Are The Fibonacci Calipers The Key?

Over the past few days of reflection, I unearthed some articles that I had stored away many years ago regarding proportions and science. The item that rekindled some interest is the calipers called “The Fibonacci Gauge.” Based on the “Golden Measure” or means of the Phi ratio of 0.618. This unique caliper was developed to assist in creating visually pleasing proportions in art and architecture. The ration is directly linked to the reoccurring ratio in nature.

I presented a set of these calipers to one of my practitioners whom I discovered was an avid painter. She was quite interested how they functioned and how they could be apply to her style of artwork. After some investigation of numerous master artist a quick demonstration of proportional placement and scaling uncovered unique properties of the artwork of the masters’ composition. By applying the calipers to areas in the artwork, the viewer can discover how depth and perspectives are proportioned and even the overall layout and placement of key elements are acquired.

So, the idea. How can we use the Phi ratio or the Fibonacci Calipers in the modern world outside of art and architecture? In the investment world, the ratio is used to track various spikes in stocks or to “predict” rebounds. If the ratio is tied directly with nature and natural phases of life, then consider these questions.

As technology and innovations accelerate exponentially, could the use of the Phi ratio predict or at least project when the next leap of advancement will occur?

What of medicine, could the application of Phi ratios be used in medicine and treatments?

Looking into the growing issue of mental abnormalities such as Asperges syndrome or autism, could the ration determine population predictions or even development phases?

And finally, could the Phi ratio determine absorption rates for educational learning?

Art and science share many common traits mathematically,would it be to far fetched to imagine that a reoccurring ratio found in nature could truly be a clue to unlocking each mystery in life, death and everything around and in between?

Even if you disagree with the science of Phi, at least be open to its possible applications. As I tell my friends and associates I do not believe anything is impossible, only highly improbable. Too many times, the educated and knowledgeable man has told the visionary that it was impossible to do what they are wishing to do.

“Visionaries have great vision and poor hearing. They can prove the impossible is always possible even when they are told its not.” K. M. Dulle the IdeaFreak, I would rather be deaf and still see possibilities, than blind and hear the limitations preached by others.

P.S. Two words that I black out of each of my dictionaries; Impossible and Perfect. How about you, what two words would you delete from your dictionary to help you step up to any challenge?

Pictionary; A Sales Tool

As part of my daily employment, I am challenge with the task of helping people become better communicators. Sounds easy doesn’t it? Well, I found it is more challenging then expected. But why is my question. Why is it so hard for people to communicate a simple idea clearly? The answer lies within the statement.

A simple idea clearly. Too many details distort the message.

As Dr. Medina has written in his book “Brain Rules”, people are wired, since the dawning of homosapians, to have an attention span of 10 minutes. Only 10 minutes? Yes, only ten minutes. At which point, if we as viewers are not re-excited by a new thought, visual or even a highlight of the topic, we slowly turn down the volume of noise. We tune out the presenter and drift off to other matters.

Bang! Crash! Clunk Clank Boom!

Game over for the presenter. No story, no sale. Yes I said no story. We forget that to maintain attention, we must convey ideas tied to an emotional response and then, as Dr. Medina states, introduce something new at the 10 minute window. Talk about short game periods. “10 minutes is not enough time to talk about my company nor about the importance of the widget that I must sell to keep my job. I need at least 60 – 90 minutes to tell my story.”

WRONG!

Here’s my idea. Take the game Pictionary. A popular party game of visual communications and use it to teach corporate communication skills.

This is how it works: Prior to the event, create 4 fictitious companies per group or single players. As part of this also make up a very short tag line that sort of describes what the company or product does. You can use real world examples, but change them enough so that they are not recognizable. Also, create 2 benefits for using either the product or the services of the company. Give each person or team (3 -5 people) flip chart. As part of their preparation, they are allowed to use the first page as their logo page. No additional text is allowed. No tag lines or benefit statements. Just the logo (Fictitious). Part of their presentation (performed in pictionary style, no speaking) is to express the product or service tag line on first blank page after the logo page. Once the tag line has been discovered, then they must continue to uncover each of the two benefits. Each team has only 10 minutes to perform this task.

What is the purpose of this exercise? When you watch a game of Pictionary, people become very creative with their communication skills. They quickly dive into the core of the message and fore-go all the clutter of details, data, options and overload of information in order to win. The purpose of this exercise is to clearly communicate what the product offers and the key benefits in a short, but visual method without the use of words. The outcome teaches people how key images can back up their message in a much shorter time frame and keep their audiences’ attention. The old adage plays well here…

“Keep It Simple”

Being in the Now Takes Time

During a conversation with a Trainer/Coach associate, our conversation stumbled onto the topic of confidence and the reason for repetitive role playing or practicing, as it was called way back when. We were discussing what confidence does. What was the main purpose of practice besides the obvious need to do something well. I presented the idea that confidence was a tool to shift the thinking process from attempting to focus on the process and switch your focus on the external conditions. I used the phrase…

Being in the now, not in the how.

We quickly acknowledged the statement to be true. Practice builds confidence in the action or performance. This confidence factor allows the performer to focus on the events surrounding them rather then focusing on the process or method in the delivery.

Here is the analogy I used.. imagine an actor who is given a script, but before he or she is allowed to read the dialog, they are asked when reading to add emotion that would make it believable. This will not happen by any measure. The actor has no idea how the writer has intended the words to be spoken, the cadence of the delivery of the moment in which the story will peak. None of this will happen unless the actor has time to review the script, read and practice the part numerous times until he or she feels confident enough to add the emotion at the proper cadence to make it believable.

Being confident in anything we do requires the same approach no matter what it is. To build confidence we need to practice over and over until the confidence is strong enough to shift the performer from being in the moment of how, to the moment of now.

Seeing is Believing

If anyone has ever lived, traveled through or knows someone from Missouri there is a colloquialism that quickly identifies a Missourian; ‘Show me’. Belief is validated by visual proof.

It was this statement that made me stop and ponder something I read in a report from a cultural research team. “People can not tell you what they want… however: people do intuitively recognize what they want when they see it.” So, is seeing truly the key to believing in goals, plans or even selling? Does it really assist the personal drivers to have a visual image of something you want or need to connect with? Are images our compass needle of achievement?

I say yes and I am not the only one that has seen this. Research from the Addictive & Health Behaviors Research Institute of Florida has proven that establishing a visual image of what you want to achieve increases the success rate or enhances the performance of athletes, students, sales leaders and those seeking life style change.

So here is my thought for businesses; gather a series of photos of various types of people. Make sure the collection is well mixed and varies across all descriptions. Now, tack them up on a board or pin wall so that every image is displayed and not in any order. First come first serve. Number them sequentially for identification purposes later on.

Each person involved with customer relationship or those seeking the best target market is to write down 6-7 key traits of their top three customers. This could be age, income, demographic profile, etc.. Then take those descriptions and go to the wall of photos and select one photo that best matches their description and write down the photo number above the description. Do this for each description.

Once each person has their photos selected, have each person share with the group which picture they selected and the attributes of the persona. Have someone record the sharing process by listing the photo and the attributes. If any photo is selected more than once, write in a second set of attributes along side even if duplicated.

Once the whole process has been completed by everyone, look at the most popular top 3-4 photos and their attributes. List the most common attributes of each photo separately on another sheet. Do not include the photo number. Once completed you will have a sheet of 3-4 groups of characteristics of top customers. Now reviewing these collective description, reselect by group vote, which photos now match these descriptions.

When completed you will have a written description and an image of who your best customers are. This process is perfect for visualizing who would be prime markets for your efforts.

This process can work also if you offer a service or product and need to identify who your target audience or market would look like by identify the reasons someone would use your product or service and then match them with the descriptions.

The process is not perfect and is time consuming, but a visual representation of your goal or target can help keep you on track and reduces the tendency to drift from the key groups that can make you a success.

I hope this is a useful tool.

Words for a Trainer

After speaking to an associate over coffee, I reminded that the function of a trainer is much deeper than some would imagine. My associate is a wonderful and creative personality who is always seeking the next level of experiential training. During our conversation, I had an “Aha” moment which I would like to share with fellow trainers and program designers. Three words surfaced in the conversation that speaks to trainers and coaches:

Condition – Response – Results

As trainers, my associate defined that a trainer must have a clear and precise understanding of the condition that is driving performance or the lack of performance. Once the conditions are identified, then a response via training, coaching or correction is delivered. After the delivery, measurement of the results must be recorded. Without measurement, no program can have success.

I know that most trainers and programmers follow these three words in some form or manner, yet it is always good to have a base line to reflect on. We sometimes loose sight of the basics and refreshers are great ways to refocus.