Friday, April 29, 2005

Illustration Friday
Illustration Friday's theme this week is MY theme:

Daring!

Friday, April 15, 2005

Just Letters
Holy crud! This is the MOST FASCINATING page ever. Go play.

I made "GOOB GOB" because the letters were close. Then someone made "TEET TOT." Then "HEED HOD" and I added "POOJ POG." Okay that last one wasn't strictly following the pattern. Then someone started straightening the words.


See what you do.

Sunday, April 10, 2005

Wordless Diagrams

Nigel Holmes recently discussed his book Wordless Diagrams in this NPR story.

Q: What makes a good diagram?
Holmes: Simplicity, I think.

Wednesday, April 06, 2005

The World is Flat
Since I'm always using my hands, I don't put down my work to pick up newspaper or a magazine. And network news makes me crazy. Therefore, 90% of my news gets to me through NPR and The Charlie Rose Show.

Last night, Tom Friedman was on Charlie Rose. I'll always stop to watch him. Why? Because he's a Great Explainer. Always happy to listen to a clear speaker and well organized thinker. Friedman was talking about his new book The World is Flat. I half-listened last night and then made sure to tune in again today. I did this large scale, real-time drawing:


The crux of the book is that over the Twentieth Century, the world began to go from vertical, heirarchical structure to a horizontalization. Love that word, horizontalization. Things flattened out. As a meritocrat, I love this, because it means that instead of looking to solve a problem within a vertical silo, you look outward to who has the skills. Brain power is everywhere. Brain power is global.

This flattening has 10 factors, as seen in the graphics. The Berlin Wall falling (#1) broke down proverbial walls and opened eyes. Netscape going public (#2) and the software revolution in the 90's (#3) connected software and connected people. It was this connecting that facilitated collaboration and factors #4-9 were collaborative extensions of that. The "Steroids" (#10) of VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) and Wireless have just started, but have already changed the way we communicate.


The epilogue for me personally, is that graphic facilitation work is the work of a "good collaborator" as seen in the lower right corner. As facilitators with groups, we are reflecting the conversation of the whole group, horizontally, not just the bosses vertically. We encourage and fuel collaboration by creating the image of a group, project, solution as a whole, including all people. We sort out the pieces of a conversation, organizing and bringing clarity. Onward to more communication, collaboration and horizontalization -