Customer Reviews

Unfolding the Napkin: The Hands-On Method for Solving Complex Problems with Simple Pictures

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I was very glad to have been able to get this in time for the 2010 New Year holiday.
It took me about 7 hours to work through the book, split over two days.
I found the workshop-in-a-book format very appropriate to the material.
Each "day" of the workshop is split into a morning and afternoon sections and that makes for nice-sized learning chunks.

Although The Back of the Napkin: Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures was published first, and I read it first, I would recommend starting with this book. The Back of the Napkin goes into more depth about why the techniques work. This book's "hands on" workshop format gets you involved -doing- by having you practice the techniques. It is something you really need to do as well as read about.

If you aren't sure that simple pictures, as advocated in both of Dan's books, can be effective, take a look at his drawings explaining the current US health-care situation, linked from: [...]

While the level of drawing skill needed is very low, what you'll probably find is that you need to work through drawings as you are working through your understanding of your problems. Simple doesn't mean Easy, but the difficulty here is not the drawing, it is working through whatever your problem is.

My only complaint about the book is that it could use a few more blank pages.
I did the exercises in a separate notebook; I had a number of "do overs" and there just weren't going to be enough blank pages for that.

Being that I'm in the 'Explaining' business, I have not only come to rely on the info in both books, but have recommended the books to hundreds of prospects that couldn't afford a video explanation. Yes, it requires you take time to read and practice, but the real results will start as you do the exercises on your own business problems. If you don't have a whiteboard, grab a large blank page notebook and get your pen moving. If you don't like what you see, rip up the page and start over. Unless you want to pay others to create your vision, this is as detailed as you can get with a self-help book so to speak. Take a few hours each week and study Dan's materials. Then go to a coffee shop and see if you can tell your story to someone in under 3 minutes using the visual(s). You'll be glad you did.

Jordan Schaffel
Co-founder
Say It Visually!

Dan wrote a really great first book. I saw him present at Mix09 in Las Vegas and he was transcendantly good. But this second book is really just the first one again.

It's like back in the 70s when musical artists had their one hit and for the B side of the single they put out a track named "Part Two" which was really just "Part One" without the vocal track. (c.f., Bertha Butt Boogie).

I can tell from reading this that Dan was sensitive about this happening, and I think he tried to avoid it, but it didn't work. Same book. I guess when you have a hit you just ratchet up into another level of expense and expectation and Seth Godin-esque pressure to keep churning stuff out. Perhaps it is simply too hard to say, "Nope, that one book is all I got."

I read the first book, and liked both, but have to say I wish this had fully been a workbook first and foremost. It seemed to try to assume you did not see the first book and repeated a lot-- which is fine BUT... I think there was either too much overlap or it should have used more appendices for that material. The case studies were great (why not have all cases with all the associated drawings?). The idea of having a small, medium and large problem was great, but never really used again. At least leave in template pages for them! The margins being large was great, but there should have been more blank or template pages throughout. There should also have been more of Dan's answers to exercises in the appendices. (and a site where readers could post their answers!) I would be curious to see framework comparisons to UML or Dave Sibbett et al... Dan Roam really added to his credibility with his stories and his whole approach. The multi-variable plot is alone worth reading his approach (though a real color plate would have been greatly appreciated for the Thompsons case study). I also liked the detail in this book addressing naysayers with neuro science, the value of fuzy and incomplete drawings to the brain. This could easily tie in to a DVD or online exercises. I would also have liked to see everything summarized in one final reference (I flipped back and forth a lot). Oh, and how about addressing which and whither and decision making?? Well done!

In this sequel to his previous Napkin book, Dan Roam reaffirms many of the same core values and principles while developing them in greater depth with wider and deeper applications. They are:

1. There is no more powerful way to discover a new idea than to draw a simple picture.

2. There is no faster way to develop and test an idea than to draw a simple picture.

3. There is no more effective way to share an idea with other people than to draw a simple picture.

In this book and in its predecessor, On the Back of the Napkin, Dan Roam explains how to achieve these objectives by (you guessed it) drawing a series of simple pictures. "To complete the workshop, you'll need three things...This book is your primary tool; please expect to draw in it and generally muck it up - that's what it's for. [Also,] please bring your own magic wand with you to class. My own favorites are a plain no. 2 pencil, a Sharpie, or a Pilot pen." Although Roam encourages his reader to use the book as a workbook and add annotations throughout, he also suggests using something to draw on, everything from several pages of blank scratch paper provided at the back of the book to a small personal whiteboard (i.e. small "lap board"). My own preference is the "Original Marble Cover 50-Sheets" composition book that costs less than $2 each.

Roam provides various "tools" that are essential to the visual problem-solving process and explains how and when to use them. For example, he unfolds the material for Day #1 of what he suggests be a self-contained four-day course to master that process, with one day devoted to each of four components: Looking, Seeing, Imagining, and Showing. In the first, "Looking" (Pages 3-52), he includes these "Drawing Drill Exercises":

o Name Three Problems (S,M,L)
o Draw "Me"
o Our First Napkin Sketch (Swiss Army Knife)
o How Much Is 75 Percent, Really?
o Which Color Is Your Pen?
o Active Looking, Exercise 1
o Active Looking, Exercise #2

He also includes "Unwritten Rule #1: Whoever is best able to describe the problem is the person most likely to solve it."

Roam's various illustrations and "Drawing Drill Exercises" complement the narrative but his primary focus is on rock-solid content that explains with lively eloquence HOW to draw simple pictures that help to "articulate problems."

In fact, they articulate much more than problems: triangular relationships (e.g. product, consumer, and competition), juxtaposition of similarities and differences (e.g. upside and downside implications), and map segments (e.g. for process simplification initiatives). Those who can draw a square, a circle, a stick figure, and an arrow connecting them "can draw any picture in this book" and, more to the point, draw any other picture that may be needed to "articulate abundantly more clearly" whatever the given situation may be.

Whereas The Back of the Napkin introduces the core concepts of the visual problem-solving (or whatever-solving) process, Unfolding the Napkin develops and extends the same concepts to wider, deeper, and more valuable applications. Yes, Dan Roam really does take a "hands-on" approach...and the hands belong to his reader. Bravo!

If you don't rate this book 5-stars then I am afraid you really don't understand it. I have been waiting for Roam to write this book and it is finally here. I have obviously read his first book and I always said that I needed more examples, specifically in relation to the "look," "see," "imagine" and "show" metaphor and when I got the book and saw that he had done exactly that -- well, it was amazing. My only issue now is when and how am I going to meet this guy? I use his book (The Back of The Napkin) in my information architecture college course, it's great to get students to fall into "visual data" ala Tufte. I hope I haven't offended anyone, just my opinion.

Dan Roam has followed up his excellent book, "The Back of the Napkin" with this book. I found that the book provides great ways to apply his great ideas by using hands-on exercises. I now feel that I have internalized the ideas. Clearly Mr. Roam practices what he preaches and makes his approach very accessible. These ideas work!

I recently created a "map" to explain a highly conceptual idea. When I showed it to a friend who works in the same line of business he said that it really helped clarify things. This week he called me to say that he drew a quick version of it with a customer and the customer told him that is exactly what they needed.

This is a workbook to help readers share ideas and describe and solve problems with simple pictures. A picture is worth much more than a thousand words, because words have limitations. A thousand words are tough to remember. They can be confusing too. Simple pictures, on the other hand, can be very powerful. They are more compelling. They are easier to understand and easier to remember.

There is no need to be a skilled artist. Roam explains that the simpler the picture the better. If you can draw circles and squares, you have the necessary qualifications. Just follow Roam's step-by-step instructions and you will be well on your way to expressing yourself better with pictures.

Roam eats his own dog food with this book. He follows his prescription for problem solving as he teaches the reader his approach. It is very effective. There is plenty of repetition - first read, then view oodles of simple pictures, and then draw many of the same. The concepts will be drilled into your head by the time you are through.

Follow Dan's advice and you'll be a more effective presenter and problem solver.

Nick McCormick, Author, Lead Well and Prosper

This is a well structured, well thought approach to an array of problem solving every manager has to work on daily. It is more than a well written book. In fact it encompasses at least three functions: a) Reference book for every manager and/or family man
b) A great tool to take along with your laptop at work
c) A training methodology for your team. They will enjoy and appreciate it.

Like many books, "Back of the Napkin" seems to have begun with a brilliant very short concept that someone (correctly) thought would sell like hotcakes if padded out into a full-length book. The author really does present significant insights, but the irony is that they would have been best summarized literally on the back of a napkin, rather than dragging them out into full book form. So it reads like a 300-slide PowerPoint presentation advocating brevity.

The sequel, "Unfolding the Napkin" (which I also read) is better thought out, serves more as a method, and contains more visual examples - but it still rehashes pretty much the same material as the first book in order to make its point, so reading both books was redundant in my opinion.