Visualizing information

I'm fairly obsessed with infographics these days. They've taken storm over the last decade, proving to be an effective way to communicate granular information that people might just glaze over if embedded among 1000 words.

In writing an article about the decay of media standards for Mode, I found this awesome infographic entitled Media Consolidation: The Illusion of Choice. It shows just how unilateral the media is, & does so with imagery not alphabet.

One solution is for us to create the media outlets ourselves, especially because of my belief that advertising as a means of funding media is the inherent problem, but that's another post altogether.

The idea I wanted to chat with you about though, was this notion of making information more real for our communities. Images, illustrations, video, and increasingly flat tools for creating those assets allow a larger segment of the population to utilize them every day. We have the ability show instead of tell.

By turning our words into visual content, we help bridge the gap. Instead of eye test their way into alignment with us, why don't we make it easier for our advocates, communities, supporters, and confidants to message for us?

Part of that is why we created the IPaintMyMind 2015 Annual Report Infographic. We wanted to make our impact easier to understand, and I'm super happy with the results. I hope it shows people that our mission is not only worthwhile but picking up steam.

Going forward, regardless of the project, I wonder how we can all distill our verbose concepts into meaningful visuals that cut to the chase. It's an exercise of turning words into images and thus reducing the essence to the point where clarity is inevitable.

How can your company, project, movement, or idea communicate better?

How could visualizing information be an asset to you?

I need to find the manifesto I wrote about IPMM before we incorporated. Way too many words.

Expression v Communication

For those of us with opinions, it can be tempting to give way to our latest linguistic guitar solo. Passion turns into words and we get our point across. What comes into focus is our intent, as well as each one of our abilities to read our audience and understand what approach might be best. Even so, speaking with is different than talking at.

In my mind, expression is about getting something off one's chest, about making a statement and not necessarily being that aware of or interested in how it lands. The artist, creator, or speaker is in a position to express themselves, and they do.

Communication by contrast, takes the observer, listener, or collaborator into account a lot more. It's intent on sharing space instead of claiming it, and doing so in a way that invites the listener to participate.

Being aware of this has helped me pick my spots more, but it's also helped me show up to situations in ways that I'm prouder of.

Expression and communication each have their place. The question seems to be about whether or not we can remind ourselves when it's time for each.

Strategy starts by stepping back

I tend to work on various projects at the same time and getting organized about how I create for those endeavors has been a process. In the nonprofit world, resources are usually at such a premium that a near frantic pace ensues.

Whether as an entrepreneur, a nonprofit, a small business owner, or an employee in a larger company, the tendency can be to feel like we don't have enough time to stop, analyze & strategize.

We have to act, and now! But maybe we should rethink that........

Whether taking a walk, stopping to read something for leisure, meditating, or setting certain schedules for tasks that help anchor our day, there are various habits & rituals that can help us back away for a moment, only to come back to our work with fresh eyes and renewed energy.

What habits and rituals help you decompress?

Hit the button below to Get In Touch or just reply to this email, I'd love to hear what you do to step back.

Habits and rituals that help refresh the mind are hugely valuable because they help us do better work in smaller amounts of time. Have you ever felt like you HAD to get something done, then basically tied yourself to the laptop until it was completed (even though you were creating way less potently and the flow really wasn't there)?

I sure have! But I'm trying to do it less and less. I've been trying to convince myself that it's OK, even better, to stop for a minute or 15, then jump back in.

And it's true. Creative potency up, time spent down.

This allows us the space to slow down long enough to have a plan. And here's the thing... the plan can change. In fact, it has to if it's going to work.

But having a plan is about how our different projects function (whether in one company or various companies), how much time they require, how we're going about implementing them, and most importantly, how having new data about what we've done can help us improve it.

Let's be skeptical of anyone who says something can't be done better.

The ripple effect is: Step back for mind breaks -> Create more in less time -> Use saved time to strategize more effectively.

I suspect that strategy starts by stepping back.

Buildings, websites, relationships, and vehicles

Buildings, websites, relationships, and vehicles all require maintenance. It can be helpful to remind ourselves that solutions are temporary & that things worth keeping, building, growing, or preserving, are going to require at least a little bit of elbow grease.

Plug-n-play isn't forever. It's fair to assume a certain level of upkeep.

The Sistine Chapel, it is not

It can be easy to fall into the trap of being overly precious about our ideas. I can't tell you how many friends or clients I've spoken to or worked with who have hesitated to hit the launch button on a project because of a minute detail. The tendency is to protect our idea before it sets foot in the big bad world.

When I look back at how we executed our first few Shared Walls™ exhibitions at IPaintMyMind, it's hilarious. No systems, all passion, high cost, and tiny margins.

Now we have procedures, guides, systems, supplies, and support tools that help ensure we do the best job possible when hanging art for our partners.

Thinking back to Brian and I spray painting frames in his alley that we bought at a hotel liquidator feels like recalling an episode of I Love Lucy that I had somehow been cast in.

I realize now how great it was that we just went for it. If we had waited for perfect circumstances, we wouldn't have made real progress. It was all about trying the idea and seeing what parts of it worked and which parts of it didn't.

Launching is the first real test, not the end-product. For us, everything since then has been a process of iteration & there's still plenty of room for improvement.

One thing I know for sure... the Sistine Chapel, it is not.

No matter what IT is.

Friendtor (new word alert)

Friendtor (frend-tor) noun. 1. Someone who is both your friend and your mentor, this relationship can be reciprocal or unidirectional, but has the most potency when shared in both directions. When I spoke to my friendtor, we shared some awesome ideas & both learned a lot.

2. A relationship between people in which there is true equanimity and both people teach each other. The emphasis is on a free exchange of ideas where based on the subject, the teacher and the student shifts. The value of having a friendtor is immeasurable, I'm so lucky to have them in my life.

Kids know a lot

Yesterday I participated in my high school's Career Fair as an alumn who was now an "Entrepreneur." Instead of talking at them about what I thought entrepreneurship was, I started by asking them why they were interested in knowing what being an entrepreneur meant. Answers ranged from wanting to create their own schedules, to being their own boss, or having some experience of a family business. Freedom, both creative & social, was central to their curiosity.

I joked that some days I feel unemployed, but I also reminded them not to worry too much about what they think they want to be or do now, but to collect info by testing things out. Finding the intersection of interest & value definitely came up a few times.

It made me think about the level of digital normality that existed when I was in high school versus what these kids have to work with. Instant publishing, social media, and digital tools a keystroke away.

The fact remains, there is no currency like being current. There is a potency in having it all out in front of you.

Today I was reminded...

The kids know a lot and I've got to be the one asking them the questions.

Thank you is free

Thank you is free. It also feels good, makes others feel good, and tends to create more chances for you to say it again.

Collective bargaining

Last weekend, Liverpool fans walked out of the fabled Anfield Stadium in northern England in the 77th minute of the match against Sunderland to protest the announced rise in ticket prices to 77 British pounds. En masse, over 10,0000 fans walked out to show their displeasure at ownership's approach to the economic future of the club.

As a fan of soccer and of sport in general, one of the obvious critiques is that we follow blindly. We rationalize any method that keeps the team profitable (public financing of stadiums, trading players that could help the team win for cash, higher ticket prices), and often times act as if we have no other option.

But we do.

As fans, as customers, as citizens, we vote with our wallets more than we vote at the ballot box. When Liverpool fans walked out of Anfield to protest ticket prices that keep the common fan on the outside looking in, they came together and showed their collective power.

Fenway Sports Group, the Boston-based (Red Sox owning) group that owns Liverpool Football Club subsequently announced a two-year freeze on ticket prices.

I guess we really can demand more from our businesses, leaders, & government...

But I think we're going to have to do it together.

If time eludes you, watch this

In looking for tools that might help take distractions off my plate, I came across this article & video, and thought you might get something out of it. So many people talk about how busy they are, not having enough time, feeling spread thin, scattered, or being generally overwhelmed by how much they need to get done in a single day.

Unfortunately, the way we work collaboratively, allows for tons of interruptions in our creative work. As a result, I'm on the hunt for some strategies or tools that we all might get something out of. It's an extension of operation 'time recovery', which is making me think more and more about distraction, potency, and creativity.

It was interesting to watch this video, because it mentions carving out half-days or even full days for projects, a strategy I've been honing in on as of late.

I'd be curious as to what your reaction is to this, and I'll get back to you once I find some things that can help us declutter, avoid our ADD, and find chunks of time to create the things we so desperately want to see come to life.

In addition to this video below, you can read up on one Google employees take on managing your time. It's a good one.

'Everybody else' (an energetic source)

Sometimes it can be easy to think that it's about us... but it shouldn't be. 'Everybody else' are powerful.

When we look around, it's clear that a lot of people doing bold things. Challenging norms, rethinking constructs, building systems, developing relationships, solving problems, organizing communities, offering value, connecting people, and together, building the reality of tomorrow.

Whether it's Levi developing his own card games & communities, Jonathan speaking to thousands of people weekly via his podcast, Sam making great beer, James doing every creative thing under the sun, Dustin launching a new business, Brian traveling the world doing incredible qualitative research, Chad & Leonard following their culinary dreams, Molly making art into her career, Lindsey making malas, Katherine putting container architecture to great use, Jeremy angling on strategy around sustainable reuse of cell phones, Aaron managing water treatment at a vineyard owned by a man named Coppola, Saya rethinking community building, or KC launching a new career through meditation & speaking...

'Everybody else' are an energetic source.

Here's to finding the everybody else's that make us feel like what we want to do is possible too.

Dad wisdom

I just published an article on Medium.com entitled, 13 Dads Offer Wisdom On Raising Tiny Humans. The reason that was an article I wanted to write, was because I'll be a dad this May. As a grown-up kid, it's been funny, amazing, and humbling to think about myself as a father.

While those thoughts sloshed around, I had the idea to ask some dad's I admire for a bit of perspective... so that's what I did.

A sincere THANK YOU to the dudes for their time & thoughtfulness.

Operation 'time recovery'

Over the last 6-9 months, I've been kind of obsessed with figuring out ways to work smarter. Whether segmenting my time in new ways or finding certain hacks that help streamline aspects of my work, doing things more efficiently creates time, and that concept of creating time by getting my shit together has become a huge motivator for me.

I've been thinking to myself, how can I create a better system? How can I enhance operation 'time recovery', and spend that earned time doing the creative or connective things I love?

I'm not saying I've achieved some singularity of mind that keeps me entirely organized, but I am saying that we're probably kidding ourselves if we think that the current way we're operating is improvement-proof.

For 2016, I'm trying to batch-method things more. I'll let you know how that attempt at improvement goes.

In the meantime, if you discover tools, resources, strategies, or ideas that help you in your own time recovery, definitely share those with me!

'The Good Bubble'

Lately I've been reminded that intent is everything. By forgiving positive intent gone awry, we create more spaces to truly communicate as opposed to react & defend. It's helpful to remind ourselves that to expect positive intent, we have to dish it out, and that in doing so, we intentionally build positive spaces all around us.

I like to call this, 'The Good Bubble'.

Any category we want

We can exist in any category we want. We can like things that society might not think would go together.

We can be a jock that also acts in plays. We can love art and math. We can love Hip Hop and Prog Rock.

While categories are about what subsection of life things fit into, they don't apply in the same way to humans as they do to facets of life.

We're not constrained by labels, genres, ideas, places, worldviews, ourselves...

Or at least, we shouldn't be.

Letting others be who they are is inextricably linked to having the freedom to be ourselves.

Here's to both sides of said coin & learning to do both things better.

From what to how

Increasingly, my thoughts are shifting from WHAT to HOW. My WHY is often clear, and it usually is for most of us. We're lit up by something and time stops when we immerse ourselves in that thing.

The issue is, time doesn't really stop.

While we've launched ourselves head first into the deep end of a concept, idea, or project, our excitement can obscure a rational analysis of how that inspiration should mature from initial idea to real thing.

My friend Levi and I often chat about the process of wrestling with inspiration and figuring out how it fits into the other things we're doing.

In thinking about the need for a system to help evaluate ideas and determine what energy we should give them, we began to think about the questions we'd need to answer to figure that out.

The fact is, our life-pie doesn't get bigger, the days don't get longer, and budgets don't increase on their own.

While time doesn't stop, there are always ways to work smarter, remind ourselves of strategy and be more calculated about the effort we give to the work we're so passionate about.

This thinking has resulted in the creation of a framework that will assist creatives, entrepreneurs, & business owners in taking ideas from gestation to implementation.

It's not quit ready yet, but it's exciting to think we might be on the brink of a project that could help us ask the all important question of HOW.

I'll keep you posted.

David Bowie

To me, the truly great thing about David Bowie was how fully he gave himself to the things he was compelled to create. He had advanced thoughts about art, music, fashion, technology, & business, among many other categories, because he could see the entirety of an idea from every angle, then build it.

He could fully envision how the band should play, what should be worn, how the lights should be set up, what the cover of the record would look like, what the stage design for the tour should be, & what persona would fit best, all the while maintaining an inherently intuitive creative approach that never lost the forest for the trees.

He consistently had cohesive ideas about how all the parts would fit together to service the whole.

What can I say, I admired that about him.

In thinking about how one can best create and implement projects, making things that work, inspire, and elevate involves similar creative visions. It requires a preeminent idea about the end product & how to get there.

Simply put, David Bowie embraced his weirdness and unlocked his genius.

He proved that our freak flags are OK... and made some really cool shit in the process.

P.s. This article I read on Medium.com pretty much sums up my sentiment. I also highly recommend Bowie's most recent record, Blackstar, which was released last week, just days before his passing.

Let's stay in touch

Hey, friends. You may have noticed that your emails often get categorized as either part of your primary inbox or as a promotion. Since I use Mailchimp to send out my newsletter, you are probably seeing my emails in your Promotions tab. The thing is, I'm not Groupon, an airline, a brick & mortar business offering a discount, or any other kind of typical promotional retailer.

While I do offer services & have art for sale, my newsletter has a lot more to do with unpacking ideas & questions that you might find value thinking about. As such, I'd love to make sure you get my emails, and there are two ways to make sure my emails show up in your primary tab:

1. You can add evanlaruffa@gmail.com to your contacts list, or
2. In Gmail, you can drag any one of my messages to the Primary inbox. This is the most effective way to teach Gmail to deliver my future messages to your Primary tab.

As an aside, it was great to get a solid response to my offer from a few emails ago, & I'm excited to jump on a call with the first 3 people that responded.

More and more every day, I think about strategy. As in, how am I going to do what I want to do?

The what is fantastic, but the how determines whether or not it will work. I'm stoked to help a few of you get tactical about your projects.

Here's to big things in 2016!

Incredibly intentional

I went and saw Quentin Tarantino's newest film, The Hateful Eight at The Music Box Theatre for the second time in two weeks this evening. The film was shot in 70mm, a super wide, high resolution format that's stunning. I'm a big Tarantino fan, mostly because I admire how exacting he is. I marvel at the clarity of his visions, the detail, the language, the contrast, the dynamics.

Clocking in at just about 3 hours, it doesn't feel long at all. Everything he included was needed and served the end product extremely well. It's clear that every single element in the film was incredibly intentional.

Every shot was skillful.

The sound design was impeccable.

The lighting was uncanny.

The costumes were precise.

He was thinking about every detail when he made that film. And rightly so. It had been 4 years since his last film, which means he took his time.

My question is... how can we slow down enough so that our vocational and creative contributions are that accepted, strategic & valuable? 

I think it might have something to do with patience.

Questions of measure

No matter what we make, some people will like it and some people won't. This applies to everything from art to public transportation. For me, it's been awesome to realize that when I'm both passionate about a project (creation) and am helping someone (service), I'm at my best.

The issue ends up being which questions are used to measure the results.

There are the creative questions...

Did I like making this? Am I happy with the end result? Did it turn out how I planned, and if not, is it cool anyway? Did I learn something or improve by doing more of that thing?

And then there are service questions...

How did it serve? Did people enjoy it, gain perspective from it, or feel supported by it? Did it help someone? Did it make a difference?

If the answer to the majority of those questions is YES, I tend to think we're in the right place.