Founder of XPLANE, investor and adviser to multiple startups. I work with executives to turn complex ideas, information and challenges into visual maps and selling stories.
Dave is one of the most honest and genuine business people I've worked with. He is an expert in his field and works hard to deliver a high quality product. He's an innovator and creative thinker with a unique understanding of how to explain incredibly complex processes in a visual format.
Dave is an inspiration. Thanks!
Dave is the best gardener I've ever hired. In the slowest manner possible, he plans out years in advance the kind of foliage that produces great beauty. Unlike other gardeners, Dave doesn't just throw mulch in the rain. He tends to the leaves like a vintner to his grapes. He pays attention to the finest detail and always, always makes sure to capture the flowers on film. I love Dave - he is the most magnificent gardener in all the land.
Dave and I worked on an eLearning project for a major telecommunications company. He and his team used their unique approach of visual knowledge through the use of creating visuals (in this case, interesting artist renditions of people) - it was a pleasure to work with him.
I have had the good fortune to both work with Dave, and spend time with him outside of the business world. Dave and his company Xplane are wonderful thinkers, illustrators and designers and I would recommend him and/or his company with out any hesitation. On a personal level Dave has the ability to really make you think. His passion for simplicity and clarity is astounding, and he really is one of the most interesting people I have had the good fortune of knowing.
Dave is a thought (and action) leader in the field of business design and visual thinking. He is reshaping how businesses define themselves, their services, relationships with customers, and interactions with the world through design. He is intensely curious, generous in his knowledge sharing, humble and focused on solution finding. Dave is always searching and as a result leading. I would follow Dave any day. I highly recommend all of Dave's books, from Marks and Meaning, to Gamestorming, to the most recent, The Connected Company and take every possible chance to work with him, or the teams he has inspired.
Developing breakthrough thinking around strategy and markets, Dave Gray is this generation's Michael Porter. His unique ability to apply creativity matched with crystal clear clarity around complex issues puts him in a category of his own. Dave is an innovator who excels in formulating accessible ideas to explain and improve the most vexing organizational behaviors and vulnerable business models. It has been a pleasure and an honor to work with him. Despite his brilliance, he's a genuinely nice guy who makes everyone feel comfortable in his presence. If you get the chance to work with Dave, hear him speak, or collaborate with him on-line, jump at it. He will invariably improve your understanding and make you feel smarter at the same time.
Dave is a thinker, instigator, and intellectual provocateur. His writing and speaking change the way people think about their organizations, connections, and expectations for the world around them. Working with Dave has increased the flexibility of my thought process. His humility and affability make him a wonderful person to work with. In any room, clients and colleagues naturally gravitate towards Dave and he never fails to impress.
Wikipedia states that an innovator in a general sense, is a person or an organization who is one of the first to introduce into reality something better than before. Dave Gray is not only an innovator, but a visionary and a pioneer. Long before design thinking and visual thinking became vogue, Dave's passion and drive built a business that delivered unique value and results to companies using creative and innovative methods.
Simply put, Dave's passion for effective communications and vision on how to bring this approach to life, has built a practice area that made the business world better than before.
Got confusion? Dave Gray and XPLANE is on the forefront of today's graphic communications industry. For Dave, it's all about cutting through the muck and confusion of today's corporate messages. Dave is a pioneer in this field, one he championed with XPLANE long before he had the accolades he receives today. Dave is smart, direct and has the incredible ability to distill anything into basic parts. With clarity comes understanding and with understanding comes "buy-in." It doesn't matter if you have consumers who don't get it or employees or other businesses, XPLANE makes it clear. XPLANE is Dave Gray. He founded something unique, and businesses who partner with XPLANE are the better for it.
If you're trying to communicate complex products/services or sophisticated business ideas, Dave and xPlane can be strong simplifiers. When working with him to communicate complex topics/solutions in the governance, risk and compliance market, his firm was instrumental in simplifying and effectively communicating our vision. The results were better participant understanding, broadened market coverage and more business.
