A visual tool to explore your situation in a new way
Half of the year is over and it’s a great time to have a birdseye view of your life, business or work, or current project. In this blog post, I present you a playful visual activity, that I got to know from the brilliant facilitator Miren Lauzirika Jauregi at INNpower by EmakumeEkin.
An imaginary map
- You need several pieces of A3 paper (or larger)
- crayons, feltpens, markers or any knind of pen that you like to work with
- On a DIN A3 paper start drawing a city map.
You can draw the district you live in or a place that you like or think up something completely new. Don’t take it too seriously and don’t think about it too much! Accuracy is completely unnecessary!I didn’t try it out but this part of the exercise might also work as a joint activity with children: They draw their city and you draw yours. - Add details
You might want to include streets, crossings, a roundabout, public buildings like museums, a post office or a townhall, public transport like a train station, bus stops, a metro, natural elements like parks, a river, a lake
Don’t label anything yet!For the full fun and the biggest impact finish these steps before you read on.
- Label the elements of your map
Distinguish two districts: one is the district of skills and competencies and the other one is the district of achievements.
Label the streets, buildings, and elements accordingly. How are things connected? For example, there could be one from the main street called ‘client street’, from which several small streets branch off.
Each of these small streets is labeled with one of your clients or client groups.
Include what seems important to you in these two districts.
Remember this is a game – keep it light and playful! - Create a third district.
If there’s no space left, add a sheet of paper. In this district, you can add everything that you would like to the city of your life. - Add connections
In this last step, you can think about how to connect the existing parts with the new parts? Which road will take you to the ideal version of your business, project, or life? What do you pass along the way?
“A map does not just chart, it unlocks and formulates meaning; it forms bridges between here and there, between disparate ideas that we did not know, were previously connected.” – Reif Larsen
I found the playful visual approach helpful to get out of my head and dream up something new. The map also helped me to see things that are already there and that I tend to overlook.
Have fun!
And let me know how it went in the comments!