Read Online Creative People Must Be Stopped by David A Owens - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: David A Owens
Ads: Link
bulleted list. You may also remember struggling to get a photo to fit on a slide with text, make a table of information display at a readable size, or, god forbid, get a video to play reliably. This also applies to spreadsheet programs and clipart the same way it applies to all languages: the tool favors expression of one kind over others.
How do you fight this? Simple: first think about what you want to say and then think about the best way to say it. When choosing the best way, pay attention to the following three considerations. First, consider the best way of expressing the idea on its own terms. If your idea is based on an insight about large amounts of categorical data, then a chart, table, or spreadsheet is probably your best bet. If your ideas are about a process, then a process flow chart, storyboard, or timeline might be better suited. If your idea involves artifacts in the physical world, then a physical prototype would make sense.
The second consideration is to decide what kind of interaction your material is meant to support. For instance, if you are intending to provide input for a free-ranging discussion or a kick-off brainstorm, maybe video, photos, and terse headlines of text are enough to inform and excite the group; you probably donât want the details of a spreadsheet or the formal structure of a bulleted list. To present the results of your analysis with the goal of getting a decision made, you will want to put all the detailed data, analyses, and supporting information in a handout, allowing people to parse the information at a rate and in an order that works best for them. In that case, use the slideware to help manage time and to provide landmarks for navigating the information youâve provided. Are you facilitating an interactive collaboration that requires you to document the insights? Maybe preprint a set of easel pad sheets, tape them to the whiteboard, and provide markers for everyone present.
I am not at all naïve about the difficulty of deciding how to weight these considerations, nor about the significant amount of work it takes to learn a new form of expression. It is a tremendous amount of work. But I see it as a simple trade-off: you can do the work up front to try to ensure clear communication and speed the process of the group during the meeting, or you can try to get everyone else to do the work in the meeting itself, a process sure to take longer, result in errors, be more frustrating, and leave no time for doing the work that prompted the meeting in the first place.
Putting the Framework to Work: Individual Constraints
To aid you in assessing the constraints at this level, use the following diagnostic survey. It is intended to help you assess the extent to which the constraints described in this chapter may be unintentional hindrances to innovation in your organization.
Individual Constraints Diagnostic Survey
The survey lists eighteen statements describing symptoms that can be caused by the constraints discussed in this chapter. As you read each statement, consider how closely it describes your behavior in your current working group or project team. Assess yourself in terms of the behavior you are most likely to exhibit while working on projects in your organization. Record your assessment by putting a checkmark in the box that indicates how accurately the statement describes your situation.
1 = Highly Descriptive; this occurs often or on a routine basis
2 = Moderately Descriptive; this occurs sometimes or occasionally
3 = Not Descriptive; this occurs rarely or not at all
Using the Results
Note the total number of statements that you rated as âHighly Descriptive.â If you have rated more than six of them this way, then working on your individual constraints will be a productive effort. Now that you have identified the specific constraints, you can take action. You may wish to turn back and reread the description of the problem and of the specific
How do you fight this? Simple: first think about what you want to say and then think about the best way to say it. When choosing the best way, pay attention to the following three considerations. First, consider the best way of expressing the idea on its own terms. If your idea is based on an insight about large amounts of categorical data, then a chart, table, or spreadsheet is probably your best bet. If your ideas are about a process, then a process flow chart, storyboard, or timeline might be better suited. If your idea involves artifacts in the physical world, then a physical prototype would make sense.
The second consideration is to decide what kind of interaction your material is meant to support. For instance, if you are intending to provide input for a free-ranging discussion or a kick-off brainstorm, maybe video, photos, and terse headlines of text are enough to inform and excite the group; you probably donât want the details of a spreadsheet or the formal structure of a bulleted list. To present the results of your analysis with the goal of getting a decision made, you will want to put all the detailed data, analyses, and supporting information in a handout, allowing people to parse the information at a rate and in an order that works best for them. In that case, use the slideware to help manage time and to provide landmarks for navigating the information youâve provided. Are you facilitating an interactive collaboration that requires you to document the insights? Maybe preprint a set of easel pad sheets, tape them to the whiteboard, and provide markers for everyone present.
I am not at all naïve about the difficulty of deciding how to weight these considerations, nor about the significant amount of work it takes to learn a new form of expression. It is a tremendous amount of work. But I see it as a simple trade-off: you can do the work up front to try to ensure clear communication and speed the process of the group during the meeting, or you can try to get everyone else to do the work in the meeting itself, a process sure to take longer, result in errors, be more frustrating, and leave no time for doing the work that prompted the meeting in the first place.
Putting the Framework to Work: Individual Constraints
To aid you in assessing the constraints at this level, use the following diagnostic survey. It is intended to help you assess the extent to which the constraints described in this chapter may be unintentional hindrances to innovation in your organization.
Individual Constraints Diagnostic Survey
The survey lists eighteen statements describing symptoms that can be caused by the constraints discussed in this chapter. As you read each statement, consider how closely it describes your behavior in your current working group or project team. Assess yourself in terms of the behavior you are most likely to exhibit while working on projects in your organization. Record your assessment by putting a checkmark in the box that indicates how accurately the statement describes your situation.
1 = Highly Descriptive; this occurs often or on a routine basis
2 = Moderately Descriptive; this occurs sometimes or occasionally
3 = Not Descriptive; this occurs rarely or not at all
Using the Results
Note the total number of statements that you rated as âHighly Descriptive.â If you have rated more than six of them this way, then working on your individual constraints will be a productive effort. Now that you have identified the specific constraints, you can take action. You may wish to turn back and reread the description of the problem and of the specific
Similar Books
