Creating a Right-Brain Business Plan

Believe me, I’m as surprised as you are.  I’m the last person on earth who would have thought I’d be talking about business plans.  But that was before I started reading Jennifer Lee.  Jenn suggests using collage–you could call it gluebooking or right brain planning or even just cutting things out of magazines and sticking them in your journal–first to explore your Big-Vision Goals, then the Values that you stand for, and finally giving Voice to the passion and purpose that drives you.

My first Big-Vision collage is a very mixed affair.  While I work a few hours a week as a virtual assistant, educating my children is my central work.  The images and text I collected reflect my wider life, not just my VA business.  Here are a few more details.

Supplies

I used things we had around the house.  No extra trips to the store for supplies!  I made the accordion book with 2 sheets of ivory cardstock that I cut in half (along the hamburger fold!).  Then I used washi tape to tape them together.  I used a NY Times Design magazine for the images and text, sharp scissors from Grandma Kathleen’s sewing kit, and a glue stick to glue the images.

Process

First I made the accordion book.  Then it sat quietly in my basket for a month before I did anything else with it!  Then I listened to the recording of Jenn’s meditation on bringing your creative gift to the world.  (You can download it for free when you sign up for her mailing list.)  And I journaled a bit, though honestly the visualization didn’t bring much up for me.  Then over a couple of days I cut out images.  Then I started gluing.  I did images on the first day and text on the second.

Building new work

chosen to transform her

making

a story

on the inside

Working with the text is where things got really interesting.  This is where the right-brain method really shines.  The rhythms of individual words and phrases suggested how they might fit together.  I love that a bit of narrative snuck in too!

Now It’s Your Turn!

Like mind mapping, this method would be a great way to brainstorm ideas for a school planning, or a thorny relationship, or planning what comes next for you.  It’s a simple, effective tool to bypass the linear mind and access your more creative, intuitive side.