| VISUAL THINKING
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The Need for New Types of Thinking
In a climate of greater uncertainty and change the accelerated development of new types of personal and collaborative thinking, learning and interaction is crucial. Traditional thinking based on sound logic, critical search, argument and the memorisation of valuable information has provided the foundation for Western thought and learning. Education has been built on this premise and has delivered excellent logical/sequential thinkers. While this type of thinking is indispensable, sequential learning has not suited everyone. We are beginning to acknowledge that people learn, and subsequently act, in different styles. In addition, while technological advances have grown with a speed critical to maintaining the systems of our society, our ability to cope with the consequences of these developments has struggled. Logic alone cannot adequately match the degree of variety and social change we must now deal with.
With increasing recognition of the importance of adaptive thinking, we see advancements in society aimed at addressing this - in education, the public and private sectors, as well as trends in personal 'self improvement'. Society is in a race to acquire better thinking to 'keep up with itself', both functionally and for individual fulfillment.
What are 'New' Types of Thinking?
People think and perceive in many different ways and there is no single "right" way to the exclusion of all others. We build up patterns of thinking and meaning - mental models - that have 'logical consistency' where our interpretations of events reinforce our beliefs and expectations. Usually, having found a way that works for us we are reluctant to change it even where doing so may be more appropriate. In fact, habitual thinking patterns, which make up our world view, can be difficult to spot and painful to break due to such heavy investment in them. This is re-enforced by the failure of traditional education to introduce and help us apply diverse thinking approaches from an early age.
Whilst in practice we naturally use a range of thinking capabilities on a daily basis, most of us do so instinctively. Unaware of our own latent capabilities we do not exercise them consciously to our advantage. As a result, our potential for better thinking and greater understanding is generally underutilised. Since it is only through greater understanding or external force that we change our behaviour, the decision to improve the quality of our thinking has a two fold benefit - we can better work toward the successes we choose and, we are not so subject to forces outside of our control. New types of thinking then are the kinds that enable us to continuously and deliberately break down previous fixed patterns and assumptions in order to build new and better ones as we continuously learn and grow.
What is Visual Thinking and Visual Dialogue?
One of the flexible and practical means of developing diverse approaches in the way we actively think, and work with ideas, is to use Visual Thinking.
Visual Thinking is a highly effective thinking support process that provides a simple, quick and easy way to greatly expand our thinking potential on a continuous basis.
Visual Thinking uniquely combines:
| Thinking tools |
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| Magnetic modelling tools on whiteboards and Visual Thinking software
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| Modelling Methods |
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| A large toolkit of trusted modelling methods and techniques to lead the thinking process
| | Mental attitude of enquiry |
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Guiding principles help maximise the benefit of the process
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Visual Dialogue
Visual Dialogue is the process of applying Visual Thinking in group situations. Since people have varying degrees of conviction concerning their mental models, good intentions are not always enough to avoid misunderstanding. What one person sees as simple, obvious or right may not be so for others. This can lead to confusion, unproductive dynamics and failure to realise the group's full potential.
Visual Thinking conducted in groups with the help of an experienced facilitator enables participants to include multiple perspectives, focus on what is important, manage objective challenges and agree direction from a wider range of possibilities, from insights surpassing but including them all. Visual Dialogue works on the premise that everyone has a valuable contribution to make and that creatively combined ideas dramatically improve group learning i.e. the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
While pausing to create the right mental conditions to exercise new thinking takes time, failure to do so often wastes much more, and comes with hidden costs.
How Visual Thinking Works
The principle of Visual Thinking is very simple and applying the components together in the right way offers a powerfully dynamic medium for better thinking.
The Basic Principle
With the help of Visual Thinking tools ideas are encapsulated into geometric shapes and mapped out to make current thinking explicit. The introduction of flexible modelling methods then help us to work with our ideas creatively, activate new perspectives and achieve pre-determined goals. This process of ideas diagramming attains better thinking through synthesising 'left brain', logical and sequential thinking with 'right brain', intuition and pattern recognition in a form that enables our mental models to be questioned and restructured. This simple hands-on and transparent way of working with ideas rests on many years of research and testing in action
Why Visual Thinking Works
Making The Most of Ourselves
We can learn and retain knowledge far more effectively by maximising the simultaneous use of our senses. In support of this, Visual Thinking is an integrated approach that draws on action, visual, verbal, auditory, tactile and motor sensory functions. The combined impressions experienced during a thinking exercise leaves a very deep impression and vivid memory of what transpires which is easily and rapidly recalled, just as a song may bring back distinct memories of a space, a time, events, sounds and feelings. Thinking with others in this way is a new kind of collaboration that builds strong bonds.
An Easier Way to Change How We Think
Visual Thinking provides a soft threshold from which to deliberately suspend the known. The thinking tools, methods and techniques work independently of content, enabling them to be used successfully time and time again in a wide variety of situations. Uncoupling information from its pre-existing context into single components of meaning and identifying assumptions releases ideas from how they were originally perceived. Now, through 'serious play' we are free to experiment with new patterns of relationships and a better understanding with richer options emerges. Instead of dealing with our issues and problems in isolation we can reshape the basis from which they operate to deal with them holistically.
A Transparent Reassuring Process:
Because individuals know that the facilitator is moderating exchanges and that their personal contributions are valued and incorporated, personal attachment to ideas is more easily relinquished for a listening and accommodating approach to shared thinking. Since the average human brain can only hold between five and seven items comfortably at any one time in short term memory, having a transparent audit trail of the process relieves the attention from the burden of memory, freeing it up for more valuable exchanges. The introduction of thinking frameworks keep the group on track and pace progress while guiding them to agreed goals. Within this context, shared maps of thinking are more transparent and can be negotiated more openly.
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| TOOLS
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Visual Thinking uses colourful and stimulating visual aids to keep ideas easy to see and track at all times. Individual ideas are summarised and written onto icons, transforming them into idea-icons or idons. Ideas captured in a form can be easily moved around and related to other ideas, altered and developed into patterns that reflect our thinking. This process provides the flexibility to explore ideas creatively, make new connections and work with a far greater range of material in depth without losing sense of the whole or our direction. Using idons:
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Focuses attention easily - ideas are visibly at hand. Released from the burden
of memory we are free to explore and think in new ways |
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Give us immediate feedback - an instant picture of relationships of ideas and
complex meaning |
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Allows us to change our mind - easy to move around and clean, idons can be
altered as ideas develop and new understanding emerges |
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Utilises colour and geometry to activate pattern recognition and category notation |
Idons come in a variety of sizes, shapes and colours to match individual and group requirements.
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| METHODOLOGY
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The tools are supported by a range of modelling methods, each representing a unique thinking technique which guide, focus and structure the content and the process of mapping ideas towards carefully targeted outcomes. In addition to a variety of creative thinking techniques including colour coding, the Idon Bridge offers a comprehensive decision support toolkit for strategy and
management. Visual Thinking methods are used alone or in sequence for more complicated tasks or projects.
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THE IDON BRIDGE OF THINKING METHODS
-A Toolkit of Modelling Methods
supports a wide range of applications |
-Developing agendas
-Agreeing values and priorities
-Agreeing options and ensuring compatibility of choices
-Overcoming uncertainty and ensuring robust action
-Tactics to optimise achieving success
-Developing processes to match new needs
-Understanding the effects of interaction |
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'Idons-For-Thinking' and 'The Creative Thinker' Software
Visual Thinking software offers a desktop equivalent to the magnetic Visual Thinking Tools and whiteboard. In addition to being a personal, shared thinking and dialogue medium it offers knowledge management resources including features enabling links to other software files and the internet.
Each medium has its distinctive characteristics but wherever possible, when conducting facilitated sessions, a software capture facilitator should be present to document the modelling and dialogue. Both Idons-For-Thinking and The Creative Thinker software have been custom built to capture the ideas mapping and supportive dialogue in real time to provide a detailed visual record of the meeting. The design of the software makes it ideal for project management and work tracking.
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| THE THINKING ENVIRONMENT
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It is important to set up conditions conducive to new and better collaboration. An environment that is comfortable, quiet, flexibly laid out and well equipped with adequate magnetic whiteboards, easels and idons in addition to traditional flip charts and projection equipment helps the qualitative output of thinking considerably.
The facilities should be of a generous size with flexible seating arrangement to comfortably enable options on seating arrangements and free flow of movement as well as easy view and access to the whiteboards.
Wherever possible dedicated and equipped thinking environments should provide instant and on-going support and progress monitoring for project groups. Shared facilities provide workshop access when necessary and provide easy access to maintaining on-going development work.
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Visual Thinking Improves Group Interaction through:
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Providing an environment that supports trust, openness and understanding |
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Facilitating diversity, making contributing easy and appealing |
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Promoting positive dialogue and challenging mental models for new perspectives |
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Encouraging group dynamics that build on agreement for better insights, options and shared solutions |
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Typical Feedback on the Benefits of Using Visual Thinking in Groups
"Our teamwork is better because of the process we went through together"
"Communications have improved tremendously"
"People who never speak were contributing"
"Barriers have dissolved"
"Makes it easy to learn and apply in the firing line of real management pressures"
"Adds new ways, dimensions and perspectives of thinking"
"The method actually brings up a 'solution' in something that looks like a mess - an eye opener!""
"We went in, shut the door and two hours later we had it"
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The Benefits of Visual Thinking in Groups
- Improves the quality and speed of interaction
- Enables better teamwork for greater productivity and commitment
- Supports new ways of exchanging ideas
- Makes complexity and diversity easy to manage
- Surfaces critical issues and increases options
- Helps gain deeper understanding and new perspectives
- Encourages holistic thinking
- Is enjoyable, engaging and inspiring to use
- Keeps thinking at hand and explicit while the process can be traced
- Accelerates learning on the job
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Group Applications
-Team building
- Problem solving
- Decision making
- Planning
- Project management
- Innovation
- Quality improvement
- Strategic thinking
- Transition and change management
- Vision and policy development
- Organisational learning
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©2003 Bee Successful Ltd
©2003 Idon Thinking Resources Ltd
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