Sarah Manley and David Christie from Innovation Arts explain how to listen to groups of up to 700 people in one room and make them feel heard

One of the five elements of deep listening is making meaning from listening to others. My guests today are Sarah Manley and David Christie from Innovation Arts, a hybrid strategy consultancy and design agency. David is the founder and Sarah is a project manager, and they both use a form of visual communication called scribing to create solutions.

During the scribing process, a graphic facilitator will create a visual map of a conversation, even if that conversation is between hundreds of people. Businesses and organizations face complex problems that are difficult to solve in a linear fashion. The scribing process creates a visual representation of the conversation and can be used to discover systems and solve complex issues. In this episode, we discuss this process along with focus, preparation and applying design thinking to solutions.

Today’s Topics:

• David and Sarah met as part of a large team that created solutions for Y2K.
• The primary function of a graphic facilitator is to create a visual map of the conversation.
• How participants focus on listening to the conversation and the scribe does the work.
• Scribes listen with intent and make visuals of what they hear.
• How they listen to what is unsaid and make connections with ideas.
• Preparation includes a content briefing and learning about the company culture.
• Being fit and healthy is also mandatory.
• Having the discipline and mindset to stay focused the entire time.
• How it’s about being curious and engaged with helping people solve problems in the best way possible.
• People are beginning to understand the systemic nature of things.  
• Complex problems need to be mapped out and the skill set does not always exist.
• Applying design thinking to a range of problems people are seeing.
• Capturing the present, past and future in these visual maps.
• Bringing a meaningful approach to systemic listening.

Links and Resources:

• Innovation Arts
• David Christie on Twitter @christoi
• David Christie on LinkedIn
• The Value Web David’s Website
• Sarah Manley on LinkedIn
• Sarah on Twitter @puppetopera

Quotes:

“If you're taking notes while listening to a conversation, you are not engaged in the most effective listening possible.” Sarah Manley

“Scribes try their best to connect ideas and make connections with what is being said.” Sarah Manley

“You have to think in terms of systems because everything is interconnected.” David Christie

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