via hbr.org
It's official: Graphic Facilitation exists!
I know this because the Harvard Business Review (aka. Ye Olde HBR) has published an article about graphic facilitators, examples of who uses our services, and the main point... our work can help businesses. Like, big ones even!
Companies using the technique include HP, Dell, S.C. Johnson, and Charles Schwab. Kraft Foods has been utilizing graphic recording in its leadership training program since 2005. “For me, the drawings are really a trigger,” says Nicole Polarek, associate director of organizational development. “I can look at the picture and remember the conversation.” Jason Dirks, Kraft’s director of training, says graphic recording keeps people interested and engaged on two levels. “You have this initial ‘wow’ factor while watching this person draw the image,” Dirks says, and afterward people can study the depiction more closely. “The artists are able to capture a lot of depth.”
The article titled, Vision Statement: Tired of PowerPoint? Try This Instead, by Daniel McGinn with illustration by Stephanie Crowley, appears in the September 2010 edition of HBR and on-line here.
Thanks Steph Crowley for raising the tide for all our boats. Congrats to Julie Stuart, Bree Sanchez and the "San Francisco architects" (David Sibbet and The Grove) for the honorable mentions.
I hope this adds credence to any young people entering the field, in that they can forward an official HBR PDF to their MBA dad, and brag: "No, really! I know it sounds weird, Dad. But it's a real job!"
UPDATE: This HBR article has definitely stirred the pot amongst practitioners! Read Julie Stuart's insightful rebuttal, written as a professional courtesy to the HBR editors on what they got right, what they got muddy, and what they got plain wrong. Please add your comments below and join the conversation!
