Introducing Visual Variation: The Powerful Principle for Fast Learning, Focused Knowledge Sharing, and Fluid Creativity

You do not understand anything, until you understand it in more than one way. Marvin Minsky (AI pioneer and MIT professor)

Repetition makes us feel secure and variation makes us feel free. Robert Hass (American poet and Pulitzer Prize winner)

We live in complex times, where our ability to keep up with new approaches, concepts or discoveries is often put to the test. It’s not only that things are getting more complex, we also witness an accelerated pace of change and a faster growth of knowledge, and this in combination with greater uncertainty.

Examples of this trend abound: from learning about the latest blockchain or artificial intelligence applications, to understanding viruses and their mutations; from mastering the newest social media tools, to comprehending climate change and its mitigations.

So, what can we do to cope with this increasing need for rapid understanding? What is a good way to clarify complex (or uncertain) issues in a concise way?

Is there a simple approach that not only helps us to show what we know, but also nudges us to go beyond our current knowledge?

Yes, there is.

In a new book, I introduce a fascinating visual approach for clarifying the complex, and this in a systematic, accessible, and (hopefully) entertaining way.

I call this approach Visual Variation, a powerful principle to make the complex clear and think beyond the obvious.

The visual variation principle is backed by years of rigorous academic research into learning and knowledge representation. It has been tested in radically different application contexts, ranging from education to business, from technology to culture, from the very personal, all the way to societal issues. And best of all: you don't need to be able to draw or use complicated software to use it.

You have probably already seen several examples of visual variation in magazine articles, online blogs, textbooks, presentations, internet memes, or instructional videos (see the links at the end for a few infamous examples), without noticing the underlying mechanism or paying attention to this powerful principle and what it could do for you.?

Discover how visual variation can be used for more effective learning, leading, and living.

In this post, I’d like to show you how the visual variation principle works and how it can be used for more effective learning, leading, and living. I’ll use a bit of my own work in progress as examples to bring the principle alive.

My hope is that these examples will already enable you to show (or discover) insights visually. In the book, we give our readers a detailed step-by-step approach for many different kinds of visual variations. In this short post, I focus on a few simple ones.

So let’s dive right in and discover I) the basic idea behind Visual Variation II) its rationale and background, and III) how to apply it to your work.

I.???????????????The Key Idea

As the two quotes at the beginning of this post illustrate, understanding comes from seeing the same thing repeated in different variations.

That is the fundamental idea behind the variation approach to visual explanations: Visually varying a complex topic is a powerful, yet underexploited cognitive mechanism that can facilitate communication, coordination, learning and creativity – if done right. It can be applied to problem solving, training, management, or innovation endeavors, to name but a few of its main application contexts.

It works best when you start with a depiction that is simple, intuitive or already known (by your audience), and that is then gradually modified to reveal more complexity or contingency (always repeating, however, the initial visual elements to some degree).

Visual Variation works best when you start with an image that is simple and then modified to reveal more complexity.

Let me show you what I mean with the help of a simple and timely starting example, namely the question of how to communicate to reduce resistance to change (let’s say, to convince covid sceptics to finally get vaccinated).

We can summarize the fifty years of empirical research on how to reduce this so-called ‘reactance’ phenomenon (see Rosenberg & Siegel, 2018) in the following simple visual variation:

Figure 1: A simple visual variation on how to reduce resistance through careful communication (approaches)

In this example, you see the problem on the left (resistance to change), the approach in the middle part (such as storytelling, as well as what won’t work), and the desired result (walking ahead together) on the right. This example's main benefit is memorability, whereas other visual variations focus on creativity or insight as the added value.

There are several ways in which you can construct a visual variation - using free tools such as the thenounproject.com, presentation software, or simple sketching. The above example is a case of a “same goal – different approaches” variation. This is one of five “variation patterns.” that I have found highly applicable to management. Here they are in overview and with additional examples:

1.????Approaches: you visualize different solutions to resolve a given problem or reach a certain objective. Figure 1 is an example of this pattern.

2.???Scenarios: this pattern shows how things can turn out in contrast to a devised plan. The example below shows the plan in blue (let’s say a business strategy) and how it turns out in black. This pattern is a useful nudge to anticipate problems and to think in (diverse) scenarios.

Figure 2: Ways in which strategies can go astray as a visual variation (scenarios)

3.????Segments: with this variation pattern, you visualize the same phenomenon as a variation of segments (for example to show problematic alternatives). Our example shows different kinds of (problematic) projects and corresponding caveats. In project kick-offs, we ask team members to visualize a project risk in the last line of the chart.

Figure 3: Different project pathways as a visual variation (segments)

In our Visual Variation book, we also show uses and examples of two more patterns, namely: 4.??Configurations: this pattern shows how different elements can be re-arranged for different challenges (see Figure 4).?And: 5. Mutations: this pattern shows an object, organization, or person in different iterations to highlight types, options, or an evolution over time (see Figure 5 below for an example of this pattern).

Figure 4: Example of a configuration pattern to explain negotiation approaches

Having illustrated the key idea behind visual variation, let's briefly review its scientific background, before further describing its practical relevance.

II.???????????The??Rationale?

The paradigm of visual variation is based on many years of research on how we perceive the world and learn. It is based on the work of Gibson (1986) regarding perceptual psychology and on the phenomenographic (learner experience) studies of Marton and Booth that have led to their highly cited (and aptly named) Variation Theory.

Variation Theory suggests that our experience of the variations of a phenomenon is the key element to build understanding. Ference Marton explains this finding below:??

“It is the patterns of variation and invariance among examples, instances, cases, illustrations and so on, which is the aspect of teaching that Variation Theory singles out as a key to better learning.”

For Marton and Booth the notion of learning is all about the awareness that what is being learned both stays the same and varies. We gain knowledge about the world by being aware of its variations (and invariations). What should be varied visually are the crucial aspects of a phenomenon, the differences that make a difference. Once we see those in different forms, we are more likely to fully understand a topic. This is also what the late MIT professor and AI pioneer Marvin Minsky meant when writing that we do not understand anything, until we understand it in more than one way.

We gain knowledge about the world by being aware of its variations.

The practical implication of this paradigm is that we make use of the natural human behavior of varying the way we experience things. And talking about experiencing: It’s one thing to write about this mechanism and why it is so powerful. It’s quite another, to see visual variations at work. So let us show you how you can put this approach to work in the final section of this post

III.???????????Applying Visual Variation

There are countless ways in which the visual variation approach can help you at work, whether it is to learn quicker, explain better, or think about an issue more creatively. Let's take the last application area, ideation: You have probably heard the suggestion to "think outside the box". With visual variation (and its mutation pattern) you can do much more than that, have a look:

Figure 5: A visual variation for creative problem solving (mutation)

Figure 5 not only gives you 10 different strategies for creative problem solving, it is in itself a generative mechanism to come up with other ways to solve a problem (by inviting you to 'unbox' ideas further).? In addition, visual variation is also a great template to quickly generate compelling training or presentation material: When we used the visual variation principle with 25 managers from the profit and non profit sector, they came up with great prototypes (after only 5 minutes of instructions on the approach) for a myriad of application contexts, ranging from how to lead teams, to commissioning industrial sites, to reducing bureaucracy.

So in conclusion: Whenever you face a tough problem or have to explain a complex issue in a short amount of time don’t worry – vary!

Let us know what you think about this approach. If you already have examples of it, please do share them in the comments below.

You can order the Visual Variation book at www.visualvariation.com (for 28 USD/SFr. plus shipping).

Here are a few, at times whimsical (but still instructive), takes on visual variation online:

• Connecting the dots visual variation: https://imgur.com/gallery/6K8GvyO
• Project management and the swing visual variation: https://www.zentao.pm/blog/tree-swing-project-management-tire-analogy-426.mhtml
• Problem solving approaches in different cultures visual variation:https://www.commisceo-global.com/blog/cultural-differences-problem-solving-jerome-vadon
• Explaining the essence of a circular economy in a visual variation: https://www.therecord.com/opinion/columnists/2020/04/01/we-need-an-economic-makeover-to-a-circular-economy.html
• Reflecting on different personal relationships via a visual variation: https://flowingdata.com/2019/01/29/closeness-lines-over-time/
• Explaining musical genres as a visual variation (this also exists for movies and TV shows): https://wronghands1.com/2014/07/25/anatomy-of-songs/
• Ways of reacting to setbacks and build resilience: https://www.dhirubhai.net/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6877550320692604928/
• Alternatives to a traditional business career: https://www.dhirubhai.net/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6897462559549521920/

A free icon library to quickly generate visual variations can be found here: https://thenounproject.com/

References

Eppler, M.J. (2022) An Introduction to Visual Variation - for better Leading, Learning, and Living. The Powerful Principle for Clear Explanations and Creative Explorations in Business, Society, and Life.

Gibson, J. J. (1986) The ecological approach to visual perception. Erlbaum.

Lo, M.L. and Marton, F. (2012) Towards a science of the art of teaching: Using variation theory as a guiding principle of pedagogical design, International Journal for Lesson and Learning Studies, Vol. 1 No. 1, pp. 7-22.

Lo, M.L. (2012) Variation Theory and the Improvement of Teaching and Learning. University of Gothenburg.

Marton, F. and Booth, S. (1997) Learning and Awareness. Erlbaum.

Rosenberg, B.D., Siegel, J.T. (2018) A 50-Year Review of Psychological Reactance Theory: Do Not Read This Article, in: Motivation Science, Vol. 4, No.4., pp. 281-300.