What's Missing From Your Work?

I started this work with Brandy Agerbeck’s voice in my head, “Content is King.” So true and has served me well for the last 12 years. And over the years, I've learned that content requires a good partner in order to be effective and meaningful. So, if content is king, then context is queen. The two support and enable each other in visual sense-making.

When I first step up to the wall, my first role to is to listen and identify the content that will serve the group’s purpose. Listening, thinking, and synthesizing are critical elements to the work. Next, I focus on providing context because without it, meaning can be lost. A picture labeled incorrectly can lead to confusion and inaccuracy.

The Formula: Noun + Verb = Context

As I’ve taught and mentored over the years, this simple formula brings the biggest ah-ha moments. The idea of providing context is assumed in our work. It’s something so fundamental that we don’t think we need to be intentional, but we do. Words and pictures are subjective. Each group, organization, and conversation is unique and the circumstances and events that surround it are important to understand. How many times have you heard an organization declare they need to be innovative? And yet each organization defines it differently.

Next time you’re at the wall, step back and look at whether you’ve given context to the ideas on the map. Check it against the formula — it’ll make a difference.