vision with others. With your clients, with
your fans and with your bank manager.
• It will give you new tools and methods to USE
with your clients.
• And finally, your new skills will enhance your
ability to THINK in new, innovative ways
throughout your business.
22 DRAW A BETTER BUSINESS
We’re going to work together to focus on four
key aspects of your business, each critical to your
business success.
you
The most important part of your business. I’m going
to give you the skills, confidence and know-how
to start using visual tools. It doesn’t matter what
your drawing skills are, I’ll teach you all the skills
and tricks you need to start getting the benefits of
working visually in your business.
planning
Whether your business is over a decade old like
mine, or you’re in the first quarter of your first year,
23
1 INTRODUCTION
you need to understand your own business journey
in order to effectively plan a way forward. I’ll share
with you some great visual planning tools you can
try out straight away.
engagement
When you’re busy delivering, it can be easy to
overlook the inner workings of what you do and
how you do it. If you want to engage more clients
or engage more effectively with the ones you’ve
already got, then your business needs your time
and attention as much as your clients do.
delivery
Finally, you’re going to focus on your delivery. No
more dusty flipcharts or death by slide deck. I’ll
show you tools and tricks that can transform your
meetings and workshops into opportunities to
create impactful and memorable connections.
I will give you tools to help you unleash your innate
creativity, and by incorporating visual thinking and
practice into your business, take your work to the
next level.
This book is PRACTICAL, providing you with hands‑
on activities and techniques to try out inside your
business, and with your clients. I want this book to
INSPIRE and ENERGISE you, so that you can draw a
better business and head back out into the world
with a smile on your face and a marker pen in your
hand.
24 DRAW A BETTER BUSINESS
i’m more comfortable
with pictures than with
words
I struggled at school. Not because I couldn’t do
the work, but because I wasn’t a great fit with
the system wrapped around the learning. I was
a moody goth and I spent my fair share of time
outside the deputy head’s office. The exception
was art class, where I could be found drawing
moody, gothy things, with focus, and a huge
desire to learn and do well.
In art class I was okay.
Years later, as a social worker, I discovered that
working visually had the power to make it ‘okay’
for other people. It was a leveller. It encouraged
participation in difficult conversations and made
complex information‑giving easier. It bridged a
gap between me and a homeless teenager in
a way that words just couldn’t. When I started
managing teams, I brought this learning with me.
We drew our annual plans and I used pictures to
explain funding cycles and to facilitate events.
By 2006 I was ready to start my own business,
bringing what I’d learnt about working visually
to other people. Since that day I’ve worked with
household names like TimeWarner, Microsoft,
Sony and Google. I’ve been party to discussions
with business leaders, ministers and royalty, and
I’ve drawn everywhere from a muddy field to
Buckingham Palace.
25
1 INTRODUCTION
As you can imagine, along the way I’ve learnt a
