Thinking visually is good for you!

Words are not enough, nor evolve quick enough to catch up with new concepts. Thank goodness there is visual thinking. It's nothing new but, using pictures to capture ideas, lessons learned, and record processes changes the conversation. Using visual thinking, or graphic facilitation, is effective in the planning and strategy process because it is symbolic, translatable, and more specific. 

In the program innovation sphere, sharing ideas that are visually digestable are less likely to be misunderstood. Learning to simplify the conversation for your team, clients, or for yourself keeps jargon from getting in the way of making meaningful connections. Design thinking with images also shares concepts that can build collaborative rapport, are more accessible to a range of stakeholders, and access the creative right brain. 

If people don’t understand your vocabulary they won’t connect with you or your concepts. In our work we use images to help people understand what is or what could be and how to get there. Graphically mapping ideas is simple, but crucial for getting out of uninspired ruts and chatter. 

Work above by Stef Koehler of Letscocreate.org