our story

How it started

Let me share a story that a friend told me.  His first job after grad school was for a company that had never used market research before. His first six months were a flurry of segmentations, ethnographies, multivariate modelling and behavioral profiling. He created just what they needed.  But was thoroughly discouraged to find no one using his recommendations.

He sat down with the CEO to find out why.  Here’s what he heard: “I’m sure it’s all great work. I just don’t know what to do with it. You need to start presenting with a big, blue crayon.” The CEO told him how his daughter draws simple pictures. They’re maybe not fine art, but he always recognized the house, tree and sun that she draws.

This was a lightbulb moment for him, and it was for us when we heard it.  His CEO was saying that he was communicating in the wrong language.  The Researcher language is complex and proprietary.  Decider language is simple and swift.  From that point forward, he started translating his work from Researcher to Decider.  He started using a Big Blue Crayon.

How it developed

For the next 30 years, we’ve been fine tuning the technique. And we learned that one of the most powerful things about Big Blue Crayon is that it’s simple.  It’s easy to learn.  The impact comes from making it second nature. 

As our careers progressed to become Insights VPs at Fortune 500 companies, we’ve learned to influence C-Suite decision making across all sorts of leadership styles and business scenarios. Along the way, word got out about the power of Big Blue Crayon. Teams across our organizations asked to be trained. We’ve sharpened skills for Insights, Research, Finance, Human Resources, Operations, and many other groups.  Anyone who needs to use information to influence decisions can use Big Blue Crayon to be more successful.