Think with Diagrams. Keep it Simple.

Do you think, "Diagramming skills are only necessary for people who create documents or PowerPoint presentations for work, right?"

"Diagrams are thinking tools"

This book asserts that this is the case.

Diagrams are a skill that anyone can use for a lifetime in a wide range of situations. If that is the case, don't you think it's worth learning?

Let's learn together!💪

Learn how to think, and "convey" through diagrams

When we hear "diagrams," we often mistakenly think it means "learning techniques," butwhat you learn in this book is not techniques.

"What you learn in this book is the foundation of thinking"

When you use a diagram, you don't want to show off techniques to the other person, do you?

What is important is the content of "what you are conveying through the diagram"

This book helps you realize that all over again.

What is "simple"?

The author posed thisquestion.

I'm writing it... aren't I? 😅
You want to convey so many things in one diagram thatit ends up getting too cluttered,doesn't it?

But please remember the important point from earlier.What matters is, "What are you trying to convey?".

That is why "simplicity" is key..By learning from this book, the following will become simple.

The benefits of using "diagrams"

In this book, we list the following as the benefits of using diagrams.

If you express things with a simple diagram, it's easy to understand, right? (1). If you present an easy-to-understand diagram, it will liven up the meeting (2).

If it's a diagram that clears things up for you, you can convey it to others speedily (3), and the quality of your presentation will also improve (4).

Don't you want to learn how to do this?

Learning the "7 Patterns"

In this book, we will learn 7 simple patterns.

In this article, let's introduce 1. Exchange.

Pattern 1: "Exchange"

This is theabsolute basicthat appears in any diagramming book. The steps are as follows.

It's simple, right? Just by enclosing the characters in squares, it already looks like a diagram. If you add arrows and the items being moved, it becomes a proper diagram. You can practice this right away.

Tips for building a habit

The author says this, and I completely agree.

Make it a habit to think with diagrams in your daily life.

Tips for building this habit are also introduced.Tips for building a habit are also introduced.

In my case, I use work meetings to build the habit.

Instead of just listening at the meetings I attend, I draw diagrams of the meeting content as I listen.

In meetings, there are often times when you think, 'I don't really understand this just by words, do I?' It becomes much clearer when you draw it out.

Application Part 1

Practical applications are also introduced. For example, an example of diagramming a sentence from Drucker's 'The Essential Drucker' is shown.

If you only read a book, you might feel like you understand it, but you don't really. When you diagram it like this, practical actions become visible.

Application Part 2

Using the diagrams learned in this book, an application section called 'Let's think about your life strategy' is also introduced.

Using
1. Exchange, 3. Deep Dive, 4. Comparison, 6. Overlap, 7. Pyramid the five diagrams to think about your life strategy.

For those who are wondering, 'What should I do with my life from now on?', it's like killing two birds with one stone: learning how to diagram while also thinking about your life.

Summary

This book was introduced to me by my fellow noter Taro Yamadaand I read it right away, but I hadn't produced any output yet.

By producing this output, I am once again deeply reminded of the importance of diagrams.

Diagrams are thinking tools

Communicate simply with diagrams

Think with diagrams on a daily basis and summarize small things into simple diagrams

That's all for today's learning. Please come back again. 👋

Reading period: 2021/05/21-2021/06/03
First edition published: 2017/10/18

Who is 'Hiroaki Takahashi' who writes this article?