A weekly newsletter about letting the workplace speak
Issue 17/Volume 2                www.VisualWorkplace.com                 April 29, 2015
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Visual Thinking Inc.

Upcoming Events
NEXT WEEK
Friday, May 8
12:00 - 1:30pm Pacific
The Five Reasons for Workplace Visuality

with Dr. Gwendolyn Galsworth
$75 per person or group
This Month's Featured Product
Only $5 through April 30!
Podcast Bundle #1: Introduction to the Visual Workplace 
(7 Podcasts!)

Our Podcast bundles  are concise, specially-edited versions of Gwendolyn Galsworth's weekly podcasts, grouped in bundles, by topic. This month's bundle includes these podcast titles:

1.1. Let the Workplace Speak!

1.2. The First Visual Building Block: I-Driven Devices

1.3. Visual Thinkers Wanted (The 7 Remaining Building Blocks)

1.4. Ten Doorways

1.5. Cultural Transformation: How Visuality Does It

1.6. We Are Visual Beings

1.7. Five Things You Should Know About Visuality

These podcasts provide an opportunity for a brilliant introduction to visual thinking for only $5!

Regular Price: $25 USD
On sale through April 30:  $5 USD

Thought for the Week
People will pay attention to only one thing and ignore everything else as long as you give them specific instructions to do so, and the task doesn't take too long. 
-Susan M. Weinschenk, Ph.D.
100 Things Every Designer Needs to Know About People
Did You Know...

Myth: Eating carrots will improve my vision

Fact: While it is true that carrots are high in Vitamin A, an essential vitamin for sight, only a small amount is necessary for good vision. 

Visual Poem/Puzzle
Visual Tricks and Treats
A Banksy original
Great signs, clever visual devices, artistic or humorous graffiti.
This column is the catch-all for visuals you love.  
If you find one to share, send the image to cindy@visualworkplace.com 
 
Retraction & Apology
My sincere apologies for posting a photo in last week's Visual Radio section that some readers rightfully felt to be inappropriate.  The photo has been replaced in our archived version of that newsletter. Thank you for bringing your concerns to my attention.
Cindy Lyndin
Editor-in-Chief
Visual Radio:  
Motion Sickness and Its Cure

Listen to Gwendolyn this 
Thursday at 10am (Pacific) on
 
This Week's Episode
Motion Sickness and Its Cure

What is the most virulent disease condition that any company can suffer? Is it defects? No! Is it late deliveries? No! Is it runaway costs or unhappy customers or competitive threat? Three times no! The most lethal infection any enterprise can suffer is motion sickness! Listen in as Gwendolyn Galsworth describes in gruesome terms the disorder that lays waste to countless companies since the industrial revolution. In telling detail, she depicts the nearly invisible assault missing information makes on the workplace and those who work there. Missing answers. The nasty thing about this illness is you rarely see it. Count yourself lucky if you spot its after effect: motion/moving without working. Whether you work in the field, a factory, retail outlet-or, most definitely, a hospital, motion can spread its sickness to every department, every desk, every bench, every hallway, every shelf or cabinet. The cure? Workplace visuality--of course. Tune in/learn more.   

 

Feature Article
Motion Sickness and a Dose of Medicine 
by Gwendolyn Galsworth    

Chronic information deficits-offices and the production floor are flooded with them, saturated with questions. Those questions divide neatly into two categories: questions we ask and those we do not. And what happens when we don't ask questions that need answers? Another two-category set forms-we either do nothing and simply stop and wait. Or we make stuff up. We simply make up an answer...something that sounds just about right. When that happens, we can get lucky and our jury-rigged answer works and doesn't harm. Other times, we make stuff up and it works against us and the company. Accidents happen, material is lost, components or medicines get mixed up, defects occur, delivery times are missed, customers flee.  

From the Editor:
A Visit to My Kitchen, and a CONTEST!
My home has started to sport visual devices. Containers in my pant ry have easy-to-see labels:




My bed linens are sorted by size & type, and labeled accordingly. My tool pegboard has outlines that show which tool goes where.

And in the kitchen, there's this: 
As you can imagine, this was created after many other forms of communication had failed to achieve the desired behavior. And it worked--for a few days. Now, it might as well be part of the wall paint. Why?

The device is passive--it tells what behavior is wanted but doesn't compel that behavior. Here at VTI, we call this The First Power Level. 

Taking this device to the Second Power Level would mean modifying the device to draw more attention to the message--a brightly colored frame or tinsel garland border, perhaps.

T
hat would be easy enough to do, but there is another problem.
Can you see it?
 

It tries to control too many behaviors at one time.

Can you help me figure out how to solve the problems this sign is trying to address?

Since our readers are all visual thinkers, we're having a contest to find the best ideas for getting the desired behaviors.

The creators of the best visual solutions will receive the Podcast bundle, 5S on Steroids, which includes 2 podcasts about The Four Power Levels (a $25 value). Create a solution for just one of the sentences or all six. 

The VTI team will choose the winner(s) on May 15 and winning devices will be listed in the May 20 newsletter. Dr. Galsworth may also share your solutions on her live radio show!

Send your contest submissions to cindy@visualworkplace.com
by noon on Friday, May 15.
Help my kitchen speak!


Cindy Lyndin
Editor-in-Chief
And the Visual Fail Prize Goes To...
Have you seen a Visual Fail that made you laugh?  
 Send the image to cindy@visualworkplace.com,
and we'll put it here and credit you with the funny find!