Origin Story and Case Study – Part 4
Applying Common Ground
From that moment forward, DVL became “a thing” in our minds, with the power to shift peoples’ perception of what’s possible and empower them with a mindset and an extensive set of practical skills. From these humble connections, rather quickly, our joint “project” emerged that contained the potential for continual learning, self-expression, more having fun in business and who knows what.
In hindsight perhaps my flash suggestion about the name, DVL, was both self-evident yet tricky for Bart to see given how close was to the action as software generator or “digital toolmaker” as he likes to say. Perhaps,, it can offer us some insight about perception and perspective. Could the reason Bart immediately resonated with my answer — to his own leading question — is that the term DVL suddenly added missing bit of recognition to his own lived experience and pressing business concerns? The name DVL became an instant and real handle for positioning both his business issues and experience within that larger and even more significant pattern in civilization we call literacy.
It seems therefore, in retrospect, like two interesting things happened in that moment: 1) We both knew that we were sharing the same common ground as our big picture or shared experience. 2) That larger shared context was now even bigger than software, tools, and skills – though those concerns were still front and center. That larger shift in context moved us from: A) what was on our tablets, into: B) the ebb, flow and weave of business, people, meetings, etc. . . . and thus massive amounts of wasted time, effort, and opportunity due to miscommunication, inaccurate interpretation, people not getting on the same page, etc.
Along with huge numbers of artists, writers, designers, neuroscientists, teachers and researchers, Bart and I know that visual thinking is a universal, yet greatly underutilized human capacity. We also know, along with hundreds of millions more people, that using digital technology wisely and effectively has become a nearly universal requirement for success in the world.
Where these two capacities overlap is what we see as the power of DVL. At the same time we recognize that day-to-day visual thinking, alongside more dominant, conceptual and verbal thinking, is constrained due to habitual and subconscious as well as institutional behavior. . . And those aren’t easily changed.
Here’s what’s at the center of it all – and what’s at stake: The potential for greater clarity, connection, creativity, and productivity that can result from maximizing the overlap of human and machine capabilities as a professional best practice. . . Or, we could fail to do that and continue to operate through the limitations of habits and culture rather than growth.
Both Bart and I have a great deal of passion for this subject of literacy because we’re almost infinitely curious about what will most effectively enable and empower – or even engage people — to look more closely at how they/we think, see and respond to complex problems – like living!
However, in considering all that literacy means, we also see the risk of dipping into abstraction and generalization and a diffusion of clarity and meaning. That’s why, from the beginning of the course, we do our best to use concrete examples and ask you to apply any principle we’re presenting to your own specific and concrete situation. Doing that is what will make DVL real, useful, and valuable to you.
Yes, literacy is a complex industrial and societal scale issue involving mindset, perception, technology, learning, training, attitude, and behavior change on a long-term timeline. Accordingly, its impact is far greater than a particular set of software features.
What makes DVL so relevant as we see it, isn’t as an answer to most of humanity’s ills. Rather, we see adoption of DVL’s skillset as a near instant way to leverage the surest capabilities any of us have for more effective problem solving. In other words, there’s a compelling economic imperative for employing it sooner than later when clarifying and/or continuing to clarity almost anything.
If what we’re describing here and about our course resonates with you — like the need for generating greater connection and clarity to yield better results or waste less time, stay tuned to this blog. Better yet, visit: http://dvl.expert and watch our free Visual Supercharge (DVL) Course Intro Video.
