Control Engineering

Paul Grayson

Solving Problems With Pictures
April 11, 2008

Photo: http://us.penguingroup.com/

THE POWER OF PEN AND PAPER
As the Team Leader of AMERICAN INDUSTRIAL MAGIC's DARPA Urban Challenge team, which is entirely dependant on donations, I am constantly searching for things that are inexpnsive and can be used to solve the problems I run into every day.  I have heard the ledgends of how drawing on a pizza box lid or cocktail napkin launched billion dollar enterprizes or solved the world's most difficult problem. These are rare instances but what if they don't have to be?  What if there is something about the pizza box lid or the cocktail napkin that produces the magic?  Wouldn't we then want to make sure that pizza box lids and cocktail napkins are items stocked in our office supply cabinet ... you know... for when businesses have to solve problems or sell ideas?   

IT'S NOT THE BOX
Well, business consultant Dan Roam has discovered that it is not the lid or the napkin that is responsible for the burst of clarity, the critical component is the picture.  Or more precisely it is the act of making a simple drawing to explain complex ideas that causes the ideas to crystalize in the minds of the people watching.  Now, if these people just happen to be coworkers whose cooperation you need to move your project ahead or investors, you can see the value of this.  At first Dan didn't think the key to solving the problems businesses face could be as simple as darawing a picture so he put some serious effort into investigating what is really going on when you sketch an idea out in front of people.  It turns out that human beings are wired with considerable capacity for visual communication and that the act of sketching connects direcly to these primitive pathways.  In his book The Back Of The Napkin: Solving Problems And Selling Ideas With Pictures, Dan Roam first lays out what the code or visual shorthand is, in simple sketches and explains how easy it is for anyone to use it.  Then he goes on to esplain the science behind why everyone responds so well to this approach.  

IMPORTANT QUESTION
A reader sent me an excerpt from Where Have All The Leaders Gone?  By Lee Iacocca with Catherine Whitney   The excerpt that the link will take you to indicates that the book is a no hold barred discussion about what qualities are necessary for our elected leaders to do a good job of running the country?  With an election coming up, this book might help you make decide what you want. 

more to follow....

GO ROBOTS !

Paul F. Grayson - Chief Engineer
AMERICAN INDUSTRIAL MAGIC, LLC
Racing to build technology that saves soldier's lives.
390 4-Mile Rd. S.
Traverse City, MI 49686-8411
(231) 946-0187, (231) 883-4463 Cell
pgrayson@aimagic.org  
AIM: http://aimagic.org  
ROBOT CLUB: http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/robotcluboftraversecitymi/  
C E Magazine: http://www.controleng.com/blog/1180000318.html  

Posted by Paul Grayson on April 11, 2008 | Comments (0)