Visual thinking podcast

Tony Karrer is the CEO of TechEmpower, an E-Learning development company, and author of the E-Learning Technology blog.

Last Friday Tony expressed some skepticism about the role of visual thinking in e-learning on his blog, which started an interesting discussion. A bunch of people weighed in on visual thinking's benefits, including me.

I love the way Tony expressed his thoughts on his blog. He laid out his thoughts and asked the community to respond. Too many people, in a desire to be polite or not make waves, hold back their thoughts. I think that's a mistake. If you keep your concerns to yourself you don't give people a chance to help you understand -- in effect you close yourself off to learning.

By revealing his concerns Tony demonstrated that he is a true learner and opened a tremendously valuable conversation.

Next week Tony and I will enter into a podcast conversation about e-learning and visual thinking. I am really looking forward to speaking with Tony and hope you will listen in to this live podcast.

We'll be talking next Thursday, December 20, from 11am to noon EST. You can register for the podcast here.

Meanwhile, Tony and I are collecting any questions you have or ideas you'd like to see us cover in our conversation. So... are you skeptical about the power of visual thinking? Do you have questions about how it works, why it works, whether it works?

Or maybe you have friends or co-workers who have asked you questions about visual thinking that you found it difficult to answer.

Please share your thoughts and questions here, and I will try to work them into the conversation. I hope you will join us!

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Affinity mapping

Affinity mapping, originally uploaded by dgray_xplane.

Affinity mapping is a way to sort large amounts of data into logical groups. Existing items and/or new items identified by individuals are written on sticky notes which are sorted into categories as a workshop activity. It's a great way to get the power of a group working for you to organize information and ideas.

Read more here.

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What do you want?

What do you want?, originally uploaded by dgray_xplane.

I love to ask the question "what do you want?" The photos above are from a session I facilitated at The Overlap. But I do this all the time. Here's a list of things people say they want:

Cohesion of ideas
To learn to connect ideas and show (linkages) relationships between concepts using visual language
To see a new idea take shape
To understand whether tablet PCs are a good investment for visual thinking
Better PowerPoint presentations
Scalable visual thinking
Pattern from complexity
Find what's missing
Get to WOW without sacrificing substance
Health
Structure
Money
Ice cream
More revenue
VizLearning
Experiences
Better communication
Inspiration
Community
Interaction
Connections
New ways to guide groups for problem-solving exercises
Continuous training in XPLANE style
Better sharing
Better organization
Ability to get to "I get it" faster!
To see how others think and communicate their thoughts
A more fun way to present ideas
Better communication with clients
A separation!
To see Dave Gray again
To meet like-minded people
To communicate clearly
To meet interesting people
The world to adopt a visual-based language
To learn about visual thinking
To get the stuff in my head out!
Node: Image + word + links
Pepsi
Insight
Illumination
Idea generation
To be creative
Learn quick, powerful icons
To explain things better
Something! NEW
Learn more about your process for developing the metaphor
To communicate to others better
To think more clearly
To be able to simplify complex processes and show that improvement
New ideas for infographics
Constructive thinking
To be able to better communicate complex ideas
New ideas
To make complex ideas digestible
To exercise my pen
To experience understanding aha!
To learn to express complex processes visually
Depth
Impact, translation, clarity through visuals
To give more but show less
Knowledge
Tips for drawing fast
Focus
To be able to achieve better, faster clarity
To communicate with others faster
Clarity
Insight
Instant impact
Clarity
To separate ideas better
Simplicity
To explain things faster
To create real time sketches
Learn process of production
Drawing emotions fast
Visualize abstract concepts
Clarity of thought
Insight
Wisdom
Knowledge
Draw to understand
Clearer thinking
To become proficient in non-linear thinking!
New perspective
To learn shapes, so I don't have to learn how to draw
Learn types of visual frameworks
To visually depict complex concepts
Mapping points of view
Visual techniques for describing things
Quick icons
To learn new techniques and tools to think visually
To improve my sense of visual design
To develop my creative visual thinking skills
To learn more about representing things visually
To understand how visual thinking works in the brain (or any other body part)
To utilize visual thinking in daily life
Drawing "tricks" (tips for visual thinking)
Tips for drawing faces
Skillz
To be better at visualizing concepts
To improve my sketchy drawing skills
Technique, skillz
To learn to draw
Mad skills
Remember who we are
Identity
Clear core values
More people like the good ones I work with
To lead, to do, not talk about it
To be recognized
Close the loop between ideas and work
To explore ecology
Do people lead or follow in creativity?
To laugh
Why business is only now recognizing many communications values
Options scare me sometimes
New paths
Go analog!
To understand what is emerging
To have faith
Not design thinking
Fresh air
Share unselfishly
Dream while awake
Turbulence
Theory
Teach myself
Us to break shit
Meet new people
Breath
To be provocative
To experience collaboration of this kind
Remember my childhood
New ideas
Fire and beer
Cozy
Overlap to be characterized by love
Frickin' sharks with laser beams
It to be terrifying
All of us to bring our authentic selves
Post-mortem of conference to share with everyone
To map ideas
To leave with ideas that are tangible not indulgent

What do you want?

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What do you love?

What do you love?, originally uploaded by dgray_xplane.

I love to ask the question "what do you love?" The photos above are from a session I facilitated at The Overlap. But I do this all the time. Here's a list of things people say they love:

Laughing
Internet
Jim Woodring
Gutsy weird people
Elvis
Money
Starting companies
Networking
Ping Pong
Gardening
Laughing till I cry
Pirates
Humor
Zings!
Children laughing
Drawing challenging or cool stuff
Bright colors
Free post-its
Design
Contemporary marbles
Cool shoes
Paper
Old comics
Coming up with wild ideas for comics
Information design
Optigan keyboard
Art
Handmade album covers
Shoes and handbags
Woodworking
Magic erasers
Energy
Dancing
Couches
Calvin and Hobbes
Drawing comics
Music
Dance
Ted's super skull drawing
Cottage interiors
Martha Stewart Living
Comics
Whole Foods
High-concept mix CDs
Creativity
Drawing
Design
Writing
Furniture
Chaos and change
Cooking
Our house
Chocolate
Wine and cheese
Italian food
French fries
Trailer trash dinners
Nachos
Breakfast on the front porch with the New York Times (waffles)
Rafennelli Zin
Cake
Cheese
Coffee! Mostly Latte's
Learning about cooking
Sailing
Lunch
Food and drink
Iced tea
Snow skiing
Live music
Comics
Interweb
Jack and Rexella Van Impe
Sales
Marker fumes
Toronto
That there may be waffles
That a company like this [XPLANE] exists
Refining concepts without "talking" them through
Dave Gray
Breaking out of linear thought
The open door policy
Ideas and burrito boyz
Burritos
Getting outside
Pepsi
Ryan Coleman
Comfy seats
Insight
Iconography
That you're here
Sunshine
Growing things
Cycling
How engaging visual information is
Pen and paper
Flowers
Visual thinking
Drawing
Love
Sketching
Photography
Smiling
Clarity
Emphasize important concepts
Learning from others
Learning about new ways to incorporate art with business
The power of visual language... tell me more!
See concepts from a distance
Flexible, "unplanned" agenda
Simplicity
Clarity
Accuracy
Easier to understand
Easy communication
Conversation
Communicating
Writing
Add depth and insight
Learning
Sharing my own experiences
The collective desire to learn
Having fun
Engaging, interesting presentations
The peanut gallery
The community
Community
Novelty
Connections
Socializing
Collaboration
Meeting different people
Sense of community
Brainstorming, exploration
That I don't get to do this 9-5 pm
Sharing of tools, concepts
Knowledge sharing
The physical environment, location
The beer and conversation that follows
Kewl doods
People looking for a different way to do stuff
Expressing complex ideas
Experiencing a creative process
The community "vibe"
Getting inspired
Identity
Sharing of ideas
The people
Not having a clue why people are here and what they bring to the table!
Community
Pretty pictures
Simplifying complexity
Simplicity
Simplicity
Information design
People
Customers, friends
Relationships
Passion, vision, fire
Cool people doing cool stuff
Clarity
Not thinking
The scientist diagram intro game
Communication without language barriers
Cool ideas coming together
The prospect of helping clients "get it" quickly
Risk
Learning
Participating
Juxtaposing ideas
Learning
Effectiveness
Being inspired
Process
New paradigms
Changing the way people think
Changing the way I see things
Making an impact
To draw more better
Pictures
Being exposed to new ideas
Learning new ways to do things
The ideas
The learning experience
Innovation
Organizing my projects visually
To combine words and images
To collaborate
Wrestling with what's not quite known
The way my name tag moves up and down
Mess
My tribe
To observe how people exceed their own expectations when participating in a good conversation
ASILOMAR
The diversity that exists at the borders
Freedom to rethink conventions
Consistent inconsistency
On Monday I get to return to changing the world
Post-its
I do not love the name "The Overlap." I do love the ideas it seeks to find a name -- and a habitation delightful -- for.
Opportunity
Cold? Beer Wine? Use the garbage can in your room + ice machine
Opportunity to explore the future
Getting people drawing
Opportunity
Open source thinking
Getting away from a chilly San Francisco "summertime."
Sharing and learning from others
Community
Cross-pollination
[Infinity symbol]
[Torch symbol]
Smart people acting silly
A messy desk
Community
Toggling between abstract frameworks and concrete solutions
Personal growth
Clarity through language

What do you love?

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More VizThink ideas

I have added some more session ideas for my workshops at VizThink.

If you have time I would appreciate it if you would take a look and let me know your thoughts. New ideas are at the top of the post.

Thanks!

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Two versions of Google's master plan

Click the image to see the plan.

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Back in Helsinki

I'll be back in Helsinki this week, leaving Thursday morning. Please send me an email at dave dot gray at gmail dot com if you want to connect.

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Mapping the future of conferences

Eileen Clegg of Visual Insight has posted an interesting map of the future of conferences. It's not just the map that's interesting, but you can also click on various parts of the image and listen to the dialogue that the image summarizes.

I think there's a lot of potential -- combining visuals with dialogue has always been a challenge online, and this map is a great prototype of what's possible.

I also think there are some great ideas here that we should be applying to VizThink 08.

Take a look.

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Coding and decoding

Coding and decoding, originally uploaded by dgray_xplane.

We code and decode information all the time -- it's part of the process of living.

Coding -- or encoding -- is the process of making a concept or idea understandable to others. It could be an email, a scrawl, a napkin sketch or a sign.

Decoding is the process of interpreting information that was coded by someone else. How many things do you think you encode or decode in a given day? How well do you code information?

Can you interpret all the codes you see above? If you can you might want to take a try at the codes in this Flickr photo set.

1. go, 2. Left, 3. CAUTION, 4. Walk, 5. Sign, 6. Crosswalk, 7. Danger, 8. Lock -->, 9. Visual language, 10. Pringles in Abu Dhabi, 11. Green light, 12. Arrow

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Picturing the VizThink community

VizThink Community, originally uploaded by dgray_xplane.

Tom Crawford of VizThink started a conversation by asking people to visualize the visual thinking community. There's an interesting thread of comments here and some images here.

Some of the commenters said that it's a mistake to try to segment the community. I don't know if I agree but I do think it's difficult. In my opinion visual thinking is like a lens -- it can be applied to anything.

So here's my attempt to picture the community -- it's a small sample of the visual thinkers I have met and connected with in recent months. Do you see yourself?

Links to the photos:

1. Overlap 07, 2. Overlap 07, 3. Overlap, 4. Gabe, 5. VTS, 6. VTS, 7. VTS, 8. VTS, 9. VTS, 10. VTS, 11. VTS, 12. Jeff Wilson, 13. Bill Keaggy sketching, 14. Susie Robison, 15. Drew Crowley, 16. Nick Main, 17. Overlap 07, 18. James Macanufo, 19. Overlap 07, 20. Overlap 07, 21. Overlap 07, 22. Overlap 07, 23. Overlap 07, 24. Overlap 07, 25. Overlap 07, 26. Overlap 07, 27. Overlap 07, 28. Overlap 07, 29. Overlap 07, 30. Overlap 07, 31. Overlap 07, 32. Overlap 07, 33. Overlap 07, 34. Overlap 07, 35. Overlap 07, 36. Overlap 07

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Visual thinking practice: How to draw a stick dog

stickdog, originally uploaded by dgray_xplane.

One of my most popular posts, according to Google, is one I wrote some time ago about how to draw a stick figure. Recently a reader named Jade posted this comment:

"I've got the person thing going, but how would you do a dog...?"

I drew this at InkGram, a very interesting new tool by Loren Heiny. It's very new, in beta and it's still a little buggy, but very cool. And unfortunately it doesn't work in Firefox.

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My sessions at VizThink: What do YOU think?

I'll be giving a workshop at VizThink, and also a special pre-session (limited to 50 people) on the Sunday before the event. I would love to get your input about what I should cover. Here are some of my starting thoughts:

Who are we? Understanding the VizThink Community. A special workshop where several facilitators work with the group to define the community. What is the change we want to make in the world?

Visual Thinking toolkit. A tour of the visual thinking toolbox used by XPLANE consultants and designers. Part facilitation techniques, part drawing, all fun. Includes ways to engage groups and get them thinking visually, plus drawing and design tips.

Envision your Vision. Every large organization these days has a "vision statement" -- IT'S A VISION PEOPLE! In this hands-on workshop you'll learn how to develop a vision for your company, department or group -- and learn how to do it the right way: visually.

The Elements of PowerPoint Style. Take your PowerPoint to the next level. Tools, tips and tricks to make your PowerPoint clear, cool and compelling.

Goals and metrics. How to set simple but clear goals and metrics for your communication, so you can know when it's working and when it's not.

From "boxes and lines" to rich pictures. How to represent abstract ideas and concepts visually.

Visual thinking practice. Practice and coaching drawing and visualizing your ideas. Practice presenting your ideas to others.

Visual thinking tools. What are the best tools for visual thinking? Analog tools like sticky notes, software and online tools for organizing ideas, technology like digital cameras. What are some of the best ways to use the tools as part of a systematic approach to visual thinking?

PowerPoint makeovers. Bring a presentation that you want to improve. We'll break out into small groups, and each group will take a presentation, break it down into its components, and re-create the story to make it more clear, visual and compelling.

Selling visual thinking. How to explain visual thinking to "non-believers." Why they should care. Why it's important. What it can do for them. What to call it.

Engaging your organization. Getting people in your company to think and deliver ideas and content more visually. How to build alignment with brand teams on some of the unique requirements of information visualization.

Changing the world. A group session on the visual thinking community, who it is, what we can do together.

Personal action plan. How to incorporate visual thinking into your life as a daily/weekly habit. Things you can do on an ongoing basis to hone your visual thinking skills.

I want your thoughts, whether or not you plan to attend VizThink or the special pre-session.

These are just starting points. I want your feedback and ideas.

Please leave a comment and tell me what you'd like to see in visual thinking training. In your comment it would help me if you'd say whether or not you plan to attend the events.

Thanks!

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What can visual thinking do for you?

What's the value of visual thinking? Who should go to VizThink? I speak with Rodolfo Carpintier of Baquia TV about the importance of visual thinking for strategy, clarity, and organizational alignment.

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What is VizThink?

What is visual thinking? Why should you care? Rodolfo Carpintier of Baquia TV interviews me about the visual thinking revolution and the upcoming VizThink conference.

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How to draw -- Comic strip artists' kit

I found this over at the Seven Camels blog -- it's a great 7-page quick-course in drawing comics by Disney artist and animator Carson Van Osten.

He drew these sketches in 1975 for a presentation to his boss, and they went over so well they printed 2,000 copies and sent them to all the Disney offices.

It's a clear, concise set of tips and tricks for making great comic panels and stories.

If you dare to draw, you could apply a lot of these ideas to help make your PowerPoint presentations more compelling.

Worth a look.

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