When you set out to improve an end-to-end process, quality or change culture, you need a collaborative vision and strategy that motivates all stakeholders.
We provide visual tools for strategy setting and building collaboration skill. Metaphor Mapping harnesses a team’s experience and creativity. They solve complex challenges though systems thinking.
Some of the principles these tools draw on:
Teams use visual sticker symbols in workshops to develop their strategy collaboratively.
They tell graphic stories of how things work today, their ideal vision and change strategy.
Metaphor Mapping provides
- An open/inclusive atmosphere: for authenticity and dialog
- Serious-fun: that lightens the work and makes it safe to address charged issues
- Visual symbols: for big-picture, systems thinking, intuition as well as reasoning
Stephen Covey:
“When you produce something with another person that is truly creative, its one of the most powerful forms of bonding there is.”
– That’s the short story. If you want to know more, read on –
Where did Mapping come from and what would it do for me?
Quick History
This tool has been around for over 20 years but is new to most because it was invented for U.N. groups where lives could be at risk if teams couldn’t bridge cultural divides, align objectives, think collaboratively and commit to joint action. It worked for the U.N. because its universally familiar metaphors, symbol language and engaging process make meaning crystal clear and give it forceful, visual impact.
Next, European divisions of US companies used its discipline and speed to help their in-house professionals replace expensive consultants to sales, supply chain and other disciplines– happily avoiding tedious piles of Post-it notes.
Its universal visual language led Metaphor Mapping into global transformation programs, supply chains, TQM, mergers, re-orgs and IT projects. As it became more known, parent companies and other leaders found it overcomes cross-function gaps, helps avoid flawed strategies and improves execution quality.
It has become the master facilitator’s tool for team alignment– compressing into a single day the type of team learning that led geese to fly in a “V” formation to achieve greater speed with less effort.
Metaphor Mapping delivers solid thinking and commitment
- It’s easy to be authentic, raise or challenge ideas when building a Map
- Stakeholders frame and fill the end-to-end picture: It’s symbolic, collective mind-mapping
- Metaphors promote lateral, fast-slow and systems thinking
- Vision and strategy are built together, aligning and committing all team members
Our encouragement to you
Try this U.N.-inspired tool. You’ll see resistance to change disappear when your team originates or details the goal and strategy. You’ll avoid boring workshops and get the results you need.
Call us. The moment you start, your team will thank you.
