The Art of Change™ Blog

Thinking in pictures helps diverse groups of leaders reach convergence around complex concepts, and this year, we are visualizing the power of cultural roots to build unique tourism attractions.

Authentic stories, scrapbooks and vintage TV and film footage of singer Johnny Cash’s family roots and Arkansas concerts bring to life the rural roots of American music and culture, and we’re partnering with Cash’s relatives, community leaders, and the John R. Cash Revocable Trust to shape the conceptual master plan for the Kingsland Heritage Center—Boyhood Home of Johnny Cash in southern Arkansas.

In 2020, we added animated videos to our visual solutions for clients with big stories to tell and big challenges to solve around engaging people in new collective action. We have recently completed projects for health and education foundations and behavioral health coalitions. Our clients are bundling these videos with board strategy and sense-making retreats, sharing them in social media platforms, and coupling them with stakeholder conversations designed to build adaptive playbooks for these uncertain times.

We are so excited to partner with Gary Hubbell Consulting in his ongoing TRANSFORMATION WORKSHOPS, which are outcome-driven virtual deep dives into leadership, organizational learning, and professional practice issues.

In this time of crisis and virtual work, leaders are struggling to stay focused on the key ideas and action steps during the onslaught of video sessions. We have a solution to creating meaningful, memorable and actionable gatherings with our artistic and soulful graphic recordings. This summer, we partnered with four, forward-looking organizations to engage leaders grappling with big challenges with few clear, easy answers.

Recently, my oldest client partner, MDC Inc., commissioned me to celebrate in a single picture the career arc and impact of outgoing President David Dodson and the powerful outcomes of this 50-year-old economic justice organization. What was so cool was that I personally experienced since 1992 many of the soulful projects as I collaborated with David and his MDC team as a coach, designer, and visual storyteller. 

Please read the PROJECTS page for details.

Last week, I helped my brother’s firm, Gary Hubbell Consulting, capture the conversations from a one-hour Zoom meeting among over 40 non-profit practitioners focused on “Questions Leaders Should Ask Now.” After exploring the session highlights, I created a digital drawing that was shared immediately with every participant.

In these tough times, your virtual meetings are more important than ever. Whether you’re doing online video meetings or simple conference calls, consider using visual captures of your virtual meetings to create memorable road-maps. Colorful summary visuals capture the tone and aspirations of the meetings and make the way forward clear. The finished images enable instant sharing and follow up.

Traditional meetings can easily get stale and ineffective. That’s because most gatherings don’t leverage our ability to process information visually. Did you know that humans process visual information 60 times faster than text? Fortunately, there’s an easy way to transform your next meeting: use the power of visual storytelling to keep people engaged and make your meeting more productive.