No "Wrong" Emotions

Sometimes life feels like this image… you are barely hanging on with life flowing fast around you. So, you might look at this image and feel emotions as varied as fear & excitement. There are no “wrong” emotions and no “good” vs. “bad” emotions. It is the action we choose to take with each emotion that makes the difference. If we choose “fear”, we might run away from the situation in which we find our self, or we might curl up and hide. Both could be considered as survival actions or maybe as denial actions… it is up to each of us to decide. If we choose “excitement”, then our actions will be very different as we might choose to jump in the river and just go with it.  It is all a choice and kind of freeing to know that there are many ways and many emotions from which to choose.

Cards in Action - Quito, Ecuador

Andy Cocker, a Newfield Coach, is using the cards in Quito, Ecuador with a group of business leaders to support them in strengthening their businesses.   

He will ask each leader to pick an image that represents their current assessment of their business performance.  Then pick a card that represents where they would like the business to be. 

Leaders will share their 2 cards in small groups and then open up conversations to fill the gap between where their business and and where  they aspire to be. 

Transformational Testimonial - Seapod

At Bob Dunham's latest Coaching Excellence in Organizations Conference (Institute for Generative Leadership through Newfield Network) last week, we talked about the power of using the JICT images with teams in organizations as a way to bring the heart and soul into the key conversations that make effective teams.   We passed the cards around for participants to view.  The transformation occurred when we decided to USE the cards.  I asked the participants to: "Take the card that is in your hand and reflect on how it can inform or inspire you to bring more of yourself to your learning today and to contribute to the learning of your fellow colleagues."  Everybody shared their answers in small groups and then with the larger group. This generative conversation created the context for the whole day of learning.  The card with the 'just right' question in the moment is magical.

On the Journey - Stepping Stones

It's time for your team to start on a new project, a new journey together.  You are tasked with leading the team in visioning the possibilities for this next project.  What if you asked what the future might be like if you walked across a field made of this on the way to begin your new project?  What would it feel like?  What would it sound like?  What might you see?  After a lively conversation about this journey, you can turn the card over.  Each of the images has a corresponding question on the back of the card.  The question for this image is:  How does your journey align with your vision?   How perfect to bring creativity, innovation, fun and lightness to your new journey.

Creativity in Action - 4 Aces

Looking for inspiration to awaken the creativity in your work team?  A coaching colleague of mine, Jack Johnson, uses the images to promote innovative and creative thinking.  He asks his team to examine an image and choose a concept that this image represents.  The next question he asks is, "How does this concept relate to our situation?"  If you randomly picked this image for your team, what would you see?  four aces...luck....a knock out hand.... symmetry .... simplicity?  Each one on your team will choose a different concept and then you will be off and running with new ideas.  I promise - go try it!

Image This - Rope on Ship

Your team at work is not functioning well.  As the team leader, you are ready to declare a breakdown.  But how?  Try asking everyone to look at this image of a block and tackle on a ship.  Some team members will know what this is.  Others will have no idea.  It really doesn't matter.  What matters is the question you ask that initiates the critical conversation around why your team is stuck or is missing the mark.  What if you asked, " What do you see in this image that relates to our team?" or "What emotion does this image evoke in you about our work together?"  Introduce the question, allow each member to share and you will find that concerns naturally come to the surface and you are off on the missing conversation needed to get you back on track!

What Can An Image Evoke?

Speak about images and what they evoke!!!!! I had a very unexpected response to the image on the front page of the Minneapolis Star Tribune on Tuesday of members of congress and their staff on the Capitol steps pictured, hand in hand in the moment of silence for the victims of the Tucson shooting last Saturday.

I picked up the paper, unfolded it, caught the image and tears immediately flowed … where did that come from? I wondered. What is this all about? Why am I moved to tears? Tears that I was not able to control if I’d wanted to. 

Suffice it to say that the actual answers to my questions are irrelevant for this purpose (I did spend time in reflection and became aware of what had moved me, why and what I would do about it). The purpose of my posting here is to share that the words above the image did not charge me at all however, the image moved me to a response deep within instantly. With absolutely NO thought the sadness I felt was outwardly expressed. A clear testimony to the power of images! 

What is deep within you that an image would evoke?

Do you lead from the head, heart or gut?

My experience using images with leaders, colleagues, clients and friends, has offered significant learning. 

Offering an image with a relevant question always takes the conversation to a place of more significance and positively impacts the outcome. 

Using an image allows the speaker to express what matters … “heart stuff”. 

I’m told, too, that frequently there is a gut reaction because when the (logical) “head” is processing (the most usual response in a business conversation) and identifies a “heart” solution, the “gut” warns there may be danger in offering it (our bodies are amazing!). 

Only recently (and still only in some arenas) have “heart” solutions been valued as highly as those of the “head”. 

Notice how you lead, give it some thought and respond to the question “Do you lead from the head, heart or gut”?

Inspired Outlook for 2011

At 11:20pm on December 31,2010 waiting for the ball to drop with 3 other couples, I brought out the images and spread them across the coffee table. 

I invited my friends to select one image that captured their outlook for 2011. 

For 30 minutes we shared from our hearts about what we wanting for ourselves, our families, and our world. 

One friend selected the picture on the Ferris Wheel and said she wanted more adventure in her life. 

Another selected the duck with her nest of ducklings to express how she wanted to stay in touch with her grown children who were living in Boston and New Zealand. 

The images gave us a chance to push the pause button and reflect and share together before diving into 2011.

A Story Inspired by Redwood Trees

The images offer so many options when you feel that you have run out of ideas. 

I have found that everyone has a story inspired by this unique view of these two massive trees from the Redwood Forest. 

How about wonder? 

Openness? 

Possibilities? 

Or what is getting in the way of seeing clearly?