Game Changer Series No. 2 - Becoming More Visually Intelligent

 

What is being visually intelligent?

Increasing your visual intelligence strengthens your ability to visualize, remember images and details, and your awareness of your surroundings.

We are not referring to the application of visual-spatial intelligence which refers to the ability to visualize and represent the outer world in your mind and replicate those images in the exact way that they feature. This is duplication. For example - someone who is good at directions has see the route of a trip for from a GPS-directed path, but has visually memorized the nature of the path - so will refer to landmarks, curves in the road, know the number of traffic lights, and so on Their directions repeated to someone will be filled with these vivid details.

Becoming more visually intelligent in relation to a game changer - a significant shift in the current manner of doing or thinking about something has a different application more relevant to sales and design. This refers to learning to look. Really look.

Strengthening our visual intelligence is to "make it a habit to notice, really notice what takes your breath away, stimulates your senses, ignites your passion, inspires awe and delivers delight.".

Why become more visually intelligent?

Quite simply - it means leaning into your "why". We cannot do this without evolving our sales and design approaches. Stale and tattered does not deliver our purpose. Mundane and ordinary is not a catalyst to change an environment. The wrong default mood does not create our purpose.

How do we become more visually intelligent?

As Robyn Waters writes, "Make it a habit to notice, really notice what takes our breath away, stimulates your senses, ignite your passion, inspires awe and delivers delight." Then we "keep track, write it down, make a sketch, start a file, but whatever you do, don't lose it."

We ask ourselves:

• what do I have in front of me?
• what isn't there?
• what's important?
• what do I need?
• what don't I need?

Then we: 

• articulate - put it in writing.
• make a decision.

"Find visual connections where they may not be apparent. We need to understand the consequences of what it is we observe. And we need to convert observable details into actionable knowledge. It's easy to miss or even dismiss what's obvious as being of no great consequence." Amy E. Herman

 

 

 

 

The Game Changer Series is a discussion-based series that I recently wrote and completed with a team of interior designers.

Sources: Intentional Living - Choosing a Life that Matters - Choosing a Life that Matters - John Maxwell, 6 Step to Creating a Game Changer - Mike Myatt (Forbes), The Happiness Project - Gretchen Rubin, Start with the Why - Simon Sinek, Visual Intelligence - Amy E. Herman, The Trendmaster’s Guide: The Trendmaster’s Guide from A-Z – Robyn Waters, 3 Questions to Ask Yourself About Everything you do – Stacey Abrams