The Art of Visual Thinking in Business Strategy

The art of visual thinking is the ability to utilize our ease of understanding shapes, pictures, and patterns to assist us in absorbing information more effectively.

In a recent study conducted by the Nueva Ecija University of Science and Technology, out of a group of 50 English language learners, 32 (64%) were discovered to be visual learners. This raised questions about the general human tendency towards visual dominance, although the topic of exactly how the world’s population is divided into learning modalities seems to be controversial. 

As a rule, members of the education science community seem to agree that roughly 60–65% of the general population can be described as visual learners. We can sum up what this means with a quote from a ground-breaking 1970s book on learning modalities, Teaching Through Modality: Concepts and Practice, by Michael N. Milone, Raymond H. Swassing, and Walter Burke Barbe, which states the following:

“a visually dominant learner absorbs and retains information better when pictures, diagrams, and charts are presented to them.”

Surely, suppose the majority of people on the planet are visual thinkers. In that case, we need to be considering these figures when we’re looking for the most effective ways of teaching, learning, and strategizing, both in the classroom and in the workplace.  

Visual Thinking

Watching people work in teams soon explains the value of thinking visually. It’s hard to imagine how the sharing of ideas and concepts to collaborate can be achieved without a record of all the points of view.

• People in teams always have a variety and diversity of perspectives naturally enough because they come from different parts of the business and with unique requirements.

• People in teams are always looking for the result of a meeting to move forward with actions, priorities, decisions and outcomes.

• Individuals involved in teamwork always remark about how good or bad a meeting is by whether or not there was a feeling of progress or achievement through the work.

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All over the world, we have witnessed the power of having a visual record and reflection of the business discussed. There is a big difference between a record and a reflection. 

One of the great things about the visual interpretation of ideas and concepts is it stimulates everyone to comment. This can either be to suggest a better way or, upon seeing the reflection emerge, realise that it wasn’t what they meant. They get the chance to improve. 

Either way, visually reflecting a multiple set of views tends to add rather than detract from any conversation.

The other dimension of thinking visually is that it is a real-time method of progressing a discussion and having a result that is practical and executable. 

At the very least, a more robust record of the meeting rather than yet another document full of words that may or may not have been engaged with during the discussion.

Visual Learning Methods 

What being a visual learner implies in practice is that in schools, colleges and universities, students should be encouraged to draw pictures, diagrams, charts, graphs, and sketches that will help them to see a picture of the concepts they’re trying to understand. This will allow them to transfer the information they are learning into meaningful and retainable knowledge far more easily than if they were to rely purely on numbers, symbols, and statistics. 

Using 3D models to explore concepts, even though this is traditionally regarded as a kinaesthetic learning method, will increase the understanding of visual learners even further. As human beings, we’re naturally more inclined to learn through experience. So, it makes sense that learning methods that emulate experience should be more effective than simply staring at words or numbers on a page. 

Ask a child to do sums in their heads and you might have to wait a while longer than if you encourage them to use an abacus or help you to check your change on shopping trips. The latter activities create a far deeper understanding of mathematical concepts and their real-world application, while the former can easily induce a sense of pointlessness, detachment, and even confusion. 

Einstein is believed to have been a visual thinker and there are many others who achieved works of great genius not only by tirelessly writing out equations but also by creating maps, diagrams, and models that would help to increase their understanding of concepts. 

Perhaps in an ideal world children would be encouraged to take notes using colourful sketches, cartoons, storyboards, and diagrams, and the practice of discouraging young people from daydreaming and doodling in their exercise books would be a thing of the past. 

Visual Strategy Mapping

So, what does all this mean in a business context? Well, it certainly suggests it’s a great idea for leaders to organize strategy and problem-solving sessions with their teams, using visual maps, diagrams, sketches, doodles, and models.  

By building visual strategy maps, teams are not only more able to grasp the reality of what all those facts, figures, and statistics mean, they can also get a clearer idea of a company’s processes, direction, and potential for transformation. 

There are many possibilities that will only become visible by using visual strategies, and as a clearer picture begins to emerge the entire staff team will begin to gain a deeper understanding of the company’s operations, aims, objectives, plans and strategies and potential for growth. This, in turn, encourages greater levels of engagement with the strategy and a direct experience of how their roles and actions can impact the bigger picture. 

And here’s the great news!

If this sounds exciting to you, you don’t have to figure out how to do the visual mapping yourself. We do all the work for you and walk you through our process! Take a quick browse through Group Partners’ Resources Page and discover our unique, original, trademarked brand of interactive visual strategy mapping – Structured Visual Thinking™. 

Click here to find out how to work with a visual strategist and solve the most pressing problems your business is currently facing.