g’day from the land down-under maritime navigation until the later half of 1700’s navigation at...
TRANSCRIPT
G’day from the land down-under
Maritime Navigation
• Until the later half of 1700’s navigation at sea
was a complex issue
• Finding longitude solved this complex issue
• Complex issues have been with us for awhile
Key areas over the next hour
• What makes an issue complex
• An interpretive approach to navigating complex issues• The what – themes and thematic statements
• The how – engagement strategies including metaphors, analogies, stories
What makes an issue complex?
• There are a lot of variables• These variables keep changing• It is difficult to find a single focus• It is sometimes hard to know if we are
having an influence
What are some complex issues
• Climate change• Endangered Species• Food resources• Sustainability• Breeding programs
My message - aim for simplicity when seeking to interpret complex issues
Qualities of complex issues
• Complex issues can be frustrating
• Complex issues can be challenging
• Complex issues can be of benefit – through the value of complexity and multiple perspectives
What sellsThe easy way to …. iron your shoes
3 easy steps to open your car door
Licking ice cream made easy
The free and easy guide to …. being free and easy
The 5 simple steps for walking
Keeping it simple is often reflected in logos
…. in that they aim to communicate the complex nature of an organisation and their offering into a simple symbol
The KISS principle:• keep it simple stupid• Keep it simply simple• Keep it stupidly simple• Keep it super simple
Interpretive techniques for finding and communicating the simple
• Themes• Engagement strategies
An interpretive approach to facilitating experiences is about sharing the joy of learning and inspiring people to learn.
YOU
PLACE
VISITOR
Interpretation leads to a meaningful gain for people and place
Themes provide a starting point to interpreting a complex issue
Themes
key idea moral of the story
premise of the story
key message
main idea
Themes ‘cut to the chase’ and bring focus to what is relevant
2 techniques for creating themes
• Get it ‘out of your head’ …. ‘get it down’….. then evaluate and find your theme
• Identify your key idea at the start by asking the so what question of your issue
Subject Area (topic) - Ice creamsPossible messages
• Ice cream is good for life• Ice cream is a comfort food• Ice cream is a chameleon food
Subject Area (topic) – backyardsPossible messages
• Backyards are a window to Australian culture• Backyards are a social lubricant• Backyards are a window to a wild world
Themes need to be relevant
Once we have our theme we then start building our experience / presentation
Engagement strategies include:• Compelling and fun facts• Humour• Silence• Stories• Poetry• Visuals• Sensory• Audience involvement• etc.. etc…
Listen to the ‘tone’ of the engagement strategy and which works best for your interpretive goal
Describing a perspective using …… devices of comparison
• Metaphors• Similes• Analogies
They usually involve the use of the concrete to explain the abstract / a concept
Examples of similesThe parks are like the lungs of the city.
Examples of metaphors
The parks are the lungs of the city.
The young fighter had a hungry look, the kind you get from not eating for a while.
Broad subject focus
Feature you want to highlight
Create similar concepts / ideas
Make the link
Mist in the landscape
Softness and fluffiness of mist
DoonaPillow
The mist cuddled the landscape like a big, fluffy doona.
Creating your own metaphors and similes… using an example of wanting to describe the morning mist of a landscape
See the world through the eye of an artist … and especially a cartoonist
Some parting thoughts regards interpreting complex issues
We put in the hard yards to make it easy for our clients / visitors / customers
We need to present our ‘best face’ despite what goes on ‘back of house’
It is sometimes hard to gain traction and momentum with complex issues – so in the spirit of Kaizen … they might require the use of little steps
In finding a way forward we sometimes need to suspend right and wrong
The average teacher explains complexity; the gifted teacher reveals simplicity. Robert Brault …. interpretation is about revealing a key idea and message rather than create an environment of rote learning
A related quote is by William Arthur Ward:the mediocre teacher tells, the good teacher explains, the superior teacher demonstrates, the great teacher inspires
Begin with the end in mind.Stephen Covey