A while back I met a guy in a castle who was quite possibly the most loud and articulate person I have met in the last couple of years. This man, who by the way can quote complete “Shakespearean sonnet’s without one drop of lubricating spirits, has recently finished writing his book about ENGAGEMENT. The SHAPES or thinking frameworks in his book have been cultivated over a period of 15 years. Check it out here.
The book shares a clear outline for different ways you can ENGAGE and build enduring relationships with people. These “Shapes of Engagement” help you to consciously designing & stage experiences, make smart choices with well thought out connective principles and make you aware of interpersonal boundaries to truly engage with others. All seen from the eyes of a man who has reinvented his own purpose… moving from local church minister to international business consultant.
Reading this book inspired me to rename what I do for a living. It became very clear to me that the work i do is rooted in the intent to ENGAGE. The visuals I make need to facilitate dialogue or challenge the norm. By making past present and future VISIBLE you ignite a connected conversation. This means that by designing the way you ENGAGE through a VISUAL LANDSCAPE you empower all participants to look across boundaries, spot energy or even see missed opportunities. All because the ENGAGE through a shared visual story.
This shift in focus translates to me being an engineer of VISUAL engagement.
The great thing about (finally) articulating what you do is that once it is out in the open, you need to define what is good and what is bad about the VISUALS or no… the ENGAGEMENTS that I create. Redefining my focus leads to a better frame to judge my self by. Where before I was looking at the drawing or presentation I now look at what the effects are of all my visual efforts on the way that people engage others? Suddenly a drawing is not the end result anymore. My success can now only truly be measured by a system that can gauge the way people react to an engineered visual and how that visual engagement drives interaction and eventually decision!
So thank you Scott Gould… for introducing me to your Shapes and inspiring me to start saying : I am a Visual Engagement Engineer!