Complexity is now not what it used to be in the past; problems of today cannot be solved using the old ways of thinking. People who solve problems in face lots of challenges when it comes to decision making having to go through a large amount of information that they need to look at.
Words are the most commonly used form of communication. They are used to express ideas and it’s important for people who have information to understand the internal processes and mental models which shape the communication process and the ideas thereof.
Ideas pass through several phases before they are fully conceptualized. At first, they are fuzzy or vague and are difficult to visualize at this stage, graphic tools which use six simple shapes can be used to bring the idea to life. There are several graphical languages and notation systems in use with examples such as international travel signage and symbols for currencies of different countries.
It can be argued that words are not the only form of communication and they can be highly ambiguous leaving interpretation to context and to the receiver’s prerogative. Graphical communication begins early in life with babies and children using gestures, sounds and images to communicate right up until they have developed their vocabulary in school.
Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniack’s use of icons and graphics in the Macintosh were the first to bring functional graphic which have become an integral part of computers and computing generally. We constantly face an information overload with more information than our minds can process.
Because this information comes to us in words which are organized linearly, it’s difficult for us to grasp all the information we come across. However these words that are representative of ideas and concepts can be stored in the mind and displayed in the form of word maps as our brains are able to discern that there is something useful in what we perceive to be only clutter, disorder and chaos.
It has been demonstrated that for ideas or concepts must be made visible as opposed to just being verbalized in words for them to produce detectable and visible patterns whose meanings we can understand. Information overload which occurs to all people at different times can indeed be very stressful probably because we don’t know how to organize and categorize the information and ideas in ways that we can use it to help us solve our day to day problems.
Graphics aid in all manner of applications where computer systems developers can use different shapes i.e. circles, squares, rectangles during the model building process to better manage the flow of information and to offer a much better cognitive response that by the use of verbal communication.
To manage the complexity, disorder and information overload we experience, the way we do things has to change part of which must be to free ourselves from the ‘verbal’ mentality and explore other ways to simplify communication. To go back to the visual world that we seem to have given up as kids acquires an integrative synthesizing dynamic.
When a graphical model is used, data, ideas and even invisible processes can communicate the structure of the complexity. When we use graphics, we are able to radically change how we interact and understand information that we receive and are also able to free ourselves from the narrowness of words, labels and classification systems.
The mind can visualize emerging patterns and linkages in seemingly random and apparently chaotic evens or ideas. Perceiving an emerging pattern is not necessarily voluntary and usually happens subconsciously. One sees something, dismisses it as an accident, the next time something similar happens, it’s dismissed as a coincidence but on the third occurrence, the mind perceives a pattern out of something that before that was considered random and chaotic.
This helps us perceive patterns we may not have seen. Similarly, when we use graphics to build sketched or models, the diagram is able to show us the big picture just by looking at it and by focusing on one part or sequence of drawings, we’re able to zoom in while still remaining cognizant of the big picture.
By using graphics in conjunction with words and phrases, we are able to see relationships and structure in among data items that would be obscure in text only situations. Detecting patterns in a text only situation is virtually impossible partly because reading and analyzing a large amount of text requires a powerful memory and the ability to absorb, store and categorize information as opposed to when graphics are used.
The use of graphics ensures that ideas and concepts are given form and shape and the relationship between the different elements is easier to see as they are well marked and visible. The use of visual information to enrich the graphics triggers long term memory and even more information can be added without leading to an information overload.
The use of graphics is also an excellent tool to capture our own thoughts and ideas as opposed to putting them down in words only. When we put down our thoughts and ideas graphically, we are able to alter how we perceive the information and this usually leads to greater insights. There are many obstacles to the use of graphical representations as a bona fide mode of communication in business.
Some people feel that graphical representations are a form of art and since they are not artists, they shouldn’t be using them in their communication. Others have learnt through the school system not to use them after being punished for drawing them during class. The majority of the resistance however, comes from individuals who believe that words and phrases are superior to graphics and are more intellectual.
To overcome this resistance, Graphic Tools which provide the mental and problem solving aids needed to generate multiple levels of understanding are used. The graphic tools can help identify the structure of concepts and ideas no matter how chaotic, messy or non-routine they are.
They help us to perceive the essence of an issue earlier before it becomes compartmentalized by the use of words and verbal communication; at this point the ideas and concepts might get lost in a text. There are six graphic tools with each having a different shape; circle or curvoid, square with right angle, square with curved corners, triangle, line, point and fuzz. They are a visual language that can be used to construct a model or a diagram.
Graphic tools can be used in group meetings where the traditional roles of facilitator and recorder are combined into one-graphic facilitator who takes two roles just that they use graphic tools along with key words to record what members say regarding the problem.