Vision Board: a powerful tool… far beyond positive thinking
Collage activities are experiencing a real surge in popularity.
In the past month alone, I have been mandated for close to ten individual and group interventions.
This renewed interest doesn’t surprise me. I’ve been practicing this type of intervention for over twenty years, and I’ve consistently seen how appreciated it is in organizational settings—by both women and men alike.
Why?
Because it feels good. A genuine, immediate sense of well-being… and one that is surprisingly structuring.
Collage activities—also known as vision boards—are often associated with visualization, positive thinking, or New Year rituals.
And yet… their impact is far deeper, more strategic, and more measurable than we tend to imagine.
When used with intention, collage becomes a true tool for awareness, alignment, and transformation—both individually and collectively. As if by magic, creators discover that what they have placed on their board takes shape, becoming tangible in their lived reality.
What collage truly activates (and what we often underestimate)
1. It bypasses the rational mind
Collage doesn’t begin with logical thinking, but with intuitive choice.
Images, words, and textures attract attention before the brain has even formulated a clear intention.
The result:
We access desires, needs, or tensions that have not yet been verbalized—often buried beneath rational narratives or social expectations.
2. It highlights inconsistencies… without confrontation
Unlike a questionnaire or a direct conversation, collage reveals without judging.
What we think we want vs. what we actually place on our board.
This gap becomes a point of awareness rather than a problem to fix.
In coaching or organizational contexts, this is a powerful lever to open dialogue without resistance.
3. It creates lasting emotional anchoring
A striking image acts as an internal reference point.
We remember it. We still feel it. It resurfaces spontaneously, imposes itself on the mind, and can then transform into a clear objective. With it, momentum returns—along with a very real sense of hope that it can be brought to life.
Decisions, behaviors, and priorities begin to adjust naturally, without forced effort.
Individual collage: clarifying, realigning, choosing
In an individual context, collage helps to:
Clarify what truly matters (beyond roles and obligations)
Put words and images to vague or undefined areas
Identify genuine sources of motivation
Reclaim power over one’s choices
Very often, the solutions are already present on the collage—sometimes at the edges or quietly in the background.
Group collage in organizations: a collective mirror
When done as a team or at the group level, collage becomes a surprisingly strategic tool.
It allows organizations to:
Let a shared vision emerge without forcing it
Reveal values that are truly shared (and those that are not)
Identify gaps between organizational discourse and lived experience
Create a common, accessible, and human language
Collage turns abstract concepts—vision, culture, engagement—into something visible and tangible.
Why does it work so well in professional environments?
Because collage:
Engages all forms of intelligence (emotional, intuitive, cognitive)
Places everyone on equal footing
Defuses power dynamics and posturing
Encourages psychological safety and authenticity
And above all…
Because it speaks to the “we” just as much as to the “I.”
In conclusion
Collage is not a naïve or purely symbolic exercise.
It is a reading tool, an awareness accelerator, and a trigger for coherence.
When we take the time to truly look at what we have placed on our boards—individually or collectively—we often understand why certain decisions feel difficult, why certain resistances persist, and where the real momentum lies.
Sometimes, all it takes is to look differently…
At what we already know— or not, without yet having admitted it to ourselves.
Mylène Grégoire, M.Sc., BPsy, CRHA, PCC, FQM, is President, Coach, Mentor, and Polarity Practitioner at Mymosa &CO Conseil Inc. She is also the author of four books, including three bestsellers, a keynote speaker, and the founder of two online training programs: Brillez au boulot (approved by the Ordre des CRHA) and From Gut to Success.
mymosa.co