According to Shots of Awe, “the Instagram generation experiences the present as an anticipated memory.” We actively design what that later memory will be like. We all become artists / architects – we are building our memorial maps. Is it … Continue reading Experiencing The Present As An Anticipated Memory
This is a 2-minute read. Medium blog reads are augmented by a x-minute length byline. It had better be a good ‘un if it wants to be 7-minutes + long and read by me. Harold Jarche wrote last week about small … Continue reading TL;DR: The TMWK Blog Is A 2-min Read
We have so many stories to tell. And stories sell. A slight problem is that there is more information created every two months than in the previous history of the universe. FACT.
So, every story has a little competition on its hands. What to do? Well, when you are dealing with pain and guts and glory then a tearful, heart-wrenching stream of consciousness will probably do the trick.
But what about when the topic is teaching the process for submitting your expenses, or sharing your company’s three strategic pillars, or understanding why return on invested capital is critical for the long term success of the company?
A little bit of work is required, a bit of prep. How to unlock the power? How to galvanize the troops to follow you into spreadsheet battle? How to cut through the clutter?
Last night Lola, aged 6, was telling a story at bedtime to Lori, the details of which I was not privy to, but it was a real story, with detail and intrigue.
I remembered that aged 3, I recorded Lola regularly, asking her to tell me something, a story. Almost without deviation, her stories where highly literal descriptions of something in the room applied to an action.
“I want to tell you about windows that open…”
I expected some kind of genius insight, but, well, not really. It seems it takes a while to build up the strength and muscle of insight and regurgitation.
So, what are your storytelling skills like? Are they rich with insight and intrigue, or are they regurgitations of what I can already see with my own eyes?
Continue reading “Tell Stories: Weave Narratives. 10,000 Years Of History On Your Side”
I often used to annoy my mum with my ‘cleverness’ – y’know, glib responses to important questions, portraying her 40-odd years of experience had nothing on a random school playground conversation with a friend. Very annoying, especially when I was right! “Aaaah, you fiendish child!” she would often retort. It is a term that often now comes to mind when my eldest, Lola, tries on her all-knowingness routine. What goes around, comes around. — When I think about issues and opportunities arising from the discussion around social business and technology and the changing nature of work, I keep searching for something supremely, … Continue reading You Fiendish Child! Letting The Kids Cut Through Workplace Bullshit
Recently I wrote a few posts about how to start out on the personal branding journey, after a late night conversation with a (successful) friend who wanted others to ‘get him’ more. It goes roughly like this: Reflect on who you are (Subtley) Insert outcomes of above into your daily conversations Get lucky No rocket science, just a little applied thinking. Well, turns out it works. The same friend let me know that he had been letting others know how he shows up and where he adds most value and what he is really good at. He had a few phrases he … Continue reading “This Is Who I Am” Lets Others Say “This Is Who You Are.”
I think this is called a precis review. Synthesize, synthesize. My Working Out Loud pecha kucha – Go! I am a (self-appointed) corporate disorganizer, and one way I experiment in this role is by… working out loud, trying to make my … Continue reading 20 Slides x 20 Seconds; One Focus – Working Out Loud (Yo!)
When you enter the dark and misunderstood world of change agency, a curtain is parted and you see before you thousands of shiny objects and golden baubles – all of them possibilities. Possibilities to add value, to shake things up, in deepen and improve community, to unlock talent from outmoded ways of organizing. What to touch? What to play with? It can be intoxicating, and all the more difficult to decide for it. A Change Agents Worldwide colleague, Kevin Jones, wrote recently about how he defines his service, when there is SO MUCH TO DO! He practiced a few times at a … Continue reading Just What Am I Here To Do…?
SO, we are done and done. The pecha has been kuched, so to speak. It took a couple of weeks of thinking, iterating, practicing, culling, worrying, and letting go to get it done. It ended like this, in front of around 1000 people The whole process from start to finish was highly enjoyable. There is nothing quite like seeing the work come together before your very eyes, alongside the learning. Double whammy. This is the storify of the process of working out loud on a pecha kucha about working out loud. It got a bit meta, but I just about … Continue reading #PKyvr33 Close Out: It Was All Worth It, From Beginning To End
Following on from yesterday’s post about Duarte’s ‘what is…’, ‘what could be…’ presentation rhythm, I moved a few slides around and think I have a decent rhythm that balances the content between me – what I did – and us – what is going on in the world. I see that some of the narrative is about me – what I did, working out loud. And some of the slides are about what is possible – explanation, opportunity, invitation. This is the meat on the bone, what I hope some people take away. This is about us. It goes something … Continue reading #PKyvr33 Day 15: Me And Us. Us Is More Important.
I saw a tweet this week that the presentation pioneer Nancy Duarte practiced over 200 hours to prepare her TED Talk, of 18 minutes. That, friends, is commitment, perhaps not surprising for someone with real professional skin in the game but it made me think: I wish all presenters invested even a small percentage of that intent into their presentations. “@mkrigsman: Preparing for TED talk, @nancyduarte spend 200 hours and 38 hours rehearsing for 18 min talk. #cxotalk” #PKyvr33 #WOLyo! — Jonathan Anthony (@ThisMuchWeKnow) June 28, 2014 I know it is only 400 seconds of people’s time, but hey, … Continue reading #PKyvr33 Day 14: What Is…What Could Be…
I sat down at the table the other night and laid out 20 post-it notes, and wrote 20 hashtags on them, and felt much better. I moved some of the notes around to test out the flow. I need to do it a bit more before finalizing the content. I am working concurrently on the background images, all from my iPhone. As I take my work in a more personal direction, I have moved away from Google searches and toward using real-time, local content. Mostly, the images are colour commentary, not the detail. The Hashtags guide the conversation. I need to … Continue reading #PKyvr33 Day 12: Post-It Notes Make Life Easy
This Much We Know 