"Would you like to see the cover layout with the picture you took?"

"Oh.... you're using one of my pictures...?"

Erm... yes, I'd forgotten... really should pay more attention to that kind of stuff!

Anyway, welcome to the book that I know as 'Edges' which is out in September and is using one of the images from the 'Edges' photo series.  The book is about the latest, most cutting edge practice in organisation consulting and there is a whole chapter on Photo-Dialogue.

I had definitely not forgotten that; I wrote it...!

I'll also write a review as soon as I get an advance copy; it is full of some of the most interesting and engaging organisational change work that is currently available.

And is written by some of the most interesting and engaging change practitioners!!

Roll up, roll up...  get your copies 'ere ;-))

When Denis Diderot wrote his Encyclopedie in 1751 he not only looked towards the academie but also (and controversially, for the time) researched the most talented craftsmen he could find in Paris and beyond - I get the impression it might have been a kind of vast 'knowledge management' project.

Yet Diderot soon ran into difficulty; much of the knowledge craftsmen possess is tacit. They know how to do something but that 'something' doesn't translate into words.

I was shooting away with some printers recently and became fascinated when one of the guys stepped away from the vast computerised presses and began to work with a piece of machinery that could have been built when Diderot was a lad. He said it was one of the first machines he had worked on, nearly 30 years previously, and I reckon that that tacit skill had been gently building inside him ever since.

I get mesmerised by talent like that; these guys have an understanding of their work and their machines that is way beyond the intellectual realm that most of us live in when we show up at the office.  

And this sort of work can be a difficult proving ground.  In 'The Craftsmen', Richard Sennett makes the point that 'learning by doing' raises questions of our talent to act.

We may learn little - simply because we are no good at actually doing the work...

We speak very freely of 'vision' in business life and yet not very many of us can actually clearly articulate what we are trying to achieve in our very limited time on this planet. 

I'm using photographic portraiture ('photo-dialogues', in fact) more and more in my work with clients as they begin to define who and how they are going to be in the world. It is common practice for consultants and coaches to conversationally 'hold up the mirror' to their clients, whether they be individuals or large corporations. The idea is that the client makes the analysis and owns the process as they develop and change. But photographs seem to offer something extra to those conversations.

Gavin and I had planned a particular shot to help him develop his own vision.  Yet on the day, he was in a more thoughtful mood and, rather than trek off to a location, we decided to shoot indoors as he worked through some of his agenda.

When we next met he was incredibly sure about what he needed to be doing.  A set of emailed images had helped to unlock his thinking and make sense of an incredibly complex, shifting business environment.

Working in this way the pictures become a truth that locates us at a particular point in time and then holds us accountable for 'what next'. They show us both 'as we are' and 'as we are seen' and the distance that they offer allows us to gain perspective and clarity.

And besides....I really like this shot of Gavin, it's how I've come to know him; perceptive, sensitive, kind.

You could go a long way with vision like that...

I haven't spent much time at Ted.com recently but today I was delighted to find this video by Marian Bantjes.

Not only is Marian's work extraordinary but her take on the use of visual arts is really exciting.  She says that she is 'mystified as to why the visual wealth is not more commonly used to share intellectual wealth' and claims that 'truly imaginative visual work is extremely important to society'.

What I particularly enjoyed was Marian's quality criteria for her work:

• Does it bring joy?
• Is there a sense of wonder?
• Does it evoke curiosity?

Good enough, I reckon for anyone working creatively in the commercial sector or, indeed, just about anywhere else.

Finally, if you are thinking that photo-dialogue has changed shape the you are right.  It will take me a while to work this through but I'm preparing for more pictures, more galleries, more dialogues...  Hope you enjoy it!

I was hanging out in in the hotel bar in Helsinki hatching evil plans when I met Mike, who suggested we walk around the corner and get something to eat.

Mike was celebrating; this was his 23rd trip to Helsinki and possibly his last, and he was looking forward to getting home to Canada to see his family.  It was my 3rd visit to Helsinki and I was  looking forward to getting home too...  Don't assume though that Helsinki isn't a great place - I'd like to go again - but maybe with the Marshall Tribe too ;-)

Anyway, one of the bad deals about sharing a table with me is that a) I am going to take your photo and, b) if I'm working the next day I'm going to stay sober.  Which means you might need to drink my share ;-)

But Mike did persuade me to have a sneaky vodka - it was worth it.  But what was really special was Mike's stories of home, his wife, his amazing kid - and just spending time listening to someone who I should really have nothing in common with but actually, he's a Dad, he works hard, he loves his family...  What more do you need?

Anyway...the stories... so there was Mike and his brother... a million miles from anywhere in a Newfoundland  hunting shack..... and there was this noise....   and then there was a massive bull-moose... and then there is the running like crazy part while being chased by the moose... oh, I guess vodka probably played no part whatsoever...;-))

I was taking a walk through Helsinki with my client, AM, who was showing me the old Olympic village.  It seems that way back in '52 the Olympics were curiously about sport; the whole 'Olympic Village' was just a couple of stadia and some playing fields.  Now, it seems we need to build a whole new city to sponsor the games....

It was probably about 10.00pm when I stopped to take this shot. The conversation went a bit like this...

"What are you waiting for?"

"That jet."

"Huh?"

"The contrail...I just wanna get it exactly right...."

"You are very sad...."

"I know....   but I just wanna get it exactly right...."

AM's patience was, I will admit, wearing slightly thin.  I had just been waiting for a hot air balloon to slowly drift into a shot only to realise that, after a considerable while and much pacing up and down from AM, it was going in the opposite direction!

Ah well, win some, lose some ;-)