Squirrel Spotting: Whiteboarding—A Love Affair
Peter Smith shares how a whiteboard can transform a team.
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I’m not embarrassed to say that working remotely during COVID made life just a little less interesting, absent the entire wall of whiteboards that graced my office.
I meet fellow whiteboarding addicts from time to time and the discovery that there are more of us out there usually elicits knowing smiles and a mutual desire to investigate what about whiteboarding each of us finds most interesting.
At its core, whiteboarding can be a microcosm of who we are as leaders, managers, and influencers.
The benefits of comprehensive and inclusive whiteboarding touches on many of the central elements of business, and the effects of a great whiteboarding session can be transformative.
For starters, whiteboard sessions underscore two of my favorite mantras: “control the controllable” and “focus on the big rocks.”
Even the biggest whiteboard offers finite space, so the exercise demands a hierarchy of priorities. It mandates that we start with the “big rocks,” before descending through the less obvious, but occasionally informative, data points.
A second aspect of whiteboarding is the opportunity to lay out the facts in a very visual way.
To quote late U.S. Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, “Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts.”
Having the facts and data on the whiteboard provides both a hierarchy of importance and, one of the best deliverables of whiteboarding, an opportunity to make visual connections in a way that is not always apparent when pouring through digital data.
In Dr. A. K. Pradeep’s book, “The Buying Brain, Secrets for Selling to the Subconscious Mind,” he wrote: “Your brain collects data from the visual cortex, processing what each of your eyes are seeing, turning that information into three-dimensional, stereoscopic imagery and simultaneously matching that with data streams flooding forth from the auditory, olfactory, and tactile centers.”
Whiteboarding, quite literally, engages a different area of our brains and facilitates a processing of both the data and the aesthetics in a neurologically different way.
Neuroscience research, in fact, has shown that visual processing accounts for 50 percent of what our brain does at any given moment.
Whiteboarding is also a great team-building exercise. Having the right people (three to four is probably best) involved in the process facilitates a level of cognitive, emotional, and physical activity not typically present in PowerPoint presentations or other less collaborative exercises.
The act of having different people physically approach the board, make notes and suggestions, point out data points and connections, and ask probing questions is a fabulous way to engage a small team.
One of my favorite questions to ask the team while whiteboarding is, “If a year from now, this hasn’t worked, why might that be?” Or, better yet, “Tell me why this won’t work.”
The end result will always be better for challenging assumptions, and healthy debate should be strongly encouraged.
In Ray Dalio’s “Principles,” he wrote, “Thoughtful disagreement is not a battle; its goal is not to convince the other party that he or she is wrong, and you are right, but to find out what is true and what to do about it.
“It must also be nonhierarchical, because in an idea meritocracy communication doesn’t just flow unquestioned from the top down. Criticisms must also come from the bottom up.”
Inviting devil’s advocacy shows respect for your team. It says that you are not looking to be the smartest guy in the room. It is also a good way to challenge inherent biases, especially from the most senior people.
In “The Wisest One in the Room,” authors Thomas Gilovich and Lee Ross wrote, “It continues to be a wise practice to assign someone the role of devil’s advocate, but it is not as widely used as it needs to be.”
A culture that demands devil’s advocacy is also a great way to avoid groupthink, a particularly insidious practice when otherwise smart people align with bad decision-making, with potentially terrible consequences.
In the coming weeks and months, I look forward to consulting with vendors and retailers. I’m also excited about doing some in-store sales training based on my last book, “The Sales Minute.”
I’m looking forward to the variety of projects that working with different companies can bring but, mostly, I can’t wait to meet your whiteboard.
The Latest
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Heidi Gardner, an SNL cast member, wore the smoky quartz earrings on the “SNL50: The Anniversary Special” red carpet on Sunday.
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The reversal comes less than two months after the Zambian government reinstated the tax in an effort to bring in more money.
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The organization also announced its newly elected officers and directors.
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This year will feature a new MJSA Showcase and partnership with Piazza Italia.
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As anticipated, Anglo took another impairment charge on the diamond miner and marketer, which saw revenue sink 23 percent in 2024.
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Ronald Winston is giving the 2.33-carat “Winston Red” to the Smithsonian, 67 years after his father donated the Hope Diamond.
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Kirit Bhansali, a partner in Smital Gems and chairman of India Jewellery Park, will take on the role of chairman.
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Colored stones are stepping into a jewelry spotlight typically reserved for diamonds—are you ready to sell color?
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Alisha Cornett, Nic Faini, Eric Stevens, and Seth Shipley have joined the organization’s board of directors for a three-year term.
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The company has to pay the Justice Department and FinCEN for violating the Bank Secrecy Act, the U.S.’s main anti-money laundering law.
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Petra Diamonds Ltd. CEO Richard Duffy resigned as the diamond miner reported a 30 percent drop in sales to start its fiscal year.
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The boutique is the French luxury brand’s first airport store on the West Coast.
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The store’s facade now features the iconic swan logo and campaign images of the “Wicked” star.
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Beginning in April, companies importing diamonds into the United States will have to list the country in which the diamonds were mined.
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Around 30 whimsical Fabergé animal carvings will go up for auction at Sotheby’s Geneva in May.
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Assimon will be leaving at the end of February after nearly five years with De Beers.
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Designs from the brand’s “Oera” collection have been reimagined with modern masculinity in mind.
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The wholesale collection features material from the Rock Creek mine in a variety of colors.
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The “Divinely Guided” collection, created in collaboration with Theresa Caputo, features symbols that celebrate the power of connection.
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Show some love on Valentine’s Day with this 14-karat yellow gold ring that features pavé diamonds.
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The employee confronted the thief, causing the suspect to flee and leave behind the suitcases full of jewelry.
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Namib Desert Diamonds also put its security manager on leave following last month’s robbery that left one employee dead.
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AGTA recently concluded its 2025 GemFair event in Tucson and is already gearing up for next year’s show, set for Feb. 2-6, 2026.
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More than 400 new pieces are featured in the supplier’s latest catalog.
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This curation celebrates love with heart-shaped jewelry of all shapes and sizes.
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The fund is collecting money for jewelry businesses damaged by the wildfires in Los Angeles County.
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From chunky bands to vintage diamond cuts and bezel settings, these are the trends experts are seeing take over the bridal market.