Principle 8: Communicate creatively to inspire action
Build a shared vision & inspire action by communicating simply, creatively & with empathy.
“Design envisions the future by taking a felt need or problem or what is a vague and often abstract idea and making it tangible — making it exist in the world so that various stakeholders in the idea can imagine together, socially and interactively, what “it” might be like” — Sharon Poggenpohl
Building a shared vision is important when trying to change and improve a system. This principle was introduced to emphasise the importance of communicating creatively and effectively across disciplines, structures and roles within the HE system and using this to inspire action.
In principle 6, we sought to ‘build to think and learn by doing’. Similarly, with principle 8, we are essentially ‘building to see’ as we provide a glimpse into what does not yet exist. Placing the concept visually into the current context helps our audience imagine what it might look like, how it might work and how it might solve their problem.
By communicating our concept in a visual manner, it provides a direct way of delivering our ideas to our stakeholders. In a visual form, the concept is often more engaging and memorable for the stakeholder. When we communicate to inspire action, it is important to convey an empathetic message that your stakeholders can relate to. Communicating creatively through means of experimentation, cultural probes and visuals can assist in doing this. When a stakeholder relates to the message you are conveying and the problem you are trying to solve, they may be more inclined to be prompted into action. Stories are often used as a powerful means to evoke an empathetic reaction. As humans, we often assemble bits and pieces of an experience into a story. Storytelling can be used to engage and build an empathetic relationship with other stakeholder within the Higher Education system.
As Mi:Lab prepare for our upcoming Mi:Voice Summer School, it was crucial to communicate the concept creatively through a medium and manner that resonated with those it sought to reach — the students of Maynooth University. The bold, punchy and short message conveyed in the video above seeks to inspire action among students of Maynooth University. The video also served not only as a means of recruitment, but to propagate the purpose of Mi:Voice summer school. We wanted a video that felt different than other forms of student engagement on campus and that communicated a message of proactivity, showing the Mi:Voice is a group that values students and their experience. Shared on various digital platforms, the video reached students on platforms where they typically engage with one another online. This online engagement enabled the vision and actionable mission of the Mi:Voice Summer School to be shared with the student community in a creative yet simple manner.
Mi:Lab have compiled a number of that may assist in communicating creatively to inspire action:
