Send to KindleVisual Thinking: Arts-Based Dialogue
Art is an invitation to have a conversation.
Art is a potent catalyst for a deeper inquiry into business issues, providing the means for ‘artful reflection’ in organizational development. Art helps define who we are and what we stand for. Its function is to express meaning – in our relationship with ourselves, with each other, the world we live in, and with God. The arts lead us to wisdom and truth.
Through art we can make it safe ask the deeper questions that lead to the emotional truth about a situation. Art creates a bonding experience that facilitates collaboration and accelerates the ability get to the heart of a problem. Images externalize the unconscious and make tacit knowledge visible.
Collaborative art-making processes help nurture relationships between dissimilar groups, fostering an appreciation for diverse and pluralistic points of view.
Art making helps us slow down, quiet the mind and put us in touch with our inner wisdom. MacLuhan said artists are the radar of the future. How? The art making process takes people out of the realm of analytical thinking and into the realm of silence, reverie, and heightened awareness. Art is a means of awakening the human spirit.
Artful Reflection and Leadership Presence
Otto Scharmer’s Theory U: Leading from the Future as It Emerges
Theory U provides a language and structure for arts-based learning, dialogue and reflection, as a co-creative process for leadership, collaboration and innovation.
Visual dialogue combines visual thinking processes — which involve painting, clay, drawing or diagramming— with Appreciative Inquiry.
Appreciative Inquiry
Visual dialogue combines visual thinking processes — which involve painting, clay, drawing or diagramming— with Appreciative Inquiry (AI). AI begins with a grounded observation of the “best of what is,” then through vision and logic the group collaboratively articulates “what might be,” ensuring the consent of those in the system to “what should be” and collectively experimenting with “what can be.”
Create Your Desired Future
These processes help organizations create desired futures, and engage people in bringing about positive change. Learn to make thoughts visible, and create a crucible for meaningful conversation. Bring insights and new ideas into sharper focus, and make tacit knowledge concrete.
Applications
- Strategic Planning
- Training
- Meeting facilitation
- Branding
- Leadership and Team Development
Outcomes
- Develop visual, metaphoric and symbolic thinking skills
- Engage hearts and minds of employees
- Transform boring meetings into inspired creativity
- Drive innovation
- Think strategically
