Last week I was lucky enough to spend a few days with a bunch of energetic folks conducting So what? who cares? why you? workshops in Atlantic Canada. It was hosted by an organization called Springboard Atlantic. Not only was it a great few days filled with passion and energy of those participating, but 3M would be pleased to know that we supported their cause by eating through a pile of flipchart paper!!
I've posted a few pictures from the workshop here to share with you a friendly reminder of the power of a flipchart!:
I love this one...a market fishbone in the making! They've even drawn the outline to resemble a fish! It's great...
and then there's this one....do you see what's happening?
Here's one more....
Notice where people are focused - on the discussion on the flipchart.
I've said many times that using the So what? who cares? why you? tools on a flipchart is a key success factor for a team. A flipchart can unite a group of people around a discussion and in many cases helps to ensure that everyone is on the same page - in the world of emerging science and technology ideas, gaining clarity among the team about what they are trying to accomplish is often half the battle. Quite often, individuals on the team have their own "take" on why they designed this 'new thing', and very often these 'shades of grey' come out at the most inappropriate times (like in front of investors!.
More important, the art of open discussion and debate among a team of researchers, scientists and/or engineers is not often the norm, so the flipchart has the ability to draw out even the most reserved of participants.
So now...over to you....Get yourself a pad of sticky flipchart paper today and start having these interactive discussions - seeing is believing-- often we talk a lot about our ideas but we don't articulate the outcomes in a visual or in writing. Use one of my So what? who cares? why you? tools to scope and frame the discussion - look in the archives for information on these tools.
Force the discussion onto a flipchart - and get the flipchart up on a wall that is visible to many - the team,their peers, etc. The tools will help to answer the question "so what are we trying to accomplish?" and the flipchart will help to put the pinpoint accuracy on the answer.
Flipcharts are active - PowerPoint is passive....go for it!
Enjoy Your Journey!
Wendy
author/advisor/lady with the flipcharts!
www.wendykennedy.com
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