The Learning Map Approach

Berrett–Koehler Publishers Fast Fundamentals The BK Whitepaper Series The Learning Map Approach James Haudan and Christy Contardi Stone Excerpted from The Change Handbook (2nd edition) 64 james haudan and christy contardi stone The Learning Map Approach If a picture is worth a thousand words, a metaphor is worth a thousand pictures. —Author Unknown PepsiCo and the Revolution on Beverage Street Imagine you are a route driver for PepsiCo’s North American team. The company employs approximately 35,000 people, the vast majority of whom are route drivers—just like you. Everyone in your region receives an invitation to the annual company-sponsored town hall meeting. What runs through your head? You probably think, “Why is management doing this? It is a waste of time. I have work to do. Can’t I just do my job?” The day arrives and you enter a room set in round tables to accommodate the hundreds of people in your area. For years, you normally sat with a group of your buddies at the back of the room. Not today. You are directed to a table with a mix of eight to ten people from different roles and levels of the organization. “This ought to be interesting,” you think to yourself. A poster the size of the table is flipped over. It has bright-colored data, charts, figures, and pictures. The interesting thing is that this poster brings to life a story centered around the theme of “A Revolution on Beverage Street.” You learn that for the next few hours all of the groups will be using the large posters—called Learning Map® visuals—discussion questions, and some exercises to share observations and learn together. You discover that the market for carbonated soft drinks is not growing, and you examine trends about pricing pressure, soda consumption by age group, and the growth of other drink options such as water, tea, and private-label products. The figures that catch your attention are those about the decline in soda consumption as people get older. When you look at the forecast for this trend, it doesn’t look good for your core four products—Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, Slice, and Mountain Dew. When your group examines the informational 2 supportive methods graphic showing growth in water, tea, sports drinks, and fancy new-age beverages, one of the other drivers at the table comments, “The company needs to add new products if we want to continue to be successful.” You find yourself