Seeing Better: The Case for Visual Thinking and Sketchnotes at Work

We are drowning in decks and in details, but what we truly crave for is clarity, connection, and understanding.

Lately, I have been in rooms full of smart people – 50+ senior executive directors from one of the largest consulting firms, 65+ strategy consultants from a mid-sized consulting firm, 180+ operational leaders from a global leader in technology consulting company. But, not for the usual leadership workshops, change consulting or strategy facilitation.

The common thread here? They all learned how to “see” better with the power of simple shapes – hand-drawn visual stories to clarify the big picture, see problems more clearly, collaborate with others through power of visual metaphors, and understand customer needs better.

What I have learned along these years applying visual thinking in business is this: Visual thinking and drawing connects people with ideas, but more importantly, it connects people with other people. It unlocks collaboration and elicits collective intelligence.

Drawing is how we ideate, innovate, collaborate, and learn. That’s how we make sense – together – of an ever-changing world.