An art historian and lawyer who uses works of art to teach clients from the FBI to Interpol, from the FBI to doctors and financiers, ways to hone their perceptions and visual intelligence, Amy Herman offers a paradigm-shattering twist on problem-solving that can help us find solutions to the problems we face every day.
For two decades, Herman, has taught US Navy Seals, doctors, trauma nurses, FBI officers, CIA intelligence analysts, and the CEOs of Fortune 500 companies how to enhance their powers of observation and communication through study of art. Visual intelligence, she says, can crack a case, save a life, stave off conflict.
“Increasingly in our modern, perilous world,” Herman writes, “the issues that emerge are subtle, laced in subtext, or teeter on the tip of a slippery slope – all attributes that require a human touch to solve. As said humans, we must not only be able to address the problems that arise across all professions and walks of life, we must be able to solve them. Before they drown, damn, or destroy us.”
Herman, an art curator turned leadership consultant, suggests that art is the answer. She now travels the globe teaching problem-solving and conflict resolution through art. “Art," she says, "can help anyone anywhere fix things because it is a universal language. Two people from completely different backgrounds with opposing viewpoints on everything can stand in front of the same image and discuss what they see. Art provides a safe space outside of ourselves to analyze our observations and convert those observable details into actionable knowledge. Doing so can help us understand how and why things go wrong and, more important, how to fix them.”
In this Authors & Ideas event, Herman will share her lessons and ideas in an engaging, entertaining (and visual) way, helping us all walk away with better perceptual and problem-solving skills.