Author: John Ashton

  • Creating the 2023 – 2028 vision for LOROS​ hospice

    Creating the 2023 – 2028 vision for LOROS​ hospice

    Creating the 2023 – 2028 vision for LOROS hospice


    LOROS Logo

    Crackerjack is very pleased to be supporting LOROS (providers of hospice care for Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland) in the creation of its 2023 to 2028 vision.

    LOROS provide free, high-quality, compassionate care and support to terminally ill adult patients, their family and carers across Leicestershire & Rutland. This important work relies on collaboration between numerous groups of people including employees, volunteers, healthcare professionals, local health and care bodies, hospitals, suppliers and fund-raising shops. Ensuring these people all have a clear and shared understanding of the vision is vital both in terms of people engagement and ensuring that future strategic plans align with the 2023 – 2028 LOROS vision.

    Crackerjack is working closely with Rob Parkinson (CEO of LOROS) and his team to provide a comprehensive visioning process for the organisation including:

    • Visioning process planning, advice and consultancy (particularly around people engagement during the visioning process).
    • Facilitation of multiple visioning process workshops.
    • Creation of a rich picture visualising the LOROS 2023 – 2028 vision.

    In the following article on the LOROS website, Rob describes the project and his hopes and aims for the work:

    “The current strategic plan for LOROS ends in 2023, and we are now looking to set the vision for the organisation until 2028 (doesn’t that sound like the future?). To help us set this vision we need your help, so over the next few weeks we will be running workshops and launching online portals so that you can share your vision for the future of LOROS.

    We have spaces on ‘visioning workshops’ (facilitated by John Ashton from Crackerjack Visual Thinking) which will allow individuals from around LOROS, and some of our external partners, to come together and discuss what the future might look like. In addition to this, we will also have online links so that everyone across the organisation can input into the vision – however you’d like to share it.

    The goal will be to eventually draw a rich picture of what our combined vision for the organisation might look like – a literal image of what we collectively think the future looks like. This will give the Senior Leadership Team a firm platform to base the detailed plans against and deliver a strategy that will achieve the vision. A real collaborative approach to building our future.

    Heads of Departments have been given the dates of the visioning workshops and the numbers we can invite (sadly, we simply don’t have enough spaces for the whole organisation). So if you have the energy to help in this vital task, please contact them in the first instance. But don’t worry, we’ve left a couple of workshops spare in December and if demand is too high these will be released (spaces by ballot) later in the month once we have all the workshop spaces filled.

    Can’t attend a workshop? We’ve got you covered – our online portals will allow you to share your vision. Whether you’d like to write it down, paint it or make a poem out of it… we all express ourselves differently and we will have a drop box so that you can contribute. Just because you can’t make a workshop, doesn’t mean your voice won’t be heard. More details (and links) will follow and portals will remain open for as long as we can.

    This is the first time we’ve done this, and hopefully offers a real way to get involved in setting a vision for the future. We hope you’ll join with us in building this picture in any way you can!”

    Crackerjack first worked with Rob over 10 years ago to create a rich picture for Action Homeless (where Rob was in a similar role to his position at LOROS). It was heartening to hear about the positive effect that image had on that organisation and also great that Rob wanted use a visual thinking approach again to help take LOROS forward over the coming years.

    You can find out more about LOROS and its work here:

    https://loros.co.uk/pinboard-content/pinboard-november-stories/loros-visioning-workshops

    You can find out more about the work of Crackerjack Visual Thinking here:

    https://crackerjackvisualthinking.com/

    #visualthinking #LOROS #hospice #vision #engagement #strategy


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  • Travelodge rich pictures – sneak peaks!​

    Travelodge rich pictures – sneak peaks!​

    Travelodge rich pictures – sneak peaks!

    Following my post last week about the rich pictures I created for a number of teams within Travelodge, I’m very grateful to Paula Wessely, Management Development Lead at Travelodge, for letting me share a couple of ‘sneak peaks’ of small sections of a couple of the images I produced. Thanks Paula!

    Travelodge Ops Example 2
    Section of Rich Picture created for the Travelodge Operations Team
    Travelodge CFO Example 2
    Section of Rich Picture created for the Travelodge CFO Team


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  • Dassault Systemes Energy Islands Rich Picture Project

    Dassault Systemes Energy Islands Rich Picture Project

    Dassault Systemes Energy Islands Rich Picture Project – Client Feedback

    Dassault Systemes

    Very pleased to receive the following feedback from Mads Storgaard, Sales Director at Dassault Systemes, in relation to complex Energy Islands Ecosystem rich picture project:

    “Hi John,

    I feel that our collaboration on visually describing how the Energy Island ecosystem could look was both fun and effective.

    You were fast in understanding the context and translate to compelling visuals.
    In particular, I am impressed on how few iterations you needed to converge to the final version.

    I would highly recommend you to anyone who is in need of explaining something highly complex in a visual, almost story telling way.

    Thanks again four your contribution.

    Best,
    Mads

    Sales Director | Dassault Systemes”

    #storytelling #energy #Energyisland #visualthinking #communication#dassaultsystemes #richpictures


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  • Client feedback: amazing vision graphics for Travelodge

    Client feedback: amazing vision graphics for Travelodge

    Client feedback: amazing vision graphics for Travelodge

    Very pleased to receive the following feedback from Paula Wessely, Management Development Lead at Travelodge, who commissioned Crackerjack to create vision rich pictures for three of the organisations central office functions:

    “I’ve had the pleasure of working with John from Crackerjack over the past 6 months where he’s scoped and created amazing vision graphics for 3 of our central office functions at Travelodge UK. John’s ability to listen to a large group, decipher what’s being said, and then create a visual representation from scratch is literally outstanding. Nothing is too much trouble and my stakeholders are extremely happy with their vision rich pictures. I’d definitely recommend John and am looking forward to working with him in the future.”

    Paula Wessely
    Management Development Lead | Travelodge

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  • The importance of having a clear vision in uncertain times​

    The importance of having a clear vision in uncertain times​

    The importance of having a clear vision in uncertain times

    CVT Post 7th Oct 22 Uncertain Times

    War, energy supplies, winter blackouts, increasing mortgage rates…

    The list of concerns facing people at the moment can drive a number of emotions and reactions, ranging from general concern through to fear and anxiety. In these type of situations, it becomes increasingly important for people to have certainty around the things that are important to them – including their jobs and the stability of the organisations they work for.

    Whilst nothing can ever be guaranteed in terms of job security during these challenging times, the situation can be helped by organisations providing a clear overview of how they plan to achieve their vision over the coming months and years.

    Having a clear vision that is ambitious, engaging, motivating and, importantly, achievable and believable, provides people with a degree of trust that the organisation will succeed in its vision. It is this belief and trust that can provide people with a level of comfort and motivation that enables them to continue to perform effectively in their roles – leading to the virtuous circle of the organisation achieving its goals and being able to continue to offer its people the maximum chance of stability and job security possible in these uncertain times.

    #work #jobsecurity #motivation #people #uncertainty #vision #clarity #visualthinking


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  • What do all these brands have in common?

    What do all these brands have in common?

    What do all these organisations have in common?

    The answer: they have all chosen to work with Crackerjack to visualise the stories they want to tell.

    Whether it’s communicating with customers, clients or team members, they have all recognised the impact and engagement a visual approach to communicating information can have on people.

    So whatever sector, discipline or specialism you work in, have you considered taking a visual approach to communicating teh stories you want to tell?

    Find out more about the visual thinking options available to you by clicking here or contacting us using the information shown below.

    Crackerjack Clients

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  • POWER-UP your business by visualising your ‘WHY’

    POWER-UP your business by visualising your ‘WHY’

    POWER-UP your business by visualising your ‘WHY’

    Clearly communicating your ‘WHY’ (your purpose and vision) energises your people and enables them to POWER-UP your business to its full potential.

    Learn more about some of the different ways in which you can visualise your ‘WHY’ here.

    #thewhy #purpose #vision #visualthinking #engagement #communication#business #people

    WHY - Power Up May 2022

    Our other services for individuals: SEE Your Future™ Visual Goal Setting | Personal Vision Rich Pictures | Visual Coaching

    Our other services for teams and organisations: Visual Meeting Facilitation | Strategic Vision Rich Pictures | Whiteboard Animation | Live Scribing


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  • Visualise the WHY to create trust

    Visualise the WHY to create trust

    Visualise the WHY to create trust and loyalty in your organisation

    Building on Simon Sinek’s well-known Golden Circle Theory, visualising your ‘WHY’ helps create trust and loyalty in your organisation – both internally with your team and externally with your customers.

    The brain’s preference for visual information makes visual thinking tools (including rich pictures, whiteboard animations and live scribing) ideal for visualising the ‘WHY’ of your organisation.

    Find out more about visual thinking tools and approaches here.

    #visualthinking #simonsinek #goldencircle #thewhy #communicate #trust#loyalty #brainscience

    WHY - Golden Circle Apr 2022

    Our other services for individuals: SEE Your Future™ Visual Goal Setting | Personal Vision Rich Pictures | Visual Coaching

    Our other services for teams and organisations: Visual Meeting Facilitation | Strategic Vision Rich Pictures | Whiteboard Animation | Live Scribing


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  • Visual Thinking Skills Online Course – Spaces still available!

    Visual Thinking Skills Online Course – Spaces still available!

    Visual Thinking Skills Online Live-Streamed Course – spaces still available!

    Hi All,

    Hope you had a good Easter break.

    Just a quick post to let you know that there are still places available on my Visual Thinking Skills online live-streamed course on the dates shown below (including the next course this coming Wednesday 27th April).

    If you want to develop your drawing and listening skills and capture people’s thinking as pictures to help them see their big ideas, find out more by clicking on the image below.

    It would be great to see you there!

    John

    #people #visualthinking #skills #training #drawing #listeningskills#bigideas #communicationskills #livestream #onlinecourses #coaches#facilitationskills #facilitator #teamleader #manager #trainer


    Visual Thinking Skills Online Course

    Our other services for individuals: SEE Your Future™ Visual Goal Setting | Personal Vision Rich Pictures | Visual Coaching

    Our other services for teams and organisations: Visual Meeting Facilitation | Strategic Vision Rich Pictures | Whiteboard Animation | Live Scribing


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    Contact
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    Please use the form below to contact us or call us on +44 (0)115 6483381 for a FREE consultation to discuss how we can help you.