16. Anna Geyer - the power of visual recording

Wild Card - Whose Shoes?

Happy New Year!
I'm kicking off 2022 by talking to the person who helps bring our Whose Shoes events alive and ensures they have lasting impact. Our combined approach to coproduction has been described as magic. One and one definitely equals more than two.
Anna Geyer, Director of New Possibilities, is my long-term friend and partner in crime. We look back at what we've achieved together - a fascinating and often unpredictable journey, not least with everything we've had to change and develop during the pandemic.
We celebrate 20 years of Anna's fab enterprise. When I first invented Whose Shoes and jumped ship from my day job in 2008, I never knew I'd find a partner who’d add so much to what I was trying to achieve. Visual recording enables people to hold on to the conversations and ensure they lead to real action.
Lemon lightbulbs 🍋💡🍋

• Visual minutes ensure people’s voices are heard; they love seeing their contributions on a permanent record
• BIG responsibility to record people’s voices authentically
• You can’t demand that people have open, honest conversations
• Whose Shoes puts people at ease and creates the conditions for difficult conversations about sensitive topics; graphic recording captures these and inspires follow-up action
• Start with a blank canvas – you can’t pre-select key words and shoehorn the messages to fit
• Let the conversations flow, people will tell you what is important to them
• Through our engaging, informal approach, we see the culture of an organisation; whether people feel able to speak out, take ownership and make improvements without seeking permission
• People who go the extra mile in organising Whose Shoes events reap the benefits - participants feel the love that's gone into making them feel welcome and valued
• Display the graphic record in a prominent place to keep the conversations alive
• Similar themes come through all our workshops, regardless of topic: people united by vulnerability, who want their voices heard
• It’s powerful when people understand each other’s perspectives, then work together for positive change
• The board game, with its carefully researched scenarios, is used in even the most sensitive subject areas
• People welcome the opportunity to speak about their experiences, including difficult/taboo subjects
• Anna carefully records the words and the mood – no cartoons or caricatures
• Key messages are themed to give meaning, not distort the story
• Lemon lightbulbs - the impact of inappropriate language!
• It's hard to navigate systems – by looking across organisations, gaps are revealed; then people collaborate to join things up
• QI ideas are more likely to be embraced when they come from the team rather than imposed from on high
• Share snippets of the graphic records on social media!
• Whose Shoes brings out the things people want to say in a safe and anonymized way
• Unexpected outcomes – a woman in early labour used the graphic record as pain relief!
• People unite behind the key messages – it's no longer about what you think / I think, but what WE said
• “It would've taken 600+ meetings to get to the point we reached today!”
• Meetings are overrated! 😉

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I tweet as @WhoseShoes and @WildCardWS and am on Instagram as @WildCardWS.
Please recommend 'Wild Card - Whose Shoes' to others who enjoy hearing passionate people talk about their experiences of improving health care.

Chapters

1. Demelza - Making a difference in a children’s hospice. (00:00:00)

2. Celebrating 20 years of New Possibilities – how fantastic is that! (00:00:45)

3. Partners in crime – we have come along way together! Not knowing where the journey will take you. (00:02:08)

4. Reminiscing. When we first met. (00:04:50)

5. A powerful combination - Whose Shoes and graphic recording! Magic happens. (00:05:24)

6. Being heard. Having a voice. Validation. (00:06:46)

7. Creating the conditions for authentic conversations. (00:07:26)

8. So what is visual recording? What needs to change? Recording peoples voices. (00:08:50)

9. Authenticity. Starting with a blank canvas, not a predefined script. Letting the themes emerge. (00:10:20)

10. A barometer of the culture of an organisation. (00:13:09)

11. Goin* the extra mile. The people who are worried about doing well – tend to do very well indeed! (00:13:39)

12. Recording highly sensitive conversations (00:14:10)

13. Keeping the conversations going – being proud of the record and displaying it with pride (00:14:20)

14. Breaking down silos - starting and maintaining the conversations that need to happen (00:15:00)

15. The breadth of subjects that we talk about (00:16:03)

16. United by vulnerability – and the desire to help others avoid similar negative experiences in the future (00:16:24)

17. Just wanting to be listened to. A universal desire. (00:16:56)

18. Understanding different perspectives. Working together to come up with solutions. (00:18:50)

19. People use Whose Shoes in different ways (00:20:55)

20. A small, but very powerful event - talking with parents who have experienced with trimester loss (00:21:34)

21. Ensuring that the graphic record is authentic and truly reflects the conversation without trivialising it or sanitising it (00:22:10)

22. Capturing the mood and the emotions, things that are publicly unsaid as well as said (00:23:55)

23. Power and responsibility (00:24:33)

24. The power of language - and indeed ‘ the system. The lasting impact. (00:25:54)

25. Lemon lightbulb moments – changing people’s practice forever! (00:27:54)

26. Whose Shoes pledges - making a difference (00:28:15)

27. Team challenges – working together for positive change (00:29:04)

28. #FabObs Flo was inspired to write a poem – ‘Reassured’ (00:29:26)

29. Sharing the learning via social media (00:31:12)

30. The non- human actor. Whose Shoes scenarios are all crowdsourced from real peoples perspectives – and bring that voice into the room (00:32:27)

31. Taking coproduction to a different level (00:33:31)

32. The challenge presented by Virtual Whose Shoes (00:34:09)

33. Comparing our ‘in the room’ and virtual offers (00:35:15)

34. So what have been the highlights? (00:36:45)

35. Demelza- Making a difference in a children’s hospice. Creating a safe relaxed environment. (00:37:00)

36. Incredible skill! – Reporting back to live the key themes of what has been heard (00:38:56)

37. Being open to change – potentially opening a can of worms, listen to what people really want to say to you (00:41:00)

38. Graphic recording – extra pain relief during labour, reaching the parts that conventional analgesics don’t reach (00:41:18)

39. Liverpool – our collaboration led to a new neonatal unit! The power of coproduction! (00:42:18)

40. Young parents in Birmingham! It would have taken us 600 meetings to achieve the same result! (00:44:27)

41. And the future looks rosy! Sowing seeds for podcast number two! (00:46:13)