Illustrating Your Change Vision: AI and DALL-E

I started writing Fonty Tales at the start of the pandemic. Fonty is an optimistic, ambitious elephant, who fulfills a dream of coming to New York City to be a window washer.?

Along the way, Fonty grows as a character using personality psychology, and via human-like experiences:

• He is a window washer, a role unwavering since the pandemic; he is an emblem of our essential workforce.
• He is studying urban design at the fictional University of New York City.
• His best friend, Morris, is a well-connected mouse; having grown up on Wall Street, in a cozy home under the subway (as mice do).

Fonty (Elephant) As Vision:

Instead of sharing a business example, I thought I’d illustrate vision through Fonty Tales itself; it’s arguably one of the more “unique” visions I’ve brought to life, and a parallel metaphor for our corporate change projects as well.

Vision is really important in any change project, and yet it has always been somewhat elusive.?

Fonty himself, represents "vision" in change management: large, ambitious, optimistic and deliberate.

And because he is from my imagination, he, like vision, is elusive.

But, with the help of (even more elusive?) AI, he's now coming to life in new ways.

I have been using DALL-E to illustrate Fonty in various settings, which help me continue to develop the character and how he reflects positive psychology. Here are some short stories I've imagined into images:

What This Means for Leaders:

How can you get inspired by Fonty in DALL-E, for your own change vision?

• Use DALL-E to illustrate anything in seconds, which means you can conceptualize your own vision in a variety of ways.
• You can still bring a human consultant to help with the implementation and interpretation of your change, as vision is best adorned with the spark of “human” resonance.
• Get GPT-4 through OpenAI (subscription-based for now) which gives you access to DALL-E. Then, all you have to do is type in a description of what you want, and it will generate images for you. In future iterations this will become even more sophisticated; in November 2023 it’s already a remarkable opportunity.
• You can test out vision statements, see how they resonate through imagery; you can ask DALL-E for suggestions and enhancements; you can even imagine scenarios that would be impacted by your change. It is a boundless way to explore your vision for change!
• Be sure to reflect on the designs! As you discover and create imagery with DALL-E, what are you reacting to, what resonates??

To Start, Be Guided by Guiding Principles

I made a few decisions early, as Guiding Principles for Fonty Tales:

1. I would not force myself to turn this into a book or merchandise before it was ready.
2. I would trust that just spending time getting to know the characters – myself, as a psychologist, observing them across time and imaginary spaces – would be a rewarding exercise; and was the point of being a creator in the first place.
3. I would allow imagination to run free. Anything was possible in their universe.
4. I would not be afraid of seeming childish, misunderstood or weird by writing about cartoon animals.

All of those apply to change leadership in vision. Suspending the ego when embarking on change; not rushing to make an impact just for the sake of it; being unafraid to push the imagination, and seeing what comes back. A year ago, I had no idea AI would bring Fonty into the world in an expansive number of ways.

What AI Has To Say...

I haven't used ChatGPT for this article yet, in the writing or as an idea generator.

But now, as I always like to do in an article about AI, here’s what ChatGPT has to say as a closing. I quite like it; and it seems to share the journey of what it means to be a change leader in unique, extraordinary times.

In the end, 'Fonty Tales' is more than just a story about an elephant and his dreams; it's a testament to the boundless potential of human creativity, enhanced by AI tools like DALL-E. As Fonty's journey through New York City mirrors our own aspirations and challenges, it reminds us that we are all both authors and characters, continuously shaping and being shaped by the visions we dare to bring to life.