Terri Lonier

The Craft of Innovation

Articles

By Terri Lonier

The Zen of Venn (Diagrams)

Two-circle Venn diagram

Venn diagrams are greatly overlooked for their power to demonstrate inclusion, exclusion, and exclusivity. Let’s look at 2-, 3- and 4-circle Venn diagrams, and where to use each.

If you want to show the unique value you can bring to a project or client, a Venn diagram is golden. It can be a negotiator’s secret tool.

Two circles for commonality or exclusivity

A two-circle Venn diagram (above) can clarify what’s included and what’s left out. That overlap? It represents commonality. Or, a union of both. The overlap can also show the exclusivity that you cannot get by choosing either Circle A or Circle B.

Three circles for greater exclusivity

Three-circle Venn diagram showing exclusivity in central area

Up the ante to a 3-circle Venn and exclusivity heightens. The intersection — I call it the “golden triangle” (although not a perfect triangle) — can demonstrate extreme value. I’ve used a diagram like this to win a $50K pay raise and big contracts. So have others I’ve coached.

Four circles get pretty complex

Four-circle Venn diagram showing Japanese concept of Ikigai

Four-circle Venn diagrams border on cross-eyed complexity. The most common use is to communicate the Japanese concept of ikigai, or “what gives life meaning.” (Although many will vehemently argue it does it no justice.) Once again, the overlaps provide depth and meaning.

Which Venn diagram option to use?

Simple visuals can be powerfully persuasive. Circles, squares, triangles. All zoom to the brain faster than words. The challenge is matching shape and content.

For a Venn diagram, first get clear about what you want to communicate. Are you trying to show the power of union, or exclusivity? Which elements — and how many — will make your case most persuasively?

Clarify, then choose

Clarify your message first. Then select a shape that will communicate your idea most effectively.

When in doubt, simplicity rules. Choose Venn diagrams with 2 or 3 circles over 4. Don’t undercut the impact of a visual by making it too complex. Speedy comprehension is your ally.

Want to know more?

The circles of Venn diagrams are just one element of creating persuasive visuals that I teach in my cohort-based class, AUTHORITY BY DESIGN. In just three weeks, with a group of like-minded professionals, you can create a portfolio of frameworks and Visual IP to increase your visibility, credibility, and revenue.

By Terri Lonier

The Money-Fun Matrix

Money-Fun Matrix, 2x2 matrix

Use my Money-Fun Matrix to gain clarity on what types of clients and projects to work on in your business.

More than 20 years ago I created this 2×2 matrix to assess the value of the clients and projects I worked on during the year. It’s a simple four-quadrant analysis tool that lays out very clearly for me what to continue working on, and where I should focus future business efforts.

I’ve shared this tool in workshops and in my coaching, and it’s always a treat to see the smiles and the shift in participants’ expressions when they realize what a positive impact this analysis can have on their own work.

Money x Fun

While there are many filters you can use to analyze clients and projects, this matrix is based on just two factors: Money and Fun. It asks the question: Was it worthwhile to work with this client or on this project, both from a professional and financial viewpoint?

Here’s how the Money-Fun matrix works:

Completed Money-Fun Matrix

The graph has four quadrants, based on two axes. The horizontal axis is money, moving from low to high, left to right. The vertical axis is fun, from low to high.

Think back on the clients and projects you’ve work on over the past year (or whatever time frame you choose), and determine into which quadrant each would fall.

Where Are Your Projects on the Quadrant?

Quadrant 1 (lower left): Low Fun, Low Money
This is the worst quadrant. The work was not rewarding, either professionally or financially. These clients/projects are scratched from your list.

Quadrant 2 (lower right): High Money, Low Fun
This work did not stretch you professionally, but you were well compensated. In the ideal world, you would not need to consider this work, but bills have to be paid.

Quadrant 3 (upper left): High Fun, Low Money
These clients and projects were fun, they stretched your capabilities, but the budgets were slim and there was little or no profit to be made. This quadrant can be worthwhile if it increased your skill set, expanded your network, or led to referrals for future work.

Quadrant 4 (upper right): High Fun, High Money
This is the ideal situation. The work was challenging and expanded your skill set. The clients were appreciative, and you were well compensated. This is where you want to focus future marketing efforts — either to do more work with past clients in this quadrant, or to find other clients and projects who fit this profile.

Unless you take time to analyze your clients and projects, you won’t know where to invest your time, energy, and financial resources to chart the best path for your business growth.

Chart Your Future

My goal each year is to work with clients or on projects that keep me above the horizontal “fun” threshold. I don’t mind doing some projects with limited budgets if they offer something else in return, such as the chance to explore new intellectual arenas or meet new colleagues. Granted, when you’re first starting your business, you may not have the luxury to turn down paying work. But as your company matures, you will discover that where you focus your thinking (and marketing) is often where you will end up. The Money-Fun Matrix can guide you in gaining clarity on what types of clients and projects you want to work on in your business.

The Power of 2×2

As this example shows, a 2×2 matrix can present fundamental variables and reveal powerful insights. In fact, the 2×2 matrix is one of the 5 essential shapes of Visual IP I recently wrote about in Visual IP: What Shape Do Your Ideas Take?

Masters of Visual IP understand that simple graphics can communicate more clearly than hundreds of words. How might you juxtapose two elements to demonstrate their relationship in a 2×2 matrix? What two elements would you choose to harness on this tool of visual persuasion — and what four outcomes would they represent?

By Terri Lonier

Visual IP: What Shape Do Your Ideas Take?

Combined photo of slices of Visual IP, including Venn diagram, 2x2 matrix, pyramid, path, and bubble network diagram

Visual intellectual property (Visual IP) is a powerful tool to help you explain, influence, and persuade. Here are the 5 essential shapes to unlock the impact of your ideas. 

Do your great ideas end up trapped inside your mind? You’re not alone. In my encounters with big thinkers, I find they often struggle with words. They know their ideas have merit, yet they become frustrated in their attempts to explain, influence, and persuade.

That’s when I’ll jump in and ask them to scribble a rough drawing of the idea they want to share. After a moment of puzzlement — and sometimes a gentle protest of lack of artistic ability — they start to sketch. Within a few moments they are shaking their head in amazement at the increased clarity of their thinking.

Visual IP = Powerful persuasion

These drawings, frameworks, or diagrams can become valuable visual intellectual property (visual IP). They transform the intangible creations of the human intellect (the general definition of IP) into tangible assets you can use in writing, presentations, or other communications.

What I’ve discovered over the years is that visual IP often centers on 5 essential shapes. These foundational shapes appear again and again, no matter the topic or context. Based on my work with leaders at some of the most creative companies in the world, and my background in design, technology, and business, I’ve created a taxonomy of these shapes to help big thinkers get their ideas out of their heads and into the world. 

Let’s explore what shape your ideas may take, and how you can supercharge their communication impact.

Circle

Image of Venn diagram made from two intersecting circles
Venn diagrams are deceptively simple, and can communicate sophisticated ideas and relationships.

The circle is perhaps the most common shape that humans have drawn through history. In your drawing, circles may show up as a single shape, defining what’s contained and what’s left out. Concentric circles can also become targets, with elements of your idea segmented around a core and becoming more focused as you approach a solid center. Or you might draw a Venn diagram, with 2, 3, or 4 intersecting circles. The overlaps and relationships help you investigate how parts of your ideas relate to each other. 

Square / Matrix

Steven Covey's 2x2 Important vs Urgent matrix
Steven Covey’s adaptation of the Eisenhower Matrix influenced an entire generation of time management.

Squares are the basis for the ubiquitous 2×2 matrix, scrawled on every whiteboard at business meetings. You’ve likely seen this shape in a SWOT analysis for strategic planning, or Steven Covey’s “Important vs Urgent” matrix that he popularized in “7 Habits for Highly Successful People.” The process of choosing two criteria for axes and placing your ideas into four quadrants strengthens your reasoning and lets you see in which areas your ideas may be lacking. Squares can also become grids and scorecards, setting out individual elements for analysis and ranking.

Triangle

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs triangle (pyramid) diagram.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is one of the most recognized triangle diagrams.

Triangles offer two distinct forms for your ideas. First, a pyramid allows you to stack layers of your idea and show how they may build one upon another to reach a pinnacle. Pyramids may also show segmentation of a whole, and illustrate how each segment may be addressed individually or in the entirety. A common example is the Knowledge Pyramid or the DIKW (data, information, knowledge, wisdom) Pyramid. In another format, inverted triangles become funnels. They’re often used as a process diagram to show movement from broad initial steps to the desired final result, such as in marketing or sales funnels. Pyramids in both forms might also show up as spirals, again indicating action and process.

Path

Path diagram showing four modes of transportation: train, plane, motorcycle, car
Path imagery implies a process or journey, often time-based.

If you express your ideas as a path or process, your drawing might include squiggly lines that meander over the page. These can take on the imagery of a map, with markings for milestones, roadblocks, detours, and other byways. Journey imagery lets you immerse yourself in the process, enabling you (and others) to think through each step to reach a final outcome or destination. In contrast to the other more defined shapes, this freeform expression invites your imagination on a trip through time and space.

Nodes

Bubble network diagram showing elements of student learning characteristics
Nodes and connectors can show relationships, both structured and free-form.

The final common shape is one very familiar to those who understand the structure of the internet: nodes and connectors. This shape lends itself to explaining distributed networks and the relationships between key components. Some examples are the classic Mind Map, where brainstorms or streams of consciousness can be charted and later analyzed. Your drawing of nodes and connectors may have one central point or many. It’s in exploring both the nodes and the relationships that tie them together that provides a worthwhile exercise.

Your Toolbox of Visual Persuasion

These 5 shapes give you a toolbox of visual persuasion, one that can help you differentiate yourself or your company, establish your credibility as an expert, and set you apart as a thought leader. Over time, you can create your own library of visual IP — an original collection of drawings, frameworks, or diagrams — that uniquely presents your value and the power of your ideas.

In a past article, I shared how we as humans are hard-wired to respond to images thousands of times faster than words. In future articles, I’ll be exploring each of these 5 shapes individually, with examples of how they’ve been used by big thinkers in the past, and how you can craft them for your own ideas. You can sign up to receive them by completing the form elsewhere on this page.

By Terri Lonier

Visual IP: Your Secret Weapon for Persuasion

Green scribbles on white background to represent Visual IP

Quick, think back to a recent time when you were trying to convince someone about your ideas or opinion. Did you use logic? Emotion? Stories? Whatever your approach, chances are your tool of choice was mostly words, either spoken or written.

Whether you were successful or not, you could have improved your chances (and decreased the time spent persuading) by making a drawing or using a simple visual. The use of Visual IP – proprietary drawings, diagrams, or frameworks to support your ideas – can be a persuasion power booster for three key reasons: speed, memorability, and differentiation.

Vroom!

Images travel like a Ferrari to your brain. In fact, your brain can identify a visual image 30 times faster than a blink of your eye!  That’s due, in part, to the way the body is wired for visual processing. Compared to text, visuals are processed 60,000 times faster, since nearly half of our nerve fibers are linked to our retinas. Humans can grasp a picture much faster than words – as brief as 13 milliseconds, according to MIT scientists. When you’re trying to make your point quickly, turn to a visual.

Remember This

Because the brain thinks differently in pictures, your ideas will become more memorable if translated into a visual representation. An image of a three-step process, for example, will make a much stronger impression than three words or phrases. This holds true even if it’s a crude drawing of three boxes. In fact, research shows that the brain processes reading by seeing each word as an individual picture. When reading – particularly fiction – we create mental movies. Yes, we are hard-wired to create and remember pictures.

Differentiate to Accelerate

No matter what discipline you work in – and whether you’re self-employed, in a small business, or a large organization – you are competing to have your ideas recognized and accepted. We see this every day in the products and services we choose. Brands carry a visual shortcut, whether it’s a Nike swoosh, the Starbucks’ mermaid-like siren, or Apple’s bite-taken-out-of-it apple. We see that brand and immediately our brains translate that image into an emotion. 

So the next time you’re facing a puzzled face, or someone who doesn’t see your point of view, or even a blinking cursor as you craft a document to promote your idea, product, or service, think in pictures. How might your thinking be expressed as a drawing, diagram, or framework? How can you help someone quickly understand and remember your ideas – all the while standing out from your competition? 

VIsual IP doesn’t need to be Michaelangelo-level artwork. Simple lines and shapes can deliver your message with impact. What’s important is that it conveys your ideas, and creates value for the receiver as well as intellectual property you can leverage in multiple ways.

In a related article, I explore the five essential shapes these visuals can take. These are shapes you’ve been drawing since your childhood, and they can bring your ideas to life.

By Terri Lonier

Creativity on Demand

Coffee mug with word Begin on it

One of the differences between creative professionals and amateurs is the ability to generate creativity on demand. It means not waiting for the muse to arrive. 

In my years working as an advisor to entrepreneurs and innovation executives, I’ve learned this is one aspect of creativity that is often misunderstood. Let me explain.

Creative professionals understand that great ideas usually don’t spring fully formed. They develop slowly, over time. Some say that your subconscious is often working on these ideas in ways we don’t notice.

There are many ways, however, to encourage creative ideas to blossom so that they are there when you need to call them forth. Here are three practices that professionals value in developing the ability to be creative on demand. Read on and see how you might put them to work for you.

1. Make Space

To generate new ideas, you need to clear your mind of clutter. This is an approach that David Allen, founder of Getting Things Done (GTD), has championed for years. “Your mind is a great place to have ideas, but a terrible place to manage them,” he observes. Allen advises moving all that mental clutter to an external device — whether a paper list or digital file doesn’t matter. Make space, in your mind and on your schedule. If you’re distracted about mundane tasks or upcoming deadlines, it’s hard to be creative.

2. Capture Your Ideas

We’ve likely all experienced coming up with that “big” idea — the one that was the next breakthrough, or pulled together many pieces of a puzzle we were tackling. It was so good we were sure we’d remember it, and we didn’t write it down. Then when it came time to recall it, we were frustrated that it was just beyond the bounds of our memory. Or if we did recollect, we wondered if we fully remembered the nuances of our original thought. 

Professionals know that inspiration can strike anytime, anywhere. That’s why they always have a sketchbook, notebook, Post-Its, recorder, notetaking app, or another tool with them all the time — including a notepad and pen next to their bed for middle-of-the-night insights. Ideas are fragile and fleeting. Don’t let yours slip away.

3. Be Consistent in Your Craft

Professionals practice their craft regularly. Whether they feel like it or not, they get to work. This means sitting down at a keyboard (computer or musical), walking into a studio, or pulling out tools and equipment. Professionals understand that showing up daily to do creative work trains the eye, the hands, the body, and the mind. And often it’s the mental discipline that’s most challenging. Even when uninspired, professionals know that if you begin, something eventually emerges. The work may be great or mediocre that day, but consistency pays off and leads to better work down the road.

Your Challenge This Week: What practices will you put into place to ensure creativity on demand?

By Terri Lonier

When Innovation Partners Become Competitors

Screen shot of Disney+

Disney’s new streaming service, Disney+, has shifted the power dynamic in online media, and former innovation partners Disney and Netflix are now competitors. The contours of their new relationship will be intriguing to watch, as these two giants battle for customer screen time, wallets, and loyalty.

For years Disney made hundreds of millions of dollars from content on Netflix and it hinted for nearly two years that this move was coming. Its new competitive service is priced at $7/month — about half of what Netflix charges.

Powerful assets and synergies

Disney’s catalog is a formidable challenger. In addition to the countless Disney classic movies are the award-winning Pixar films, the Marvel and Star Wars franchises, and National Geographic shows. There are also synergies with ESPN and ABC, which Disney owns, along with the 20th Century Fox holdings it absorbed earlier this year. An estimated 500 movies and 7500 television shows will be available by the end of the first year, including the first 30 seasons of the fan favorite, the Simpsons.

What innovations is Disney bringing to the customer experience? In addition to competitive monthly pricing, Disney offers a discounted year-long subscription for $70, locking in subscribers and boosting cash flow. Plus, we can expect some creative tie-ins from its theme parks and other parts of the Disney-verse. Disney doesn’t want customers to completely abandon cable (or at least ABC) but it is also hedging its bets on a future when customers buy multiple viewing packages.

Either or And?

Don’t count Netflix out, of course. They have demonstrated their innovative agility in the past by pioneering the move to streaming and strong leadership in original programming.

What both companies are counting on is that customers will find their offering compelling — but perhaps not at the expense of the other. Netflix has more than 140 million subscribers around the world, and millions more who are piggybacking on a shared password. Similarly, Disney is a global brand stretching across multiple media outlets.

Both companies will need to remain nimble to respond to cultural trends, as well as additional competition from Amazon, Apple, and AT&T. The battle will be a showcase for which company can fuse creative output with engineering talent and disciplined execution. It will play out in our living rooms and on our laptops, tablets, phones, and whatever new devices emerge in the next few years.

Your challenge this week: If a key partner became a competitor, what capabilities would you call upon to rise to the challenge?