I facilitated dialogue between conservative and gay Christians in the same denomination off and on for two years.  It got ugly at times.  Getting people to come is the hardest part.  (same problem with racial issues) This group was truly inclusive and most of the people there were experts on Bible scripture, citing Chapter and verse to support their points.  Previously intellectual sparring kept the group from learning about the other’s personal faith journeys – their stories.  It is impossible to demonize someone once you know their story.  The man who drew this map was from the conservative side and yet he spoke for everyone.  Even if they all could quote scripture, and acted as if they knew what God said, the Circle above representing God gets to the truth of the matter.  “I don’t remember talking to either one of them lately.”  Everyone needs to get off their soapbox in order to achieve collaboration and understanding.

Every so often, senior leadership decides that a new system will solve all our problems.  They know there will be a “period of adjustment” but this drawing communicates the emotional costs in a way that is hard to ignore. The minute this metaphor map appeared a room full of fifty people started laughing in recognition.  The directors and all his direct reports pedal a monster bicycle of integration that leaves dead bodies behind and people running for their lives ahead.  The emotion in this picture is the primary message.

Virtual teams can work but this particular member of a virtual team didn’t feel like she was part of a team at all.  The meeting was the first time the eight people had met in the same room for a year.  Each of them performed the same role at their individual business units, but no one knew why they were in the room together or what they were supposed to achieve.  There was no sense of connection to each other or the company.  This one drawing set the agenda for the rest of the meeting.  Often one person has an insight that crystallizes general discomfort to a specific actionable issue

Guess who drew this map? If you need a tip, the only people who can stop the whole world from exploding is management.  Management has the scissors, the fuse is on their side and instead of cutting it they are spending time fighting.  All the damage of course will be to the “field.”  Headquarter and Field are natural adversaries.  HQ makes rules and policies to keep things fair and quality high (a/k/a consistency) while people in the field need the flexibility to adapt and see fairness as related to work ethic or talent instead of some HQ policy.  Both are right.  This dilemma has to be rediscovered by each new team that has begun to think it is about personality differences, or to accuse the other side of not understanding the real issues.  This map was a message to the boss.  And for reasons I can’t explain, she took it much better than a year of complaints.