Let's talk Transformation : The business leaders podcast #100 Visualising transformation with Dave Gray
"we always understand anything new in terms of what we already know.."
Dave and I discuss the art of possibility and how we can change our thoughts and perceptions to allow ourselves to enter the gateways of what's possible.
Ever wondered why visualising things is so powerful ? Ever challenged your beliefs about whether you can draw or not ? We discuss all this and more as Dave leads us through his philosophy of art and how it can contribute to helping us navigate this complex world we live and work in.
We delve into RFID codes, generative AI, and their potentially transformative effects on education and employment, as well as how we can step out of our patterns to think differently - to shake up our habitual routines, embrace change, and take proactive steps toward growth and innovation. After all, the jobs of tomorrow may not even exist today, so staying ahead means staying adaptable, open minded and curious.
So whether you’re a seasoned artist or someone who’s never thought of picking up a pencil for fun, consider this your personal invitation to explore the visual language within you and step away from autopilot and connect to the present moment. Who knows? It might just change the way you see the world—and the way the world sees you !
Dave shares his insights, teachings, experience and visuals from writing and working with artists, leaders and organisations across the globe .
The main insights you'll get from this episode are :
- Humans are mostly on autopilot, which serves us when things are going well, but distracts us from the present moment and possibilities can only be seen in the present moment.
- Digital overloads and distracts us but ‘possibilitarians’ are acutely tuned in to the present moment and the opportunities that might arise; we cannot know what will happen and it is our limiting beliefs that hold us back.
- The School of the Possible is about a less structured approach, fostering and teaching creativity, i.e. imagining something and making it a reality. This cannot be taught in the conventional way in that there is no end goal per se, just a question and a direction.
- Such a school of exploration engenders a community of people focused on what is possible in their worlds and supporting each other as entrepreneurs - an exciting, scary and uncomfortable reality that holds the promise of adventure and learning.
- Organisations too must take risks to avoid becoming obsolete, as many people are now looking at alternatives to working in organisations - we must all find a way to make a living but nowadays we can create our own customers on our own terms.
- An unusual approach to teaching creativity in the form of visual(isation) aspects, e.g. using game-storming, as a way to bring people together, help them align on a problem, and draw a complex issue to make it clearer.
- This low-equipment approach is transformative, facilitating a real connection between body and mind – this allows a group to build something, change their interactions and actually see what is in other people’s heads.
- The resulting visible, shareable work results in innovation, makes abstract things more tangible and takes the information landscape from fuzzy to focused - images are a universal language and explore things for which there are no words (yet).
- Drawing is a conversation between what’s in your head and what’s on the piece of paper so it can be surprising – as a process it is intuitive as opposed to cognitive as our brains are pattern-finding machines.
- Visual thinking uses our very flexible mind and shows us that we are more creative than we think (cf. self-limiting beliefs). Drawings can also use words and symbols, arrows, etc. and help us see that we understand anything new in terms of what we already know.
- Generative AI will be very disruptive and super empowering for individuals but life-threating for companies when people realise they can do it on their own
- ‘old’ jobs are not missed and lost jobs will be replaced by new jobs that we can’t train for yet.
- The School of the Possible a school of thought and philosophy, to find the people you want to spend time with - recent research suggests that people want to invest in connections with other people and build shared energy towards purposeful projects.
- To become possibilitarians and make changes, we must turn off our autopilot. If we step out of the routine, we will throw off everyone else too but small moves can have big impact so we must go off script and see what happens!
Find out more about Dave and the school of the possible here :