Valuable Outcomes...

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Friday 10 of September, 2010

The Experience

Getting an Idea of What it's Like Our experience in almost 800 client interventions is that the space we create for deep thinking is in fact another member of the team. Below we explain a little more about what it's like and talk about some of the practical aspects of the experience. These insights are important as we plan each assignment and especially the intervention element. Below we talk a little about how the relationship works between the audience, the venue and our approach. The images you see on these pages are taken from real sessions. We can arrive at most venues and create such a white space for imagination and expression of ideas. See Clients Logistics We typically require around 30 feet of flat, painted, smooth and obstruction free wall. Preferably not 'flock' wallpaper but almost any other surface. Glass will work and some inner walls in large meeting room are flat and obstruction free. We prefer well and naturally lit space and plenty of room to move freely. We prefer to have NO tables, other than a computer station and we arrange the room in a 'horseshoe/arc' shape preferably facing the long expanse of white wall and therefore walls full of antique pictures and wall mounted screens or lights are NOT good. See Technical Tips We will probably arrive the evening before and get into the room(s), prepare the stimulus component and generally get ready. The wallcovering is electrostatic and therefore causes no damage to wall coverings. It requires no sticking or gluing or nailing to walls. See also The Merits or Otherwise of Workshops We don't adhere to the traditional definition of facilitation. Facilitation can too often mean asking questions of a bunch of people just because someone feels they should. See References Our definition is that we structure thinking, but in a facilitated way. We are very much of the school of 'enjoying the silence' following a well posed question. A question that is highly relevant to the flow of the debate. We want to develop the intimacy that ensures concentration or the power of realisation. We like to talk about the size and shape of the room and the direct relationships between the framework and people.See facilitation Discussing the relationships between the logic expressed by the frameworks and the questioning and listening is where the value really lies and we need the large almost consuming environment for this to work to its full effect. At the internal engagement level, where team work is essential and seamless understanding imperative an immersion in the meaning of the framework has proved truly valuable. Their power to pull people together and break down cross-cultural barriers happens within the scale of what emerges in the large format.. Innovation relies on breakthrough thinking, originality and spontaneity of idea, insight and courage. Session time is the place to make it all come together provided that the experience is managed properly. But above all the scale and drama of 'seeing' all of this come together is a dimension that is hard to describe properly. See Visualisation Sessions must be a real balance of energy, professionalism, fun, challenge, relevance and meaning. Our goal is to ensure that they are illuminating and, of course that the expectations are managed properly. We pay a lot of attention to the ergonomics of the room. See Efficiencies This is why we need to have space, large expanses of flat, fitting free walls (25-30ft x 8ft) and good supply of air, light and good coffee. Sometimes sessions are the only time when members of cross-disciplinary teams get to see each other. In some cases, many in fact, we observe that important audiences have never met before. See FAQs

Bid Winning Value that can be created by using 4D™

See Also Winning Bids
See Also 4D Deliverables

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Our approach is designed to resolve many of the challenges around the process of creating real and differentiated value. Below are a list of the valuable outcomes associated with our work.

• Strategy Agreement and Alignment.
• A clear focus on the direction - a decision framework.
• A ‘Partnership Platform’ - collaboration and co-creation of outcomes
• Developing Protocols for making, and causing others to make, high quality decisions across a change or transformation program.
• Create a ‘decision playbook’ which will describe how different types of decisions will be worked over a sustained period.
• Build communication and engagement with proven approaches and tools.
• Reduced decision overhead and time to decision; common language and approach; reduction of rework and organizational confusion; increase in alignment and buy-in.

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Clarity

Decreased reliance on strategy hidden within PowerPoint decks; more efficient decision processes and meetings. Alignment over design through Interactive workshops designed to align the objectives with the resources. Workshop teams can work many aspects to conclusion; common language and tool set; ability to engage more people more efficiently in decision making and planning processes.

Leadership and advantage. For the core leadership group sustaining the plan. This would include providing them with the protocols and disciplines which would become the strategic rules and levers.

Clarity of direction and messaging around decision making; ability to manage simple and complex decision processes; continuous improvement and learning around quality decision making. We will have identified a lot of gaps and overlaps and also built some powerful ideas, value propositions and a lot more besides.

Immersion and Practical Tools

We will build Journeys, Systems to hold these Journeys and add narrative so that they become a communication or dialogue device. The metaphor of Journey. Delivery of consistency, understanding, alignment, integration, improved purpose, meaning and relevance.

Clear roadmaps, perspectives, transformational programs. Illustrate clearly the impacts, implications and dynamic representations of metrics, organisational constructs and clearly outlined business objectives, processes and outcomes.

Clear and planned presentations that get constructed very quickly by aligned partners in total agreement of the big picture, It’s all about fast acceleration and compression of decisions and thinking to differentiate, engage and build better relationships in the process. Building visual models of the scenarios to illustrate current reality, the new models, the strategies, the transformational roadmap and the future vision.

Learning and Engagement

Design an approach that will serve as a learning map and “due north” for transforming the organization. 4D™ will also serve as a dashboard for organizing disparate work-streams into a coherent whole of strategies, initiatives, and projects.

Shared picture (literally) and buy-in of the architecture of the new business strategy; increased speed to action; better coordination of resources; a foundation for increased accountability.

4D™ causes a ‘playbook’ of conversations that will describe how different types of applications can be delivered to deliver the appropriate result, communication and inspection protocols, and recommended approaches and tools.

Accelerated Value

Reduced overhead and time to delivery; common language and approach; reduction of rework, production and administrative confusion; increase in alignment and buy-in. Smaller PowerPoint decks; more efficient decision processes and meetings.

For the core leadership group, we will build the ‘owners manual’ for driving and sustaining the programs. This would include providing them with the protocols, disciplines and keys to ensure the effective working model.

Clarity of direction and messaging around the program; ability to manage all processes; continuous improvement and learning around the program.

A tableau of re-usable images (branding/look and feel etc) Engaging and Enabling Change Agents. Creating the Operational Framework – a method of building a pro-active set of communication vehicles.