Jan 6: Diagrams

My last boss, a graphic designer by training, used to joke that she thought in pictures and I thought in words, and that's why we made such a good team. I am always in awe of people who can take a complicated process and simplify it in a couple of bubbles, arrows, and icons. My explanatory talents tend to fall more towards metaphors, analogies and synonyms. The closest I get to graphics come in the form of periods, dashes, and parentheses.

Today, I had a coffee meeting with a former client/new friend/(hopefully) future mentor. He graciously took time out of his day to catch up and give me some pointers about building a marketing and outreach program from the ground up. He had even read my verbose, 20-page-without-one-diagram strategic plan I emailed ahead of time.  Besides just genuinely enjoying Ed's company, I knew I was sitting with someone who could really help me stretch my thinking and gain perspective when the first thing he did was take my prospectus, turn it over, and start drawing on the back of it.

In a few quick pen strokes, he had mapped out our target audiences and helped me work through a plan for how to prioritize outreach activities based on speed of client acquisition. Go after the low hanging fruit first, and cross sell them down the road. As he laid each piece out, my cumbersome strategy, which had previously overwhelmed me in a "where do I start?" kind of way, started to feel more solid and manageable. 

Even after we'd finished talking business, the good advice continued as he drew directions to some must-see local sites and restaurants to check out. He's lived up here for 17 years and knows where the all of the good hikes and tasty eats are.

Ed was one of my favorite clients at my previous job. He has a really thoughtful presence and is very welcoming to new ideas. I always respected that he never talked for the sake of hearing his own voice. Sometimes one can confuse a good listener with someone who doesn't have much to say - that is not the case at all with Ed. His contributions to verbal conversations are astute, honest, and focused. But his capacity for envisioning is enormous. And with it, his entrepreneurial talent and drive are indisputable. Ed "sees" strategies, goals and potential outcomes, and I really believe that is key to going beyond intellectualizing into achievement.

So I'm going to take to heart all of the direct advice he gave me today and work it into my plan and my daily actions. But the biggest piece of advice I took away from our meeting was one that he didn't even say out loud: sometimes the answer comes from fewer words, more pictures.