What We're Reading Now
Seeing the Invisible Things
10 September 2024
Rachel practiced using Invisible Things by Andy J. Pizza and Sophie Miller as a tool for surfacing the unsaid, exploring the unknown, and having some fun.
Tags: communication, creativity, emotional intelligence, picture books, rachel read, teams, visual metaphor, well-being
Imagine this. You walk into a meeting room or join a Zoom call. As people assemble, someone (maybe you) asks, "How is everyone doing?" All too often, the response is a murmur of "Fine... Good... OK... mm-hmm..." It's about as descriptive and informative as a stale slice of sandwich bread.
Sometimes, whether by virtue of a team's established norms or a leader's determined effort, the opening question elicits more detail. Perhaps each person claims a word or feeling, or there's some discussion of highs and lows and some clearing of mental and emotional baggage that should be left at the door.
There are many things that can inhibit this kind of sharing. Sometimes we lack time. Sometimes we worry about being misunderstood. Sometimes we think that the question is rhetorical. And, sometimes, the invisibility of things we think and feel and sense and notice makes it difficult to convey exactly what we mean.
Enter Invisible Things, a picture book by Andy J. Pizza and Sophie Miller. As they write, "SOME things are INVISIBLE THINGS. But don't worry—in this book you get to SEE THE INVISIBLE, because there's more to life that meets the eye." Equipped with the super-powered (and invisible) "invisible-thing spotting glasses" found in the book, readers explore the invisible landscapes of things experienced with our senses or felt "on the inside."
When I first encountered this book, I loved these drawings of feelings. We often use visual metaphors as a mechanism for helping teams surface deeper meaning; I'm a fan of the visual explorer card decks produced by the Center for Creative Leadership and it's not uncommon for me to ask a group to draw a symbol or picture to represent a concept they're discussing. Even so, the expressiveness of these artists' work evoked an even greater clarity, and brought some levity to some otherwise dark or difficult ideas. Recently, I've found myself using the language of doodles more in conversation, asking people things like, "What color is it?" and "Are the edges hard or soft?" as a way to explore some of the more nebulous sensations they experience.
It's worth exploring both our linguistic and visual vocabularies for the countless invisible things that we encounter every day. Maybe you'll be inspired to draw some of your own. For some help getting started, you can try coloring some of the authors' favorites. (Stop by our office, and I'll even let you use my fancy markers.)
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