How can you use visual thinking to map out your creative problem solving process?

Visual thinking is a powerful tool for overcoming creative problem-solving challenges. One effective approach is using a simple glass wall to draw out your ideas. By visually mapping concepts—whether through a fishbone diagram or a process map—you can break free from limited mindsets and see the big picture more clearly. Encourage your team to contribute by adding to the drawing. This collaborative process not only enhances communication but also helps identify patterns, connections, and priorities. Afterward, pause to reflect on the entire diagram, allowing the collective input to guide more effective decision-making.

My degree is in graphic design, so I was trained to think and communicate visually. I've found visual thinking invaluable for: - Clarifying Complex Ideas: It simplifies intricate concepts, making them more accessible and easier to grasp. - Sparking Innovation: Visualizing problems and solutions encourages out-of-the-box thinking, leading to creative breakthroughs. - Enhancing Team Communication: Visual tools help convey ideas more effectively, ensuring clarity and alignment within diverse groups. These advantages highlight the power of visual thinking in making information understandable, fostering creativity, and improving collaboration.

Visual thinking is a practical tool for supercharging your creative problem-solving. By leveraging diagrams, sketches, and mind maps, you can transform abstract ideas into concrete visuals, revealing new connections and innovative solutions. Here are some practical examples: 1. Use flowcharts to streamline processes or workflows. 2. Sketch interface designs to brainstorm and iterate. 3. Create mind maps to explore problems and potential solutions. 4. Use diagrams to explain intricate concepts or systems. 5. Map out customer journeys to pinpoint improvement areas. Embrace visual techniques and practice to tackle complex challenges with confidence and flair.

We are designed for sight. We receive 80% of our information through our sight. With only 10% through our hearing. It therefore makes sense to utilise our sight, in the form of visual thinking (processing), to help us problem solve and synthesise data into a visual solution ie pictorially or as a series of drawings. As one image can solidify many words, using visual thinking ensures a simplified representation of the content in a cognitive task & aids reasoning & reaching a solution. Even better if a hand drawn image, as this boosts different areas of the brain. Visual thinking can also be an improved form (over just words) of communicating a solution. As expressing an idea using imagery enables ease of understanding & increased retention.

I don't actually know what "visual thinking" is. When I need to solve a problem, I think about the problem, and then I think about what I can do to solve that problem, and then I do that.

We can begin by clearly defining the problem we are trying to solve, writing it down, or creating a visual representation of the problem statement at the centre of our map. We need to identify key factors and connect them to the central problem statement. This helps us understand the various elements involved in the problem. The next step could be to explore and visualize the relationships between different factors or ideas. This can help us identify patterns, dependencies, and potential cause-and-effect relationships. Once that is done, we can continue our brainstorming. This process needs to be refined by iterations until we find the solution that fits our needs.

Mind maps serve as versatile tools across the entire spectrum of creative problem-solving, offering structured clarity at each critical juncture. In the initial phase of problem definition, they prevent premature conclusions by mapping out key factors comprehensively. During the ideation phase, they foster an open environment for brainstorming, encouraging the amalgamation of ideas without bias. For idea evaluation, mind maps facilitate a comparative analysis, laying bare the advantages and disadvantages of each option. Finally, in the implementation stage, they act as a blueprint for action and an effective communication medium, ensuring that the planned solution is executed and understood clearly by all stakeholders involved.

Schedule time in your calendar to literally use pen and paper to create, rather than using some sort of digital tool (Ex: Canva, google docs, etc). Use this space to come up with creative concepts and frameworks, connect the dots between seemingly disparate ideas, or plan your thought leadership content strategy. The possibilities are infinite. There is ample empirical evidence to suggest that the classic pen and paper can enhance the thinking-required task at hand. For example: Mueller, P. A., & Oppenheimer, D. M. (2014). The Pen Is Mightier Than the Keyboard: Advantages of Longhand Over Laptop Note Taking. Psychological Science, 25(6), 1159-1168.