The Art of Harvesting
The verb “harvesting” refers to the act of gathering or collecting something that has been grown, developed, or accumulated, especially at the point when it is ready for use. It’s commonly used in agriculture, but also appears in broader contexts.
In my context, it’s about harvesting in a visual way, and it matters because even if we are used to taking notes on a piece of paper or on a computer, or we pay someone to do it, a lot of those words will never be read, because we are all, all of us, mega overwhelmed with information and written stuff to read.
And we just don’t have the time to do it.
So here comes visual harvesting, another way to collect knowledge, insights, but also pattern, emotions and untold things. A skilled visual harvester will have the courage to depict those too, even if they can be uncomfortable to the group. This is what I do.
But this article is more about the holistic meaning of harvesting in the context of a meeting, a conference or another type of gathering.
A LITTLE STORY (from last Autumn):
Near the house where I live there is a beautiful pomegranate tree.
I watch its fruits grow and change colour every day, and I’m waiting until they will eventually become of a more intense red colour and their skin will change slightly and then I will know I can harvest them and eat those juicy gems.
Apparently unrelated, but: Recently I have been working with two facilitators - Rowan Francis Simonsen and Laura Grassi - on getting an online Art of Hosting experience ready, for a global team. Part of this “training” is exploring what is the harvest, why the harvest, why even thinking about it.
And while making some illustrations for our slides this morning, I was reminded that very often we don’t plan meetings or conversations, we are actually planning for obtaining results that will come out of those conversations. And if we are working so hard - preparing the field, inviting people, calling in external facilitators, saving time on our agendas, etc. - why aren’t we planning for an exceptional harvest of our conversations?
Just like the person who planted this pomegranate tree, I am sure they planned for picking up the fruits every September.
When you invite a person or a group to a meeting, what do you want the outcome to be? What questions will you be using to facilitate that outcome?
Some ways You can harvest with:
words (a shared Google Doc that people can access)
photos and videos, so that people can “see” themselves and remember moments
songs, poetry, a dance, an abstract painting, if you are lucky enough to have some artistic people in your group
and of course, a visual harvest.
All this may or may not end in a report, but the people that spent their time and skills contributing to your meeting, kind of deserve to have a look at the results, right? That could mean just sending everyone an image that contains the synthesis of the conversations, or a full report, or a video, or all of the above.
So, how are you planning to harvest your next meeting or workshop? Why don’t we have a chat about what benefits a live illustration can bring to the event.
