Mona Lisa Consulting and Painting with a Blank Canvas

My virtual assistant Taryn Merrick suggested I meet with a previous client of hers, Edith Bodnar. She thought we’d find some innovative ways to match Real Time Strategic Change with her company’s work. Since we both work in the LA area, it was easy to set up a “get to know you” lunch. Edith heads up Mona Lisa Consulting. Mona Lisa has broad and deep expertise in Image and Brand Management.

During lunch we compared Edith and her partners’ approach to brand management with our Winds of Change Group’s RTSC-influenced work in this area. There was enough of a “gut feel” for both Edith and myself that we decided to meet again, this time including her partners.

Just a week after the meeting with her partners, Vena Alisio from Mona Lisa is planning her trip to South Africa to work with my colleague and partner Ian Paterson. Ian has a branding project already underway. Flying ten time zones (and 15 hours) because you’re “interested” sounds odd at best.

Until you find out that’s how I meet Ian 13 years ago. He picked up my RTSC book in a Cape Town bookstore. He then decided he needed to learn more about this approach. So he bought a plane ticket, flew to the US, and spent several days with me learning what this RTSC stuff was all about.

I also thought it’d be helpful to connect the Mona Lisa crowd with my colleague and partner Leslie DePol who was pulling together a proposal for an IT implementation effort. ML’s thinking would build on Leslie’s plans by creating internal “buzz” about the new system instead of what typically happens. Some people being out of the loop. Others resisting new ways of doing business. The list goes on….

What does a partnership with Mona Lisa hold for me over the long haul? That ’s something we’re still figuring out. An important takeaway from meetings and explorations like this are the prospects for innovation are borne out of our conversations. If I hang out with the same crowd (however much I may enjoy them and vice versa), I end up doing the same work the same way. New ideas emerge when I broaden my network. Innovation takes hold at the edge and beyond from my normal practices. Sometimes you have to reach before you know what you’re going to get. I’m confident I’ll be collaborating with Mona Lisa on some fascinating projects in 2009. Stay tuned and keep reading the blog. I promise to share the journey with you as it unfolds.

How do you innovate? What are your stories of getting outside your comfort zone and the “aha” experiences that follow?

I almost forgot. One last thought. You may be wondering what Mona Lisa has to do with Image and Brand Management? Good question. I asked it myself. From Edith and her partners:

Leonardo Da Vinci’s iconic work Mona Lisa is an excellent example of how enduring advanced marketing strategies, such as BUZZ and word-of-mouth, can be. For centuries now, all levels of society, from every culture, have contemplated her ?for instance, people continue to wonder why she is smiling. In addition, her demureness suggests concealment and mystery, which encourages our lasting contemplation. Aiding her popularity is the technical mastery of the work itself, which distinguishes it from other historical paintings. Again, Mona Lisa is a marvelous representation of successful BUZZ and word-of-mouth methods.