The Tribe Report 9. The Collaboration Issue | Page 16

WARNACO
Pantone 300C

VISUALIZATION FOR COLLABORATION
Thinking Out of the Silo by Getting Outside the Linear Mind
BY ELIZABETH COGSWELL BASKIN
Although meeting face-to-face isn’t essential for
collaboration, sometimes that’s the best way to make
it happen. When Warnaco asked Tribe to help their
many apparel brands collaborate on a vision for a global
employee magazine, we were able to get communications
leaders to come from far and wide to spend a day in the
New York office.

down numbers in their mind’s eye, to help attendees
reach a meditative state.
Tribe then led them in a guided visualization exercise
based on Joseph Campbell’s “Hero’s Journey” in which a
hero named Warnaco sends his trusty falcon out across
the land to share news with all his many children—Olga,
Calvin, Speedo, Tommy and the rest.

Our goal for the session was to jolt them out of their
logical, linear thinking and shift their mindset to be more
creative, symbolic, flexible and open-ended. That started
even before the day began, with a homework assignment
sent out the afternoon before. Each attendee was asked
to bring in a food item that they felt represents Warnaco
and its wide range of brands, from Calvin Klein to Speedo
to Tommy Hilfiger to Olga.
One person, for instance, brought M&M’s, explaining
that the different colors represented the various brands
yet they’re all chocolate inside, symbolizing the innerWarnaco of each brand. The simple act of going around
the room to give everyone a chance to explain the
symbolism of their homework got people loosened up,
laughing and feeling more connected to each other. And
of course, feeling connected with the group helps people
feel more comfortable contributing ideas.
Then we asked them to take a chance on something a
little unusual. We suggested the attendees all close their
eyes, relax their bodies and breathe deeply, which is not
something most people are accustomed to doing in their
corporate conference rooms. We walked them through
the steps of a Westernized method of mediation, counting
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As we progressed through the visualization, we posed
occasional questions and asked attendees to scribble the
first answers that came to mind, trying to keep their eyes
closed, so they could remain in that meditative state.
The questions ranged from “What is it that makes the
children so excited about the falcon’s arrival?” to “What
sort of news are the children hoping the falcon will bring?”
Those answers led the group to clarity in terms of the
needs of the magazine’s audience and the role of the
magazine itself.
The day continued with more activities and exercises,
growing progressively less goofy and more strategic until
we had a fairly solid plan mapped out in terms of the
magazine’s content, visual feel, tone of voice and other
concrete details.
It’s certainly possible that one or two people could have
developed this plan without the entire group, but the
participation from each brand created a more meaning