Finding Alignment With Images

[Anonymous]

When I’m coaching a team, I try to remember the ORSC teaching that the coach’s primary job is to ‘reveal the system to itself.’ One of my favorites is a visioning activity that uses images to let the team see elements of its vision, and alignment around a vision, BEFORE they talk about it.

It uses the Visual Explorer images from Center for Creative Leadership. Here’s a link for the tool: http://solutions.ccl.org/Visual_Explorer_Facilitator%27s_Letter-size_Set

There are MANY ways to use these cards…but here are instructions we used for leadership teams to begin to define what it would be like [vision] if everyone were more connected to the company’s Purpose.

SET UP: Lay out most or all of the images on tables to create ‘an image gallery’

INSTRUCTIONS: Imagine you wake up tomorrow and head into work. Imagine the people in your corner of the organization: Employees, peers, leaders, customer, suppliers. Imagine you wake up tomorrow and everyone in your part of the organization is more deeply rooted in the essence of [THE COMPANY’S] Purpose.

Round 1: See if you can stay in the felt sense of this. Go to the gallery and select an image that best reflects how things will then – when people in your corner of the organization are more deeply rooted in the Company’s Purpose. When you have it, bring it to me/facilitator. The Ground Conditions for success on this is: no cross talk…let yourselves have silence as you select these.

[when they bring you an image, post it on the wall in an area marked ‘vision’. then given them the Round 2 instruction]

Round 2: Now come back to today. To how things are now, and select an image that best reflects how things work today. What conversations are like, the way work gets done and the level of connection that people have to Purpose here now. Select an image that best reflects how things are now as they relate to being connected to Purpose.

[when they bring the second image, post it on the wall in an area market ‘now’]

Debrief:
– What do you notice about the images on the Vision/Future?
– Ask for individuals: What’s going on in this image? How does this reflect people connected to Purpose?
– After explaining many/all of them ask, What themes do you see in this collective vision?
– Repeat this on the ‘Now’ side
– What do you notice about the differences in the left side compared to the right side?

Facilitator Note: Very often, there is a ton of alignment in images and themes and it is surprising to teams that haven’t had alot of conversation about the topic, about how aligned they actually are. So you can debrief where are they are aligned and not aligned about the vision.

Have fun with it! I’d love to hear how you use this…please share.

[Author]

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