Hack:
Atmospheric Visualization

By Erwin Pfuhler - Transformation Wizard at Erwin Pfuhler Consulting Innovation & Organization

December 12, 2011 at 6:43am

organizational transformation

Moonshots

Focus the work of management on a higher purpose

Amplify imagination

Experiment more often and more cheaply

Summary

Atmospheric visualization opens the mind and broadens the perspective by employing sketches which are made during the meeting or workshop. Munich based artist Claudia Linz absorbs all emotions in a room and transforms them into a picture. This will be explained and discussed afterwards. The insights generated are overwhelming.

Problem

Leaders, managers and employees are challenged by encreasing complexity and environment which change at an accelerating speed. Pressures which arise by these forces push them back to their most basic routines. At a time where inspiration is most needed, the capabilities are so poor. Furthermore people loose contact to their soul, emotions and aspirations.

Whenever it comes to communication (isn't this always part of our core business?) issues are only triggered on the surface.

Is this the perfect partnership for my company and me? Is one of those questions which can not be answered only by facts & figures.

In meetings decisions are based upon assumptions. People rarely tend to say "I feel this is product launch will fail / be a success".

Are those silos there working seamless together or are there walls to keep them separated?

These questions and many more can seldomly answered completely from within.

Solution

The Atmospheric Visualization can be applied to traditional meetings as well as to WorldCafés.

At ANOVASTAR it is offered as a package with professional facilitation.

Themes range from innovation, organizational transformation to strategy. The higher the complexity, the higher the benefit.

The participants are informed beforehand and asked for their consent.

The artist Claudia LInz sits a bit aside and watches the interaction. Upon her impressions, her feelings, she sketches the process. All what is beneath the surface and just waiting to be uttered, those vibes are captured by her, brought to paper and thus made visible. After the meeting / workshop she explains her drawing and discusses it with the people. Suddenly they are confronted with statements which touch them deep inside. The process started envolves the whole group. The discussion then seeks true value. People want to find out what really matters to them. Overall it provides them insights on what was going on as well as it opens their mind for new solutions. The focus is on the team / department / company and not on a single person.What finally happens in this process is team learning. Questions that get answered through the reflection are e.g. "how do we work together?", "what are our long-term goals?", "where are limitations and how can we remove them?", "which aspects of our work make us happy?"

Practical Impact

Whereas higher diversity of participants in meetings gradually shifts the vantage point, the artist radically shifts the perspective and much more the level of learning. Thus deeper learning and understanding will be enabled.

Like a seismograph you get aware of developments in relations within your organization and your stakeholders, one would otherwise oversight. This is especially from a systems dynamics approach useful to become aware of reinforcing loops as well as weakening loops.

Most companies have written values, mission & vision statements. Not always does managemnt follow their own guiding principles. The atmospheric visualization can help as well to identify breaches and incongruencies.

Credits

Thanks to Charles Savage, who has provided input and guidance to Claudia Linz and to me.

Documents

3U_Tag_24Okt11_web_3.pdf

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December 14, 2011 at 9:07am

David Sims

Sounds like an interesting method, though I suspect there might be a good deal of skepticism among many left-brained folks. Have you encountered that? How do you get past that?

Also, I'd be interested in hearing more specifics on where this has worked. The Hack gives a good picture of what's supposed to happen. Would you be comfortable sharing a real example?