Visual Meetings: How Graphics, Sticky Notes and Idea Mapping Can Transform Group Productivity

Chapter 9. Group Graphics: Seven Ways to Write on the Wall

Any time you face a blank page or chart you will have to choose how to begin. This involves understanding the basic patterns I talked about in Chapter 2 in regard to the Group Graphic® Keyboard, and its seven ways to write on the wall. These are the foundation formats out of which all the other variations emerge and the keys to visual thinking with groups.

How Jazz Works

Let's begin with a metaphorical side trip that will make all this talk about process more understandable. I personally like to play the piano and have always wanted to play jazz. I grew up being required to have traditional piano lessons with sheet music. I became fairly proficient but eventually rebelled, coming back to playing in college and starting over, making up my own combinations and pieces.

One day I wandered into a small music shop and found myself surrounded by tall piles of sheet music of all kinds stacked on several tables with narrow aisles in between. I came around to the front, overwhelmed. There was an older man who I assumed was the owner. "Can I help you with something," he asked, peering over his glasses. I was hesitant, but said softly, "I'd like to learn how to play jazz." The man looked at me up and down and didn't say anything. Then he reached under the counter and pulled out a book and plopped it on the counter. "Learn your scales," he said, and went back to his reading.

This was a turning point in my understanding of process. I'd expected ...