate and inspire. Tell more of them.

I want that kind of a standing ovation. What else do I need to do?

Above all else, be passionate. The most successful speakers at TED are those who are abundantly passionate not just about their idea but about how that idea will change the world and improve lives.

Passion is contagious, literally. For example, researchers studying angel investors have found that passion makes a difference in whether or not an investor decided to back an entrepreneur. In one study, investors were asked to base their judgment of an entrepreneur’s potential on 13 criteria. The strength of the opportunity came in first—investors wants to make money, of course. But “passion” came in near the top of the list, well above such criteria as an entrepreneur’s education, startup experience, etc.

You cite Aristotle in the book. What relevance can 2,500-year-old philosophy have on a modern day presentation?

Aristotle is the man! He’s the father of rhetoric and persuasion. Thousands of years ago, he said persuasion only occurs when “pathos” is present—stories and emotional connection. Most business professionals forget that simple rule. As I mentioned, the most viral TED presentations are heavy on stories. Data supports the argument, but stories are prominent.

What are the most “deadly sins” of speaking?

There are actually seven of them:

Sin #1: Failing to tell stories and making an emotional connection with the audience

Sin #2: Using bullet points instead of pictures on slides

Sin #3: Putting your audience to sleep because you insist on talking too long (18 minutes is ideal)

Sin #4: Thinking about your slides as an afterthought

Sin #5: Reading from your slides instead of making eye contact with the audience

Sin #6: Not practicing

Sin #7: Not practicing!

What’s the one thing you want readers to take away from this book?

You have ideas that were meant to be heard, but if you can’t communicate your ideas persuasively, it doesn’t matter.

 

Note: This interview originally appeared on my monthly OPEN column.
Photos: Thinkstock, Gallo Communications, TED

The Power of Visual Thinking

Tuesday, September 10th, 2013

As Napolean once said, a picture is worth a thousand words.

This isn’t just a trite cliche. Visual thinking is an invaluable skill, if not a leadership art. In his book Leading Minds: An Anatomy of Leadership, Howard Gardner makes the point that visionary leaders rally people around a compelling message by calling up mental images. Creating vivid pictures connects people in a very forceful way, touches hearts and minds, connects the right brain with the left, adds clarity to the path, and provides meaningful navigation that helps chart the way forward.

Take the case of how the city of Hollywood regained its long-lost glory.

Kerry Morrison was the underdog candidate in the late 1990s for the executive directorship of the Hollywood Business Improvement District, a sorely needed urban renewal effort devoted to reversing the nearly half-century decline of the landmark community. The board had all but decided on another candidate.

Then Kerry walked into the room, and proceeded to paint a vivid and brutally realistic picture of just how bad Hollywood appeared to outsiders.

Doing business every day in Hollywood, the board was too close to the problem and couldn’t quite see the depth of the crisis with objective clarity. It took an outsider with a keen eye for the truth and an artist’s ability to render a compelling image.

Kerry had nothing to lose. So she told it like it was. She described her drive to Hollywood that day: How all the debris blown up against the blocks of chain-link fence lining subway construction sites rattled her. How the urban street denizens made her feel nervous walking from the remote parking lot to the interview. How the blight of decaying buildings hid what had once been the most magnificent boulevard in Los Angeles. How she couldn’t find a decent place to find a quick lunch among the myriad iron-gated, closed-down stores, and boarded-up shops. How the scene was even worse than she had remembered from her last visit fifteen years earlier. And how she wouldn’t even for a moment ever consider bringing her young children to Hollywood.

As the president of the board listened to her, he sat back in his chair to appraise Kerry. Numb from the other four rather forgettable interviews that day, he knew at that moment he had finally found the perfect champion of an important cause. By painting a stark picture of the present day, the portrait of the future came into focus in a very real way.

Job in hand, Kerry had her charge: reverse Hollywood’s downward spiral. From a donated windowless office without so much as a phone on the first day of her new job, Kerry set about the Herculean task of implementing the goals articulated by the property owners who had hired her.

You can’t create a masterpiece without being fully immersed. Knowing and accepting that Kerry needed to be viewed as a vital member of the Hollywood community, the Morrison family moved into the area from a secluded suburb, which required her husband to abandon a comfortable commute to work, and their teenage children to leave their friends and integrate themselves into an entirely new and utterly foreign school system.

Over the course of the next decade, the original picture would change. Many factors, projects, and leaders contributed to the Hollywood renaissance, but the Business Improvement District was the foundation. Kerry remained the linchpin of the entire effort. Slowly, surely, and with great difficulty, the future came into focus.

First and foremost, the city needed to be clean and safe. It started with just six city blocks, but visible success from the cleanup tripled the project size. Things began to snowball. More and more property owners came on board, which increased the budget significantly. Crime dropped dramatically as Kerry built strong ties to the infamous Hollywood Division of the Los Angeles Police Department. Subway stations opened. Buildings got facelifts. Street corners got new life. Nightlife returned. Golden era hotels and theaters were renovated and reopened.

Within five years, the evidence was clear that a new reality had taken hold. And when Academy Awards returned to Hollywood after a decades-old absence, Kerry knew that Hollywood had turned a corner.

The role of mental imagery and visualization in driving performance is undisputed. Sustained leadership in most any realm hangs on it. We forget just how important it is to our everyday work, between all firefighting and busywork. We forget to keep our visual skills and tools sharp through constant use.

But maybe that’s why sometimes no one, including our customers, “gets the picture.”

Hope To See You At SXSW 2013!

Wednesday, March 6th, 2013

I’m looking forward to my first visit to SXSW. My schedule’s never permitted me to attend, and this is my first opportunity to speak. Unfortunately, my schedule doesn’t permit me more than one day: Saturday, March 9. I’ll be speaking for 20 minutes at 11:30 AM in Ballroom G of the Austin Convention Center, followed by a book signing at 12 PM at the AT&T Conference Center.

The Washington Post has asked me to write a blog article on applying the laws of subtraction to this most overwhelming event. There are hundreds of panels and events, and they all seem compelling. What do you do? Or rather, how do you figure out what to not do?

On the one day I’ll be there, there are three times more events than I can possibly attend. The good news, actually, is that having but one day actually helps, by providing a well-defined timebox that provides a great constraint forcing focus.

If you happen to be going to SXSW, swing on by Ballroom G. As for the rest of my overly-ambitious-still-in-need-of-subtraction, you can link to it HERE. Perhaps the highlight of my schedule will be Steve Blank’s Startup Lessons, and Tesla’s Elan Musk’s keynote address at 2 PM.

Seeya Saturday!