MM.6: Professor Herbst, what are the characteristics of change processes in companies?

Prof. Herbst: Market conditions have changed so drastically in recent years that companies can adapt only by changing fundamentally from the inside. Typical examples are the formerly state-owned companies that have now been privatized; they have to reorganize themselves from the ground up and create a new personality. A number of studies have shown that these processes can be successful only if they are supported by professional communication.

MM.6: MetaDesign has supported numerous companies in large-scale change projects. What role does visual communication play?

Mayer-Johanssen: It is just as crucial as verbal communication. People have an image of their company, and they cling to it. That’s why it is immensely important to allow the new image to become visible. Real change only happens when people let go of their old images. Only then can change become complete.

Prof. Herbst: Such processes in companies often create negative feelings among the employees. For them it means a high level of personal risk. And then someone goes and gives the whole thing a forbidding name like “change” without even showing anyone what it will look like – or at best only in abstract terms. That makes it difficult for the human brain to develop a liking for it or to get any sense of the consequences for one’s self. If the brain says, “I have no idea what that will mean for me,” it won’t support change.

You need to counter that with positive images of the future. The brain invests 60 percent of its capacity in storing images, processing them and developing a vision of the future. In my view, visual communication is of primary importance: it gives people – especially in connection with verbal communication – an impression of what the world will look like after change has taken place.

MM.6: Does a company in flux need a new visual image?

Mayer-Johanssen: Not necessarily. Of course it is wonderful when you can start from the ground up and write a new visual story. But that is not often the case. First you need to find out what positive associations there are to the current image and keep them. That gives the employees a sense of orientation. Companies that keep changing their image underestimate what implications that has on their own business.

Prof. Herbst: I agree. When communicating change, it is tremendously important to emphasize what is going to stay the same: that gives orientation. But most companies focus on communicating the most radical elements of change. Their managers say: “Everything is going to be different! We have to change everything!” That can lead to some pretty intense emotions among their staff. The last thing an employee who has just taken out a mortgage or whose oldest child is just getting ready to start college wants is change.

That’s why I discourage companies from adopting a completely new image as a sign of change. They need to lead people through the change process with a design process, not just push them in at the deep end. Unless of course they really do want to communicate: “Everything is going to be different around here starting now.”

Mayer-Johanssen: That’s true. We’ve noticed that logos or trademarks come to stand for successes achieved, for having overcome crises, for reaching goals as a result of collective effort. People in companies get really upset when someone tries to force a new logo on them. Change doesn’t mean throwing away everything you’ve got now and doing everything differently. Change means: I keep what has brought me this far and continue to develop it to show that I am prepared for the future.

MM.6: Would you say that a change process cannot be successfully carried out without including visual change?

Prof. Herbst: I wouldn’t say that in such absolute terms. But including the visual can be a tremendous support. One of the tremendous things about pictures is that they can bypass the intellect and go straight to the emotions, where they can either calm us or disturb us. Pictures can be recognized immediately. We need but one glance to see the most important aspect of a picture. The spoken word is much slower in comparison.

In many ways pictures are superior to text. Reading requires a peaceful and relaxed state so that the mind can work. But this breaks down when fear comes into play. Especially in emotionally tense situations, visual communication is much more likely to reach people than verbal or written.

MM.6: Let’s go from theory to practice. What is your approach when a company in a change process comes to MetaDesign?

Mayer-Johanssen: The first thing we do is to get a general overview of the company’s situation. It’s interesting – for us and for the company – to see how many different pictures companies use in their communication materials. It’s amazing what you can learn from that. It doesn’t matter at this stage whether this one is pretty or that one is not, or whether they all look the same or are completely different. We simply take visual inventory. That alone gives us an amazing amount of information about the company – about its thinking, its strategy and its character.

We need to get a clear picture of the present to be able to say what steps we want to take and how big these steps are going to be. We have to get a feeling for what is inside their heads, for how people think and how they feel about their company.

MM.6: And how are you able to get at people’s ideas about the future?

Mayer-Johanssen: First we collect verbal expressions. We ask them to tell us something, to describe something. Later we use pictures to interview the people responsible for the project. We ask them to choose pictures from a selection we provide. Sometimes we ask them to draw their own.

In this phase the visual aids are process tools, not design elements. They are a translator to clarify thoughts and feelings.

MM.6: Professor Herbst, what would a scientist say about these methods?

Prof. Herbst: Studies show that there is nothing worse than an unclear image. Scientists have examined how the brain responds to stimulus. The results prove that the brain responds most readily when it has a clear picture of something. Then it can decide immediately whether it supports something or not. If the brain has no image at all, it doesn’t respond as well. The worst situation is when the picture is not clear.

Conducting an interview using pictures has another advantage. We now know that people can communicate their knowledge, but they are not able to explain their behavior. That’s why pictures are an excellent tool for mapping change processes. We can create a mood chart that shows where we are today and select pictures showing where we want to go. In a fraction of a second we can say: “That’s my company,” “That’s where I want to go” or “That’s not us.” If I run 500 people through a series of 100 pictures and ask for their reactions, that delivers far more useful material than discussing five pictures with them for three hours. The intellect doesn’t have any time to interfere.

MM.6: And how do you manage to motivate the rest of the employees and involve them in the change process?

Mayer-Johanssen: It’s important to foster a desire for change in the employees. If someone is not motivated, there’s nothing I can do to force him to be. But I can spark a flame by showing a positive image of the future. That’s the responsibility of the management team. They need to stand up for change and manage it positively and proactively – even when there is some headwind. They need to communicate clearly: “Something is happening here. It won’t be easy, and we will have to fight, but there is a goal at the end.”

MM.6: And what role does visual communication play in that?

Mayer-Johanssen: I have to be able to show what the future looks like and produce a positive picture of it. Visual communication is the only tool we have to create the future in the present. As Professor Herbst already mentioned: what the brain perceives, it perceives as real. If I can show now what is to come in the future, I give people the feeling it is already here.

MM.6: And how do I find the right images?

Mayer-Johanssen: I’m afraid the answer to that is a bit complicated. Even though the structure behind an image is highly complex, the picture itself has to be very simple in order to be effective. But it is not going to be just one image, just as we do not have only one image of ourselves as a person. At first you need one powerful, influential image, which you can then open up to reveal the form of the whole thing in more detail. It must mirror the strengths of the people who shape the company. But it must also take the positioning and the appearance of other companies into consideration so that it can distinguish itself from the others in the jungle of competition out there.

So you need a broad base to create and formulate a new image. The one who designs that is the translator of the new future.

MM.6: Ms. Mayer-Johanssen, Professor Herbst, thank you for your time!