Cartooning For Change, Not Just For Kids
My pre-teen daughter loves graphic novels, books that combine words and images - essentially a comic - but also contain a complete narrative. “The pictures allow me to jump RIGHT into the stories!” Text-only books, she insists, are simply not as engaging. As organizational change management (OCM) practitioners, we are tasked with engaging audiences on a daily basis. By continuing to rely solely on tried and true – but perhaps worn – text heavy emails and PowerPoints, are we missing an opportunity to help our stakeholders “jump right in” to the change that we are trying to facilitate?
I reached out to Peter Phan (FLIMP Studios) who specializes in creating videos and visuals to simplify the complexities of organizational change, to explore how OCM can incorporate cartoons to make the communication and engagement process, well, more engaging!
Cartoons Are Catchy
Peter shares that his cartooning style is childish and cute by design. We have all seen heaps of high production, highly polished corporate videos but using this style of design makes it stand out and perks people’s interest – people are naturally attracted to things they have not seen before. With so many shiny digital objects vying for the attention of our modern stakeholders, we must find fresh ways of communicating. Many people will respond positively to cartoons and others may not. But either way, cartoons will spark a conversation and kickstart awareness of your change effort.
Cartoons for Change
So where do cartoons fit in the change process? Peter shared that the cartoons and visuals he creates typically fall into one of the following three levels, with Level 1, the overall change strategy, being the most popular:
Level 1 - Overarching Change Strategy/Vision which paints the bigger picture, raises awareness and highlights the current state, the future state, and how you’re going to get there
Level 2 - Project Specific which deep dives into the various projects or change initiatives that support the Change Strategy. These could be an instructional step-by-step animation to explain new process or a walkthrough of a specific technology.
Level 3 - The Detail which communicates the A-Z (for example, everything that level 1 and level 2 does not cover). This is typically less of a cartoon and more of an easy-on-eye visual for the 1% that need the specifics.
Cartooning Process
Focusing on the most popular cartoon scenario, the Overarching Change Strategy/Vision, let’s take a closer look at the design process. Similar to the OCM process, Peter follows a very iterative and collaborative process as he works with his clients.
Define the following Overarching Change Strategy/Vision elements, in bullet form: current state, future state, and how you plan to get there
Prioritize the bullet points, so that there is ideally a maximum of three bullet points for each element (good luck!)
Review what you have and refine as necessary. Ideally, you have defined an OCM strategy (how get there) to solve a problem (current state) that will achieve the desired outcomes (future state). If you have not solved the problem, you just have words!?
Now comes the fun part! With Peter’s approach, the “how you plan to get there” element typically takes the shape of some sort of vehicle. Ask your client what they see? A plane, train, bus, rocket, helicopter, boat? Continue the visualization process by teasing out client or project specific artifacts. “So, you’re climbing up a mountain with a rope, what do you have in your backpack?” Finally, are there any other visuals that have significant meaning to the client or culture that can be incorporated? Perhaps a caricature of key stakeholders?
Finally, put the elements altogether into a visual story and if you want to go the extra mile, add some music, a voiceover, some animation and you’ve got the perfect recipe for maximum engagement.
Can I Cartoon?
You had me at cartoon! How can you begin to incorporate cartoons into your OCM communication and engagement process?
Draw them yourself! Put pen to paper. Reach out to people in your organization with graphical design skills to help refine.
Use PowerPoint. Leverage the cartooning design process to illicit imagery from your clients and elevate your presentations with more visuals and create a story.
Get external help. Engage a cartooning professional to achieve your engagement goals. Worried about the price tag of big marketing firms? Independent shops like Peter’s can get you started for as little as $5,000 USD. See example of Peter’s work here.
Like a graphic novel that my daughter can’t stop reading, our change process should be so engaging that our stakeholders want to “jump right in.” Words and PowerPoint are not going away any time soon, but OCMers should strive to elevate and modernize their communications by incorporating new and attention-grabbing elements, such as a simple cartoon.
Contact ChangeStaffing to learn how our consultants can help you create a more engaging OCM approach.
A very special thanks to Peter Phan, talented change cartoonist and owner of FLIMP Studios, creating videos and visuals to simplify the complexities of organizational change, for collaborating with us on this blog.