you’re an entrepreneur or small‑business owner
and you’ve ever wondered if visual thinking was
something that could work for you — not just for
big businesses — then the answer is definitely “Yes”.
Visual thinking has contributed in some way to
every success I’ve had in life, from the businesses
I’ve founded, to family, to personal discipline and
even to my health.
Visual thinking quite literally makes you see better. It
enables you to come up with creative solutions that
you wouldn’t otherwise arrive at, helps you make
sense of complex systems and see connections
that others miss. It not only helps you explain this
complexity to your clients, it helps them see the
answers to their problems. Most businesses are
made up of people walking around with problems
that they are trying to fix using an incomplete
toolkit. Their solutions often fail because they
are missing the wealth of information that visual
thinking can unlock. Put simply, visual thinking
helps you get better at seeing so that you can get
better at fixing.
This works in pretty much any situation. I’ve never
been super strong at math, but even my math is
better when I work visually.
I’m thrilled to recommend this book, Draw a Better
Business by Cara Holland. It’s extremely simple,
clear, actionable, and of course it’s got lots of
pictures so it’s pretty easy to navigate. I think it’s a
wonderful book and I hope you enjoy it.
Dave Gray
—
Founder, XPLANE
Founder and CEO, The School of the Possible 2018
whether you want
to connect with an
individual, an audience
or the whole world,
communicating visually
helps you connect
more directly, and more
meaningfully, with more
people.
my mission is to help
people draw their
stories, conversations
and ideas. to externalise
the imagination and
clarify the complex. to
connect. because when
we connect amazing
things become possible.
part
1
we are living in
exciting times
1
introduction
18 DRAW A BETTER BUSINESS
Recently I was training a group of executives how
to work visually. Nothing new about that, except
the group was based in New Delhi and I was in
Nottingham in the UK, being live streamed into
their training room. As a child, this was the stuff of
science fiction.
The future is here, and this brings with it a whole
heap of new things to think about. We have
never been more connected or more exposed
to innovation and developments taking place
around the globe.
We want the businesses we buy from and the
people we work with to do better, to be better;
we want to see innovation, empathy and human‑
centred design in everything, from the jeans we
wear to the coffee we drink.
We are dealing with mega shifts in employment
trends. Between huge tech advancements
19
1 INTRODUCTION
and the increase in gig working, the World
Economic Forum predicts that creativity and
creative problem solving are the top skills we will
need in the future.
1
So it’s no surprise that as entrepreneurs and small
business owners it can feel like a tough ask to
keep up. How do we make our business more
collaborative in its approach? More creative and
innovative in its delivery?
I don’t have a magic wand, but what if I told you
there are ways to make it just that bit easier? That
there is a way of working that can help you really
work in a new way, and that you can use these
skills to run a business that is better? Better for you
and better for your clients?
Welcome to the world of working visually. In this
book I’m going to teach you some new skills,
share some ideas and hopefully give you the
knowledge you need to start working differently.
To start working visually.
Now, I’m not talking here about working as a
‘creative’, but I am talking about working more
creatively. Using visual thinking skills and tools
to deliver your existing work more effectively,
whatever type of business you run.
This is a PLUS sum:
Your