Drawing Out the Truth with Crayons

People are often reluctant to share their sincere thoughts or feelings in the workplace, particularly when being asked for their open and honest assessment of their company’s culture or work environment. As a result, companies press on, completely oblivious to the problems within their organization.

As a management consultant, I’m hired to identify the underlying organizational issues that hinder the progress and profitability of a business enterprise. Typically, I interview individuals at every level of a company to assess the root cause of the problems. Over the years, I’ve discovered that the more serious or systemic the problems are within an organization, the more reluctant people are to open up about them. Years of difficulties are often accompanied by years of suppression.

In such cases, I reach into my managerial toolkit and bring out crayon boxes and blank sheets of paper. I’ve discovered there is great power in using crayons to draw out the truth about issues that are seldom discussed openly. It’s amazing how candid people will be when their creativity is unleashed through a crayon picture. It’s also remarkable how quickly profound discussion and introspective analysis ensues when people realize others within the organization have similar feelings and concerns.

I usually use the crayon exercise in groups, but it can also be done individually. After handing out the crayons and paper, I tell the participants to imagine their company as a metaphorical vehicle. I then invite them to draw a picture of the company vehicle that describes the organization’s culture and what it’s like to work there. I encourage them to express what the company vehicle looks like, sounds like, and feels like as people go about their day-to-day business. I give them no further instructions.

When everyone has completed their drawings, I ask for a volunteer to show their picture to the group and explain what it means. I then invite others to share their images. Eventually, everyone in the group shares their picture, particularly when they hear others who perceive the organization the same way they do. Quite frequently, there are also individuals in the group who have a perspective of the company’s culture that is the polar opposite of the view expressed by the majority of people in the room. This, of course, greatly adds to the discussion that I facilitate after the picture presentations. It’s that discussion that begins the change process within the enterprise.

Let me give you some examples of the experiences I’ve had with this crayon picture exercise.

I once was working with a nation-wide railroad company that had very serious challenges. Their corporate office was located in a 36-story building in the heart of a major U.S. city. As managers ascended the hierarchy of the organization their office was moved to a higher floor of the corporate headquarters. The higher one’s rank in the company, the higher one’s office was located in the building. The executive offices were on the 36th floor.

In one of my crayon sessions, a mid-level manager drew a very revealing picture of the enterprise. He drew an outside view of the corporate office building showing the windows of all of the offices. Each office window had a window shade. The window shades of the offices on the first floor were totally open. The window shades on the next level up were slightly closed. As one looked at the windows of each progressively higher floor, the window shades were progressively more closed until one reached the 36th floor where the window shades were completely closed. The manager explained, “The higher one climbs in this organization the more closed-minded they become, and the less they understand what’s really going on in the organization. The people at the lowest ranks know exactly where the problems are. They are closest to the customers and the work. But management doesn’t listen to them. They are so closed off in their ivory tower they don’t realize just how bad things really are.”

The picture to the right expresses a similar sentiment. The drawing shows the organization as a stagecoach going in one direction and a fast, powerful car going in the opposite direction. The car is driving toward progress. The stagecoach is going against progress. Driving the stagecoach are members of the company’s board who say, “Look. I think we’re getting closer.” Driving the car are members of the company’s management team. They say, “Why is it taking us so long to get there?” The participant who made this drawing said, “There is a difference between the board’s perspective of the organization and management’s perspective. We are going in opposite directions. And we are losing money and opportunities because of it.”

The picture to the left is one of my favorites. It shows the company “bus” with a flat tire. According to the participant, “Some of the employees on the bus are happy and some of them are sad. The sad employees are getting off the bus, while new, happy employees are getting on. The bus has a flat tire that is fixable. But only a few people on the bus are willing to fix it. The longer the problems go on in the organization the more happy employees turn into sad employees who then leave the bus. We are constantly adding new employees rather than satisfying the old ones.”

Another favorite shows the company “limousine” driving off a cliff. There are caution signs along the way warning of the approaching cliff. One sign reads “Maxed salary dollars.” Another says “extended hours.” Another, “Saturday banking.” Collectively, the signs warn that without additional staff or salary increases, making employees work six days a week for 10+ hours per day leads to burnout. But, inside the limousine, the company executives are only looking ahead as far as the hood ornament, which is a dollar sign. They don’t realize or seem to care that the company is driving off a cliff.

Finally, my all-time favorite: The company dogsled. The sled is being pulled along by dogs with ties while some employees are just along for the ride. Meanwhile, some employees are trying to guide the sled and others are trying to push the corporation along. In the distance, a storm is raging, yet there is a ray of sunshine peeking out from behind the mountain. So there is hope for a brighter future for the company.

When I first started using this tool I was concerned some might consider it too juvenile for adults in the workplace. But I've never had anyone respond negatively to it. Even senior executives find it to be a liberating catalyst for an open and honest discussion about the tough issues within their organization. §

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Mac McIntire is the president of Innovative Management Group, a Las Vegas-based training and consulting firm specializing in strategic visioning and alignment, organizational effectiveness, management development, quality improvement, customer service, and teamwork. He can be reached at 702-592-6431 or e-mail [email protected]. His website is www.imglv.com