PAINTED PICTURES
Painted Pictures : A Visualizing Technique For Companies
BY : ANDY BUYTING
You ’ ve probably heard the quote by Lewis Carroll , “ If you don ’ t know where you ’ re going , any road will get you there .” You need to know where you ’ re going in order to envision a plan for getting there . You also need to communicate your destination with the people in your organization who you depend on to get you where you want to go .
As a business leader , you ’ ve encountered your share of tools , techniques , and processes for developing your business strategy , but it can be difficult to articulate this to your team to make sure everyone is on the same page . You may have a clear idea for where you want to go , but your team needs to be fully aligned with your vision in order to successfully get your organization from point A to point B . That ’ s where the painted picture exercise comes in .
The process is really simple . You start by describing at a high level where you want to be in three years , or in another time period if that is more appropriate for your organization . You should spend some time in solitude developing the painted picture before you present it to your team . Make sure you are clear on all the key factors that will indicate success and that you are able to communicate these clearly and concisely with everyone in your organization .
Write your painted picture out in a descriptive format , not in bullet-point form . This will work to engage your team both intellectually and emotionally . Include enough detail that people can see your vision with clarity and have a definite understanding of what success means to you , but not so much that they will be overwhelmed with information . The details about how you are going to get there can be left out because that ’ s something you ’ re going to assess quarter-by-quarter and modify accordingly . The goal is to come up with a one-page painted picture narrating what your successful company looks like , acts like , and feels like at a chosen point in time in the future .
The painted picture exercise is a practical tool for sharing your vision with your team . I use it with my Scaling Up clients and with my team at Tulip Media Group to set a collective vision for the future . In the spirit of full transparency , we ’ ve included our painted picture for Tulip Media Group on the following page . You can use this to draw inspiration for your own painted picture and perhaps even play a role in helping us achieve it .
When you become a Client-Partner of Tulip Media Group , part of your onboarding is to talk about your vision for the company . This helps us tailor our marketing programs to bring you the business that ’ s going to help get you there . The painted picture process can be a great way for you to outline your own company vision . If you want to learn more about becoming a Client-Partner , visit us at TulipMediaGroup . com to get started .
Andy Buyting ' s thought leadership journey started when he published his first business book in 2007 and first magazines in 2009 . Since that time , he has leveraged custom magazines and online digital content strategies to establish himself as a leading authority in content marketing and brand positioning . Through his company , Tulip Media , Andy and his team make these content marketing strategies and tools accessible to their Client-Partners .
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