We consultants are often challenged to communicate complicated, abstract, problem-solving ideas to our clients. Sometimes the best way to do that is through pictures. The problem is many of us feel artistically challenged, not confident in our drawing ability.
That’s where Dan Roam’s book, The Back of the Napkin: Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures (AMAZON), comes to the rescue. This isn’t a book about how to draw or doodle. Instead, it’s about seeing, imagining, and then showing using simple visuals that you can, literally, draw on a napkin.
The book is organized into four parts. Part 1 is about solving problems with pictures and the four steps of visual thinking. Part 2 is about the tools and rules for good visual thinking. Part 3 is an extensive discussion and illustration of solving six common problems (who/what, how much, where, when, how, and why). Part 4 is devoted to selling ideas using visual thinking and simple graphics. And there are two interesting appendices—the first covers some science behind visual thinking, and the other outlines resources.
I liked Roam’s disciplined approach, breaking down the topic and outlining the building blocks. I especially liked his six ways that we see and his 6 by 6 rule: “for every one of the six ways of seeing, there is one corresponding way of showing. For each of the six ways of showing, there is a single visual framework that serves as a starting point.”
My takeaway from The Back of the Napkin is that visual communication’s power stems from the quality of the thinking you put into the picture rather than its artistic quality. Figure out what you want to say and then get drawing!