“Art Is A Line Around Your Thoughts”
Gustav Klimt said that.
I’m always searching for ways to express the value of thinking visually. I vividly remember being about 4 or 5 and sitting in awe of my father who drew on massive sheets of paper with a fine technical pencil. He made things so clear. Even things that weren’t.
I would witness, in real time, a creation of incredible detail. To me it was a masterpiece. It would shift like magic — starting with a simple line and eventually becoming a working machine. He would draw the mechanics of a jet engine. In the course of a few hours it would come to life under his wrist.
To me it seemed like he worked at incredible pace — a flurry of rulers and compasses. There were straight lines and there were those drawn with french curves. What he created was real — I wondered at what point the engine would burst into life and fly off the page.
I watched him draw at every opportunity I got.
I had no idea at that time what this all meant but it sparked something in me that drives me to this day. I draw out strategy the way he drew complex machinery — as a blueprint. I didn’t do it consciously but I’ve used these techniques throughout my growing up and now in my business.
When I was a kid I would just draw to unlock what was going on in my mind. I did it to amuse myself and because it was in me to want to create something visual. Mostly what I drew was crazy and surreal stuff, half formed and raw.
In the early days I was crying out for a response. Any response — something I needed to satisfy a half formed creative ego. I craved to create something that would inspire in others what my father had inspired in me. Later on it was to find fellow travellers — people who would sympathise with my craziness and make me feel less alone.
Eventually I stopped trying to do any of that and found a way to put it to use. And, like my father use my ability to put food on the table and petrol in the tank.
As I went into business the technique allowed me to understand and interpret the strange language that people use. The language I came across in business was mostly acronyms buzzwords and jargon. Words that we are all supposed to understand to explain things that make business happen.
I quickly realised that this business language is a secret code for things that those using it aren’t really sure about either.
So nowadays I use drawing to bust all this.
Drawing the conversation out and putting it on the wall within a deliberate model busts the semantics and defeats the jargon. I’m holding 15 conversations in my head at any one time and deciding what goes on the wall — based on the logic of the framework.
The Full Power Of An Empty Wall:
Drawing at this scale allows people to get deep into the topic at real speed. The technique respectfully challenges mere opinions and draws out meaningful conclusions — things that can be defended. It dissolves the dogma that infects far too many businesses. I use it to avoid solving the wrong problems really well.
“Too often we… enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought.” — John F. Kennedy
The act of drawing unites abstract ideas and encourages emergent definition. The beautiful part of that is that it’s as likely wrong as it is right. And when the audience sees that what they have said isn’t what they meant I feel I’ve truly achieved success.
It makes people think.
This act of visualising conversation has limitless application. I’ve had the privilege of working this way with some incredible brands. It’s taken me into the boardrooms of some incredible companies. I’ve had the chance to draw on hallowed walls where few have been — worked with many brilliant people — and many have become genuine friends.
I’ve used this approach to stimulate future ideas, challenge conventions, create business plans and strategies, effect change, avoid disaster, bring enemies together, solve global challenges and create the foundations for major events.
It’s helped teams get to a result far quicker than any alternative I’ve seen. A rapid path to the realisation of their points of difference — explaining the relationship of the parts in complex systems in a simple way and then quickly enable incredible results to be built and delivered.
Thanks Dad.
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