It always tickles me when I walk into the office of a client I’ve done work with and see a mural that I did for them hanging in their office. Like at the CDC.
Or better yet, to see that one of my murals has been scanned, re-sized and printed (with my copyright permission) multiple times into posters and hung all over the building, which is what the CDC did with the 20-year history map I created for them last year. (You can see the full original on my Portfolio page.)
The CDC has also, via email and copiers, circulated the infamous (in a good way) Alice Waters mural that I did in 2007 during a talk she gave at the CDC. This is the mural that put me on the map, so to speak, at the CDC because everyone has seen it. And Alice loved it so much she signed it.
I love to see this happening because it shows that my clients have turned the meeting artifact—the murals—into a living document, something that they continue to refer to for inspiration and to chart their progress.
A practical example of my own
I have done this myself with my three-month business plan map. I’ve had it on my wall since October. Periodically I’ve been updating it, checking my progress, crossing off things I’ve accomplished or adding additional ideas.
After an illuminating conversation with the brilliant Can-do-ologist Marissa Bracke in which she asked me what would my ideal day look like if I felt perfectly supported, I took an orange marker and put a dotted line around all the to-do items that were delegate-able. Oh boy, was I amazed! Then I started delegating.
A War Room of murals
(The political operative in me loves the word War Room.) One of my corporate clients was in a process of reimagining a product line. If you’ve seen recent commercials with Julia Louis-Dreyfus then you know which brand.
I spent a day with their marketing team capturing consumer research and percolating ideas in six separate murals. At the end of the meeting, they declared they were going to set up a War Room with the murals so they would have a physical place to be with the ideas as they continued to have discussions and make decisions. Very cool idea.
When the team, and other folks who weren’t at the initial meeting with us, met again later to review the research findings and work on branding and advertising, they simply had to look at the murals to get the essence of the ideas that were generated that day.
Here’s why they needed me
If I hadn’t been there, they would have had to dig through an enormous, day-long PowerPoint deck to refresh their memory. Gah! I can’t imagine anything more tedious and inefficient.
It was a long day and there was a ton of great ideas and information flowing which can be hard to retain in its entirety. But all they had to do was to go to the War Room or flip through the digital versions of the murals I provided for them on their computer.
Why murals live on and flip chart notes do not
I think it’s the scale of these things–these murals I create with my clients–that lends them to living on past the meeting.
I mean, they are panoramic. Typically about 4×8 feet, though the CDC mural was even bigger. The murals can certainly enliven an office space and keep your big ideas handy.
A mural can be used for fundraising
I visually facilitated a three-year strategic planning retreat for the Conservation Voters of South Carolina (folks who are fighting the good fight politically for the environmental community of SC) at a 170-year old house that had an original copy of South Carolina’s Succession, but that’s another story.
The final mural I did at the planning retreat was a synthesis of their action steps into a visual image that clearly showed all the areas of their work. I can’t show it to you because their plans to turn the state green are proprietary. Rock on.
They were already intending to hang all the murals in their office, like a War Room. I suggested that they also use their strategic plan mural to:
- Revisit and chart their progress at board meetings
- Use as a recruiting tool for prospective board members because in a quick glance someone can see exactly where the organization is headed
- Use with major donor fundraising for the same reason as above
How would you use one of my murals?
I love to hear stories about how my clients use their murals, so if you’ve got one, please send it along. Or share ideas about how you can see these murals helping with clarity and direction long after the actual meeting.