Sketchnotes, Skill Stacking, and Playing to Potential: A Conversation

We often think of potential as a distant, fixed point. A finish line to be crossed.

But in reality, living our potential is less about the final destination and more about how we express ourselves fully and authentically through what we do.

For me, exploring our potential means following our curiosity in multiple areas, and combining our skills in diverse areas to create something unique and meaningful in a way that no one else quite does.

My Story

I always loved writing, even when I was employed in my first job as a software engineer. A few years into my career, in 2001, I was laid off as an aftershock of 9/11 attacks in the US.

During my job search period, I took a blank piece of paper and wrote all the skills I possessed (though they were very few). I then circled a few that I really loved – which included technology and writing.

Just as I encircled the domains, I could see the two circles intersecting into something that combines both these areas – technical writing. Over next few weeks, I understood the domain of technical writing and applied for a job.

That brief stint in technical writing became my gateway to the corporate journey of 25+ years.

Two semingly diverse skills, when combined can open doors to new possibilities. This has been a repeated theme across my career.

I started using twitter in 2008 and combined my love for short form expression with my domain knowledge in Corporate Quality. That’s how my first book #QUALITYtweet was born.

When I blended my love for helping customers with my understanding of operational excellence, I got into consultative selling – an experience that shaped a great deal of my career.

In 2015, when I first stumbled into sketchnoting, I wasn’t aiming to be an artist. My drawings were simple, but rich in ideas. I shared the first few on Twitter and received lot of encouragement. I could see a blending of my leadership experience with sketchnotes. I decided to create sketchnotes on leadership, learning, and change.

This turned my skill into a tool to advance ideas.

Today, my solo business runs on ALL the skills I gathered in past 25 years – from technology to consulting, from writing to sketchnoting, from leadership to learning.

For you, these skills and intersections can be something else. But the principle is the same:

Your potential expands every time you stack skills and express them in your own unique way.

Companies have technology stack, and humans have skill stack.

When we stack new skills on top of existing skills, new intersections become visible. New possibilities emerge.

Possibilities that enables us to move along a non-linear path. Possibilities that become vehicles of our truest and most authentic expression.

That is what differentiates us from the others.

Skill Stacking

In a 2007 blog post, Scott Adams (creator of Dilbert comics) writes,

But if you want something extraordinary, you have two paths:

1. Become the best at one specific thing.

2. Become very good (top 25%) at two or more things.

He further adds,

Capitalism rewards things that are both rare and valuable. You make yourself rare by combining two or more “pretty goods” until no one else has your mix.

In today’s disruptive world, thriving is more about shaping your playground rather than mastering the solo sport.

Combining our unique skills can be a great way to do it.

A Conversation on Sketchnoting, Potential and Skill Stacking

In 2024, I illustrated Deepak Jayaraman’s national bestselling book “Play to Potential”. Illustrating the book and engaging with Deepak’s award-winning podcast have played an important role in how I navigated my recent transitions.

So I was thrilled when Deepak invited me for a conversation. In this short video, I share insights on:

• How I got into sketchnoting (and how it scaled)
• Skill stacking and how it enabled me to go solo.
• My thinking behind some of the visual notes, which add a layer of meaning to the idea.
• What I think “potential” means and what playing to potential looks like.

See the full video here:

A Sketchnote from the Book

Get the book here