My motto these days is ‘Simplicity’.  If it can’t be done simply and well and I have to spend an inordinate time tweaking and embellishing and making things ‘pretty’, the power of the moment, of interactive dialogue and co-creating can be lost in the complexity of an intricate PowerPoint or presentation.  I don’t like to talk ‘at’ people; I like to converse with them or, if I can’t have a generative dialogue by virtue of the number of people involved, at the very least I want those spending their time with me to know I’ve taken them into consideration and am talking to each and every one of them.

Leonard de Vinci was quoted as saying “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication”.  I think we have to be very comfortable in the knowledge and wisdom we share in order to keep it simple.  Often we can hide in complexity.  We open ourselves up to questions and challenges when we make things simple.  Even so, at least we’ve made a stand and it’s easy if nothing else for others to see our perspectives.

I recently came across a book called ‘The Back of a Napkin’ by Dan Roam.  I think it’s brilliant and for all of you who live eat and breathe PowerPoint, you’ll see things in a whole new light after reading this.  He looks at visual thinking in 3 parts: Discovering ideas, developing ideas and selling ideas using nothing but your eyes, your mind’s eye, your hands, a pen and a scrap of paper.  That’s it. I won’t give the rest away but check out his website www.thebackofthenapkin.com to learn more.  Then take the premise behind what he writes and use it in your languaging, your presentations, and in generating solutions with those you work with.  It’s a coaching methodology in a way. Through generative dialogue and the right questions, clarity emerges so do stronger collaborative relationships.

Piece of cake!

So how can you make things simpler in your life?  What has become so complicated that you’ve lost sight of the real issue or problem?  How can you make it simple?

“The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak.” - Hans Hofmann

A couple of things…

As of next month we will return to sending out Perspectives in Brief bi-weekly.  We will park them as always right here.  Share the site with those you think would benefit from this newsletter.  In September stay tuned for some pricing breaks for coaching and the launch of a new self-coaching eGuide for those who are about to go through a divorce.  There are a few more surprises going to be launched in the fall so keep your eyes peeled for them.  Subscribers will get price breaks and first dibs on time slots, so if you haven’t subcribed yet, now would be the time to do it.

Thanks for sharing a few minutes with me….

With deepest respect,

Donna Karlin
Founder and Principal
A Better Perspective
http://www.abetterperspective.com

ISSN 1913-6307