The document discusses using visual thinking and drawing pictures on napkins to solve problems. It presents three "legs" or rules of visual thinking: 1) Whoever best describes the problem is most likely to solve it, 2) Problems need to be broken down into bite-sized pieces to avoid being overwhelming, and 3) The more "human" the picture, the more human the response will be. It also discusses using the six ways humans see - who, what, how much, where, when, and why - to fully depict problems visually.

4. We can solve our problems with pictures. 2008 © Dan Roam THE BACK OF THE NAPKIN all rights reserved

5. We’re going to need rules. 2008 © Dan Roam THE BACK OF THE NAPKIN all rights reserved “ If you take off one of the legs of that stool, the stool falls down. That's not the answer. The answer for our party and for our country is to continue to fight for all three legs of that stool.” Governor Mitt Romney, July 26, 2007 "We're not going to come to a conclusion on a three-legged stool here, missing the fourth leg." Senator Chris Dodd, Sept. 26, 2008 There are three legs to the stool of American foreign policy: Diplomacy, development and military power. We are two of those legs. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, January 22, 2009 "The recovery package that we're passing is only going to be one leg in, at least, a three-legged stool." President Barack Obama, January 23, 2009

6. Obviously, we need a stool. 2008 © Dan Roam THE BACK OF THE NAPKIN all rights reserved

7. It needs to be a strong stool. 2008 © Dan Roam THE BACK OF THE NAPKIN all rights reserved

8. First leg. 2008 © Dan Roam THE BACK OF THE NAPKIN all rights reserved

9. Visual thinking unwritten rule #1 2008 © Dan Roam THE BACK OF THE NAPKIN all rights reserved Whoever best describes the problem…

10. Visual thinking unwritten rule #1 2008 © Dan Roam THE BACK OF THE NAPKIN all rights reserved Whoever best describes the problem… is the one most likely to solve it.

11. Visual thinking unwritten rule #1 2008 © Dan Roam THE BACK OF THE NAPKIN all rights reserved (Whoever draws the best picture gets the funding.) Whoever best describes the problem… is the one most likely to solve it.

12. Let’s go to Washington. 2008 © Dan Roam THE BACK OF THE NAPKIN all rights reserved

13. Pictures in politics? 2008 © Dan Roam SOLVING PROBLEMS WITH PICTURES

14. 2008 © Dan Roam SOLVING PROBLEMS WITH PICTURES

15. 2008 © Dan Roam SOLVING PROBLEMS WITH PICTURES

16. 2008 © Dan Roam SOLVING PROBLEMS WITH PICTURES

17. 2008 © Dan Roam SOLVING PROBLEMS WITH PICTURES

18. 2008 © Dan Roam SOLVING PROBLEMS WITH PICTURES

19. 2008 © Dan Roam SOLVING PROBLEMS WITH PICTURES

20. 2008 © Dan Roam SOLVING PROBLEMS WITH PICTURES

21. The ultimate political napkin story… 2008 © Dan Roam THE BACK OF THE NAPKIN all rights reserved

22. In 1974 Laffer drew this picture: 2008 © Dan Roam THE BACK OF THE NAPKIN all rights reserved

23. In 1974 Laffer drew this picture: 2008 © Dan Roam THE BACK OF THE NAPKIN all rights reserved

24. In 1974 Laffer drew this picture: 2008 © Dan Roam THE BACK OF THE NAPKIN all rights reserved

25. In 1974 Laffer drew this picture: 2008 © Dan Roam THE BACK OF THE NAPKIN all rights reserved

26. Which he showed to these two guys… 2008 © Dan Roam THE BACK OF THE NAPKIN all rights reserved

27. … who are, of course, these two guys: 2008 © Dan Roam THE BACK OF THE NAPKIN all rights reserved

28. 2008 © Dan Roam THE BACK OF THE NAPKIN all rights reserved OK, NEXT...

29. 2008 © Dan Roam SOLVING PROBLEMS WITH PICTURES

30. 2008 © Dan Roam THE BACK OF THE NAPKIN all rights reserved

31. For example, what does a stimulus look like? 2008 © Dan Roam THE BACK OF THE NAPKIN all rights reserved * American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, signed into law Feb. 17, 2009

32. Hey folks, where is the picture? 2008 © Dan Roam THE BACK OF THE NAPKIN all rights reserved

33. 2008 © Dan Roam THE BACK OF THE NAPKIN all rights reserved The big picture is in here, right?

34. 2008 © Dan Roam THE BACK OF THE NAPKIN all rights reserved Somewhere?

35. 2008 © Dan Roam THE BACK OF THE NAPKIN all rights reserved Anywhere?

36. 2008 © Dan Roam THE BACK OF THE NAPKIN all rights reserved Help.

37. 2008 © Dan Roam THE BACK OF THE NAPKIN all rights reserved That’s it?

38. Exercise 1: the Who is ‘We’ self-assessment 2008 © Dan Roam THE BACK OF THE NAPKIN all rights reserved

39. 2008 © Dan Roam THE BACK OF THE NAPKIN all rights reserved

40. The “napkin sketch” is the future: 2008 © Dan Roam THE BACK OF THE NAPKIN all rights reserved

41. Let’s create a problem-solving napkin… 2008 © Dan Roam THE BACK OF THE NAPKIN all rights reserved On your napkin, draw a circle and give it a name…

42. Let’s create a problem-solving napkin… 2008 © Dan Roam THE BACK OF THE NAPKIN all rights reserved On your napkin, draw a circle and give it a name…

43. Next leg. 2008 © Dan Roam THE BACK OF THE NAPKIN all rights reserved

48. Another story of a few business guys sitting around talking… 2008 © Dan Roam THE BACK OF THE NAPKIN all rights reserved

49. Another story of a few business guys sitting around talking… 2008 © Dan Roam THE BACK OF THE NAPKIN all rights reserved

50. Another story of a few business guys sitting around talking… 2008 © Dan Roam THE BACK OF THE NAPKIN all rights reserved

51. “ Why can’t Wal-Mart be the company every day that we were during those days of Katrina?” 2008 © Dan Roam THE BACK OF THE NAPKIN all rights reserved - H. Lee Scott, Address to Wal-Mart employees, July 13, 2006

52. 2008 © Dan Roam THE BACK OF THE NAPKIN all rights reserved

53. Wal-Mart sustainability data 2008 © Dan Roam THE BACK OF THE NAPKIN all rights reserved

54. I suggested a simple set of pictures. 2008 © Dan Roam THE BACK OF THE NAPKIN all rights reserved

55. What would happen if we drew out how Wal-Mart works? 2008 © Dan Roam THE BACK OF THE NAPKIN all rights reserved

56. That’s what we did. 2008 © Dan Roam THE BACK OF THE NAPKIN all rights reserved

57. Then we could break that model into separate layers… 2008 © Dan Roam THE BACK OF THE NAPKIN all rights reserved

58. So people could finally “get it”. 2008 © Dan Roam THE BACK OF THE NAPKIN all rights reserved In 2005, all Wal-Mart stores combined output 20,783,368 cubic tons of CO2.

59. But this is the picture that mattered… 2008 © Dan Roam THE BACK OF THE NAPKIN all rights reserved

60. Last leg. 2008 © Dan Roam THE BACK OF THE NAPKIN all rights reserved

61. Visual thinking unwritten rule #3 The more “human” your picture, the more human the response. 2008 © Dan Roam THE BACK OF THE NAPKIN all rights reserved

62. Visual thinking unwritten rule #3 2008 © Dan Roam THE BACK OF THE NAPKIN all rights reserved The more “human” your picture, the more human the response. (The mind likes to look at things that match the way we see .)

63. Let’s look at how we see: 2008 © Dan Roam THE BACK OF THE NAPKIN all rights reserved

64. Let’s look at how we see: 2008 © Dan Roam THE BACK OF THE NAPKIN all rights reserved

65. Let’s look at how we see: 2008 © Dan Roam THE BACK OF THE NAPKIN all rights reserved

66. Let’s look at how we see: 2008 © Dan Roam THE BACK OF THE NAPKIN all rights reserved

67. The 6 ways we see: 2008 © Dan Roam THE BACK OF THE NAPKIN all rights reserved

68. Back to our napkin… 2008 © Dan Roam THE BACK OF THE NAPKIN all rights reserved Now cut our problem into 6 slices…

69. The 6 ways we see: Who & What 2008 © Dan Roam THE BACK OF THE NAPKIN all rights reserved

70. The 6 ways we see: How much 2008 © Dan Roam THE BACK OF THE NAPKIN all rights reserved

71. The 6 ways we see: Where 2008 © Dan Roam THE BACK OF THE NAPKIN all rights reserved

72. The 6 ways we see: When 2008 © Dan Roam THE BACK OF THE NAPKIN all rights reserved

73. The 6 ways we see: How 2008 © Dan Roam THE BACK OF THE NAPKIN all rights reserved

74. The 6 ways we see: Why 2008 © Dan Roam THE BACK OF THE NAPKIN all rights reserved

75. The 6 ways we see: Why 2008 © Dan Roam THE BACK OF THE NAPKIN all rights reserved

76. Back to our napkin… 2008 © Dan Roam THE BACK OF THE NAPKIN all rights reserved Now cut our problem into 6 slices…

77. The 6x6 rule 2008 © Dan Roam THE BACK OF THE NAPKIN all rights reserved

78. Back to our napkin… 2008 © Dan Roam THE BACK OF THE NAPKIN all rights reserved Now cut our problem into 6 slices…

79. A portrait shows who & what … your members, for example: 2008 © Dan Roam THE BACK OF THE NAPKIN all rights reserved

80. A portrait shows how to distinguish one thing from another: 2008 © Dan Roam THE BACK OF THE NAPKIN all rights reserved

81. Let’s draw corresponding pictures… 2008 © Dan Roam THE BACK OF THE NAPKIN all rights reserved The 6 ways we show…

82. A chart shows how much : 2008 © Dan Roam THE BACK OF THE NAPKIN all rights reserved

83. A chart shows how much : 2008 © Dan Roam THE BACK OF THE NAPKIN all rights reserved

84. Let’s draw corresponding pictures… 2008 © Dan Roam THE BACK OF THE NAPKIN all rights reserved The 6 ways we show…

85. A map shows where to put everything: 2008 © Dan Roam THE BACK OF THE NAPKIN all rights reserved

86. And shows where pieces are missing: 2008 © Dan Roam THE BACK OF THE NAPKIN all rights reserved

87. Or where business perfection resides: 2008 © Dan Roam THE BACK OF THE NAPKIN all rights reserved

88. Let’s draw corresponding pictures… 2008 © Dan Roam THE BACK OF THE NAPKIN all rights reserved The 6 ways we show…

89. When? 1969! 2008 © Dan Roam THE BACK OF THE NAPKIN all rights reserved

90. When?? Better draw a timeline… 2008 © Dan Roam THE BACK OF THE NAPKIN all rights reserved

91. (If you want lots of discussion, try a looping timeline)… 2008 © Dan Roam THE BACK OF THE NAPKIN all rights reserved

92. Let’s draw corresponding pictures… 2008 © Dan Roam THE BACK OF THE NAPKIN all rights reserved The 6 ways we show…

93. A flowchart adds up what + where + when to show how … 2008 © Dan Roam THE BACK OF THE NAPKIN all rights reserved

94. Let’s draw corresponding pictures… 2008 © Dan Roam THE BACK OF THE NAPKIN all rights reserved The 6 ways we show…

95. Last, a “multi-variable chart” shows why things are… 2008 © Dan Roam THE BACK OF THE NAPKIN all rights reserved

96. Last, a “multi-variable chart” shows why things are… 2008 © Dan Roam THE BACK OF THE NAPKIN all rights reserved

97. Your visual thinking stool. 2008 © Dan Roam THE BACK OF THE NAPKIN all rights reserved Drawing wins. Keep it human. Use bite-sized pieces.

98. A last lesson… 2008 © Dan Roam THE BACK OF THE NAPKIN all rights reserved

99. 2008 © Dan Roam THE BACK OF THE NAPKIN all rights reserved

101. 2008 © Dan Roam THE BACK OF THE NAPKIN all rights reserved

102. Who is who? 2008 © Dan Roam THE BACK OF THE NAPKIN all rights reserved

103. How much? 06/08/09

104. Where do they overlap? 06/08/09

105. Where do they all sit? (And when?) 06/08/09

106. How are we going to make it happen? 06/08/09

107. Why? 2008 © Dan Roam THE BACK OF THE NAPKIN all rights reserved

108. 2008 © Dan Roam THE BACK OF THE NAPKIN all rights reserved (It was a $17.2 Billion Dollar Chart)